Eastbourne Open: Jack Draper through to semi-finals after Brit thrashes Canadian Gabriel Diallo as Wimbledon prep continues

Britain's Jack Draper is through to the Eastbourne Open semi-finals after beating Canada's Gabriel Diallo 6-1 6-4.

Having endured an injury-ravaged couple of seasons, Draper secured his first victory since March earlier in the tournament, and proved to strong for the six-foot-eight Diallo.

The 24-year-old is working with coach Andy Murray during the grass-court season, with positive preparations for Wimbledon continuing - the Grand Slam beginning on Monday.

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The only wobble came when he dropped serve early in the second set but he finished with statistics of 25 winners and only nine unforced errors and on Friday will play in his first semi-final since Queen's Club last year.

Draper will take on France's Ugo Humbert, who defeated compatriot Quentin Halys 6-3 6-4.

Draper 'really proud of performance'

Draper on BBC Sport: "It feels amazing. I love this tournament. Even though I missed Queen's last week and maybe I wouldn't have played here, I'm incredibly happy to be here and to get some matches under my belt is a great feeling.

"I'm really proud of my performance today, I thought it was quite a strong performance against a tough player.

"I think I returned really well and I instilled a lot of doubt in the return games. It was a better performance again today and each performance has gone that way so I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

Draper revealed on Wednesday that he was troubled by a stomach bug but there were no signs of discomfort against Diallo on another scorching day, and he said of his physical condition: "I feel great.

"It's obviously been a difficult year with a lot of injury setbacks but I'm gaining more confidence in my body. Winning helps, obviously.

"I'm not sure how good of an idea it is to wear all black. I was definitely feeling it yesterday but it's the only kit I've got with me so hopefully it's not hot again tomorrow."

Lucky loser Samuel reaches semi-finals

There could be an all-British final in Sussex with Draper's countryman Toby Samuel recording the biggest win of his career to make the last four, a 6-3 6-4 victory over world No 45 - and Jannik Sinner's French Open conqueror - Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina.

Samuel, a lucky loser for this tournament, will face world No 48 Zizou Bergs of Belgium in the semi-finals, after the latter knocked out another Brit in Jan Choinski, winning 6-3 6-3.

Victory over Bergs would leave Samuel on the brink of the world's top 100.

Over at the WTA event in Bad Homburg, Germany, Naomi Osaka breezed into the semi-finals of the women's singles with a 6-2 6-2 win over Ekaterina Alexandrova.

However, Venus Williams was knocked out of the women's doubles at the quarter-final stage as she and Alexandra Eala went down 6-3 6-2 to Britain's Olivia Nicholls and her partner Tereza Mihalikova.

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