ATP Tour

De Minaur turns up the heat for QF spot at Queen's Club

Alex de Minaur kept both his strong ATP 500 form and flawless record against a familiar rival intact on Wednesday at the HSBC Championships in west London, where he powered into the quarter-finals.

The top seed at the grass-court event swept past Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-1 in just 63 minutes at Queen’s Club to improve to 6-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. The polished display marked a stark contrast to Tuesday’s gritty two-hour, two-minute win against Gabriel Diallo, a match De Minaur admitted “was all about surviving”.

“I’m pretty good at remembering these things,” De Minaur said, referring to his three-set loss to Shapovalov in the 2016 Wimbledon boys’ final. “We have grown up together and played plenty of matches on the Tour. That one [at Wimbledon] was a special one. I would have loved to have gotten that win, because it would have given me the World No. 1 junior ranking. But here we are 10 years later, and I’m still enjoying myself.”

De Minaur struck with precision from both wings and looked sharp whenever he ventured forward against Shapovalov, who was broken five times during the contest. The Canadian lefty flashed glimpses of his explosive talent with five thunderous forehand winners, but nine double faults ultimately derailed his challenge.

Competing as the top seed at an ATP Tour event for the fourth time, De Minaur is hunting a 12th ATP Tour crown and a third on grass. The No. 6 player in the PIF ATP Rankings reached the Queen’s Club final in 2023 before falling to Carlos Alcaraz.

De Minaur owns a Tour-leading 59 wins at ATP 500 level since the start of the 2023 season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

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After recording his first two wins at the ATP 500 event since that run to the 2023 final, De Minaur can now set his sights on a quarter-final showdown with Brandon Nakashima, who earlier dispatched Peru’s Ignacio Buse 6-2, 6-2.

Nakashima is into his second straight Queen’s Club quarter-final, having claimed two victories in west London last year before suffering a tight three-set loss to Jack Draper.

British wild card Arthur Fery lit up Andy Murray Arena on Wednesday afternoon with a classy 7-6(7), 6-4 win over Adrian Mannarino to reach his first ATP Tour quarter-final The 23-year-old, who grew up in Wimbledon, is up 25 spots to No. 115 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

"It's so special to be playing tennis back home in London, where I grew up, in front of all the British fans," Fery said in his on-court interview. "It's the best result of my career so far. My first quarter-final in an ATP tournament... It's not easy. There are lots of ups and downs. I'm really happy to get through."

Fery will next meet seventh seed Francisco Cerundolo, who soared past Jenson Brooksby 6-0, 6-4 in the final match of the day.