Queen's reigning champion Matteo Berrettini into semi-finals 

The 2021 Wimbledon runner-up was trailing 1-4 in the first set but he rallied hard to outclass Tommy, who thrashed sixth-seeded Denis Shapovalov and Stan Wawrinka before reaching the quarter-finals. Berrettini played his first tournament after his injury last week on  grass in Stuttgart, where he outclassed Andy Murray in the final on Sunday. 

After struggling against Denis Kudla in a second-round match that lasted three sets, Berrettini had regained his form in his match against Paul. Berrettini threw an ace down the middle for his last shot and maintained a strong serve, winning 82% of points on his first serve. The Italian will now encounter Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands in the last four of the Wimbledon warm-up tournament. 

Zandschulp forges a straight-sets win to secure a spot in the semis

US Open quarter-finalist Botic van de Zandschulp wins in straight sets to set up a Queens semi-final clash against second-seeded Berrettini. The Dutchman defeated Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2, 6-4 on Friday. Zandschulp lost his serve only once in the match, which ended in an hour and 13 minutes. The 29th-ranked Dutchman who had made a surprising run to the quarter-finals at last year’s US Open had amassed impressive wins over British qualifier Paul Jubb (7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-1) and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (7-6 (5), 6-3) in previous matches at Queen's.

Cilic advances to a grass-court semi-final for the first time

Meanwhile, Marin Cilic has pulled through to the last four at the Queen's Club Championship having bested Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori 7-6 (7/2), 6-4. The Croatian won the trophy at the ATP 500 grass-court event in 2012 and 2018 and has now secured 35 wins at the tournament, the most by any active player. In the exciting center-court clash, the 33-year-old scored 11 aces and landed his groundstrokes with precision to take control over Ruusuvuori and pocket the match in one hour and 48 minutes in their first ATP Head2Head meeting.

After claiming his 80th grass-court win, Cilic quipped that he was taking it slow trying to maintain his form and level. Every match is a challenge but he is focusing although it took him a lot of years and training and matches to carve out a journey replete with 80 wins. The seventh seed will try to win his 21st ATP Tour title this week, but the first of the year. Cilic will play Filip Krajinovic in the semi-finals on Saturday. Earlier, the Serbian put an end to British wild card Ryan Peniston’s bid to win the title after overcoming the 26-year-old 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in two hours and nine minutes.