16 hours ago
Queen's Club Championships 2025: Alcaraz cruises past Bautista Agut, Lehecka stuns Draper in semifinals
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz breezed past fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut while Jiri Lehecka stunned home favourite Jack Draper in the semifinals of the Queen's Club Championships in London on Saturday.
World No. 2 Alcaraz, who clinched his maiden grasscourt title at the same event in 2023, defeated 37-year-old Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-4.
The 22-year-old Alcaraz also extended his unbeaten streak to 17 matches.
In the first semifinal, Lehecka defeated World No. 6 Draper 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, becoming the first Czech man to reach an ATP grasscourt final in 15 years.
Czech-mate ♟️@jirilehecka puts the pieces together to defeat Draper and book his place in the Queen's final!# — Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 21, 2025
Second seed Draper, bidding to follow in the footsteps of five-time Queen's champion Andy Murray, dropped his opening service game and Lehecka barely a put a foot wrong as he took the first set in clinical fashion.
Left-hander Draper saved a break point early in the second set and then broke fellow 23-year-old Lehecka's serve for the first time in the 10th game to level the match.
Both players were rock solid on serve in the decider with Lehecka having the first chance of a break at 4-4 but Draper survived to pile the pressure on his opponent.
Lehecka did not flinch though and broke serve at 5-5 with two stunning passing shots, one a forehand and then a backhand, to leave Draper smashing his racket in rage against a court-side electronic advertising board and receiving a code violation.
There was still the small matter of holding serve to reach the final but Lehecka did that in style, roaring his delight after clinching his first victory against a top-10 player since beating Alcaraz in Doha in February.
The last Czech man to reach a top-level grasscourt final was Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon in 2010 and the last to do so at Queen's was Ivan Lendl in 1990.
