Eastbourne: Jack Draper has reached the quarter-finals to continue his comeback from injury

Draper’s injury problems began at Wimbledon last year when he was enjoying the best run of his career after reaching the semi-finals of the 2024 US Open and a career-high fourth in the world rankings.

“I spent a lot of time off the court with injuries, I was in good shape last year,” he said.

“My body stopped me in my tracks. I couldn’t play and last year was very difficult.”

But Draper continued his strong start under new manager Sir Andy Murray with another confident performance against the South Coast on Wednesday.

The left-hander started brightly and broke serve early, but squandered a set point at 5-4 and Pennington Jones returned the favor thanks to a lucky net-to-wire winner.

But Draper immediately regained the lead and his impressive serve from the return saw him hit back-to-back aces in the opener.

The former British number one carried the momentum into the second set and again did not face a break point before sharing a warm hug with Pinnington Jones at the net to complete the win after being broken early.

“Jack’s a great friend, so it’s hard to play against a good friend. He’s still young, he’s just out of college and he’s building his way up the ranks,” Draper said.

“I believe he will be a top and top player and I think he showed that today.”

Draper was joined in the last eight by Englishmen Jan Choinski and Toby Samuels.

Choinski defeated compatriot Felix Gil 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 to reach his first ATP Tour quarter-final, while lucky Samuel secured his first tour-level win with a 6-1 7-6 (9-7) win over Argentina’s Thiago Agustin Tirante.

Lucky loser Gill pulled out as a late replacement for men’s champion Taylor Fritz after injury to give himself a “good chance of being 100%” for Wimbledon.

In the women’s draw, second-seeded Madison Keys of the United States beat Spain’s Jessica Buzas Manero 6-0 6-1, while third-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Hungary’s Pana Udvardi 3-6 6-1 6-2.