Queen’s Club 2026: De Minaur Out as Nakashima Earns First Top-10 Win in 2 Years

Nakashima stuns top seed De Minaur to reach Queen’s club semi

World No.6 Alex de Minaur’s Queen’s Club title hopes ended with a quarter-final loss to Nakashima. Tommy Paul and Ugo Humbert will contest the other semi-final.

Tommy Paul into Queen’s semis alongside Nakashima after De Minaur shock...

Alex de Minaur’s bid for Queen’s Club glory is over. The top seed fell to American Brandon Nakashima on Friday, missing out on joining Queen’s roll of champions.

The world No.6 from Australia is known for his grass-court game, but he couldn’t cope with Nakashima’s attack. He went down 7-5, 6-3 in the quarter-finals.

The first set was all about serve. World No.32 Nakashima broke through in the 12th game, taking his first break point of the match to edge it 7-5.

De Minaur had his shot at 1-1 in the second set when Nakashima served, but he couldn’t convert the break chance.

It was scorching on Andy Murray Arena. De Minaur got broken at 3-4 and never recovered. Nakashima closed it out 6-3 for his first win over a top-10 opponent in two years.

Nakashima’s next opponent is Argentina’s No.7 seed Francisco Cerundolo. Cerundolo outlasted British wildcard Arthur Fery 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-4 in a tough three-setter.

Cerundolo had a scary moment when Fery’s backhand caught him in the throat at close range. He stayed down on court but recovered. 

“I took it to the throat and couldn’t breathe, but after a game or two it was fine,” he said.

The other semi-final is an all-attack matchup: 2024 champ Tommy Paul vs France’s Ugo Humbert. Paul beat Spain’s 4th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 7-6(4), while Humbert crushed Australia’s Rinky Hijikata.