Jack Draper moves into Eastbourne last four ahead of next week’s Wimbledon

Jack Draper says he is starting to trust his body again after continuing his winning return from injury with a place in the Eastbourne Open semi-finals, following another composed straight-sets win on the south coast.

Playing in his first event for more than two months after a knee injury picked up at April’s Barcelona Open, the British star made it three victories in a row this week by defeating Canada’s Gabriel Diallo.

Draper controlled the match from start to finish, striking 22 winners while committing just four unforced errors in a match that only took just over an hour.

It has been a frustrating stretch for the 24-year-old, with injuries to his arm, knee and shoulder all disrupting momentum over the past year.

“I feel great. It’s obviously been a difficult year with injury setbacks but I’m gaining more confidence in my body,” Draper told spectators after his win.

“It feels amazing [to reach the semi-finals]. I love this tournament. I’m incredibly happy to be here and to get some matches under my belt is a great feeling.”

Just 18 months ago, Draper had established himself among the game’s rising elite, reaching a Grand Slam semi-final, climbing as high as world number four, and lifting his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells.

With Wimbledon beginning on Monday, Eastbourne has offered him vital match time on grass, and he will now meet France’s sixth seed Ugo Humbert on Friday for a place in the final.

He will, however, have to do so in the middle of a record-breaking June heatwave, still wearing an all-black kit.

“It was a better performance again today and each performance has gone that way, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” Draper said.

“I’m not sure how good an idea it was to wear all black, and I was definitely feeling it yesterday, but it’s the only kit I’ve got with me.”

Toby Samuel continues breakthrough run

There was further British success in Eastbourne as Toby Samuel continued his rapid rise by booking a place in the last four.

The 23-year-old lucky loser backed up his first ATP Tour win with the biggest result of his career, beating world number 45 Juan Manuel Cerúndolo in straight sets.

Samuel, now ranked 142, was outside the world’s top 1,000 just a year ago and only made his tour-level debut at Roland Garros, where he exited in the opening round.

But a confident 6-3 6-4 victory has set up a semi-final clash with Belgium’s Zizou Bergs, who is ranked 48 and defeated Britain’s Jan Choinski 6-3 6-3.

If Samuel can get past Bergs, he would become only the second lucky loser ever to reach the Eastbourne men’s final, and would move close to breaking into the world’s top 100.

Madison Keys and Jelena Ostapenko advance in women’s draw

In the women’s tournament, second seed Madison Keys and third seed Jelena Ostapenko both continued their strong runs with straight-set quarter-final wins.

Australian Open champion Keys eased past fellow American McCartney Kessler 6-3 6-1, while Ostapenko was equally dominant in a 6-3 6-0 victory over Turkey’s Zeynep Sönmez.