Jack Draper fails to reach semi-final at Queen's after going down to Tommy Paul
Jack Draper was unable to build on his sparkling win over Carlos Alcaraz as he missed out on a place in the semi-finals of the cinch Championships after going down 6-3 5-7 6-4 to Tommy Paul.
British number one Draper secured the biggest win of his career when he ended the Queen's Club reign of Wimbledon champion Alcaraz on Thursday.
But the 22-year-old was outgunned by American fifth seed Paul, going down in two hours and one minute.
Draper battled back from a set down but a lapse midway through the decider saw him broken to love — capped with a double-fault — to swing the match Paul‘s way.
Defeat ended Draper's seven-match winning streak after he lifted his first ATP title in Stuttgart last week.
Nevertheless it has been a dream couple of weeks for Draper, who suffered with injuries last year but on Monday overtook Cameron Norrie to become the country's top-ranked player.
"Physically I felt good. My body's been great. It just becomes, you know, mentally quite taxing, having to go day after day," he said.
"I finished Stuttgart on Sunday, and I got here very, very late on Sunday. Then training and then winning again on Tuesday.
"Obviously the match yesterday, it felt like there was quite a lot of energy and emotion invested in that.
"Yeah, I was definitely having to pick myself up. I felt quite flat at times. I think that kind of showed in my decision-making at certain times in the match. I played a few more sloppy shots than I wanted to.
"But at the end of the day, if I want to be one of the best players in the world, then I have to keep on backing up my performances and get used to, you know, going deep every week.
"That's what I want to get to, and that's kind of what I was disappointed about today."
British interest in the singles is over after van man Billy Harris hit the skids in his bid to reach the semi-finals.
The 29-year-old wild card from Nottingham was a surprise quarter-finalist having spent most of his nomadic career travelling to lower-ranked tournaments in a transit van.
But his journey in west London ground to a halt against turbo-charged Italian Lorenzo Musetti, who won 6-3 7-5 in an hour and 39 minutes
However, Harris can now treat himself to a new set of wheels with a hefty pay cheque for four days' work.
Having been guaranteed £60,000 by being granted a Wimbledon wild card on Wednesday, his run to the last eight took his earnings for the week to £121,000.
Prior to Queen's, Harris' total career prize money was £230,000.
"It's definitely going to help, it's expensive getting around in this sport so any money you can get is a massive help," said the 6ft 4in right-hander.
"Will I treat myself? A new van, maybe, potentially. I drive a Mini Cooper at the moment.
"It's a bit tight, I get in and out of a van a bit easier."
In the doubles, Neal Skupski won the battle of Britain against his Olympics partner Joe Salisbury.
Skupski and New Zealand's Michael Venus beat Salisbury and America's Rajeev Ram 7-6 (5) 7-6 (6).