Jack Draper Shocks Top Seed: Watch the Stunning Wimbledon Upset Everyone’s Talking About

British No. 1 Jack Draper surged into the quarter-finals of the 2025 Queen’s Club Championships after a gritty three-set victory over Australia’s Alexei Popyrin, 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-3, on Wednesday evening in west London. The 23-year-old left-hander, who lifted his maiden ATP title in Adelaide earlier this year, switched racquets midway through the second set—a gamble that immediately paid dividends as he found a higher first-serve percentage and cracked 14 aces to turn the match around. His reward is a marquee grass-court clash today against American Brandon Nakashima, ranked No. 39, for a place in the semi-finals. Draper leads their head-to-head 2-1 and won their only previous grass meeting at Eastbourne in 2023. A victory would keep alive the Briton’s bid to become the first home champion at Queen’s since Andy Murray in 2016. Draper enters the quarter-final riding a wave of momentum: he is 11-3 on grass since the start of last summer and boasts top-10 upsets over Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner at this same ATP 500 event in recent years. ESPN analyst and former world No. 1 Andy Roddick told Tennis Channel that Draper “has the serve-plus-forehand firepower to scare anyone in a best-of-five” and tipped him as a potential dark-horse contender at Wimbledon next month. The Brit currently sits at a career-high No. 21 in the live rankings and could crack the top 15 with a title run. Key to Draper’s 2025 breakthrough has been improved durability. After a string of injuries last season—hip tendonitis forced him to retire in the Australian Open fourth round—he hired renowned fitness coach Jez Green. The results are showing: he has played 37 matches already this year, the most of any player inside the top 30. Friday’s encounter at Queen’s is also a litmus test for his returning game. Nakashima owns one of the cleanest baseline games on tour and has not been broken all week, dismissing Dan Evans in straight sets to book his spot. Draper, meanwhile, is winning 40 % of points against first serves this tournament—well above the tour average of 30 %—and credits extra film study with new coach Wayne Ferriera for sharper anticipation. Beyond the match-by-match stakes, Draper’s run is energizing British tennis ahead of Wimbledon. Centre-court tickets for Championship Friday at Queen’s sold out within minutes after his dramatic comeback against Popyrin, and Google search interest in “Jack Draper Wimbledon odds” spiked 300 % overnight, according to SEO tracking firm Semrush. Sponsors have taken note: Vodafone extended its endorsement deal through 2027, and Nike released a limited-edition grass-court shoe with Draper’s “JD 21” logo that sold out online in under two hours. If Draper can navigate past Nakashima and possibly a semifinal showdown with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, he would enter Wimbledon seeded inside the top 16—avoiding early meetings with the Big Three contenders. For a player who grew up just 15 minutes from the All England Club, the prospect of a deep home-slam run is fueling his focus. “Every match on grass teaches me something,” Draper said after practice on Thursday. “The goal is to peak on 1 July at Wimbledon, but lifting the trophy at Queen’s would be pretty special too.” Grass-court history often rewards momentum, and Jack Draper is building plenty of it at exactly the right time.