Norrie loses to Korda in Queen’s quarter-finals

British number one Cameron Norrie’s run at Queen’s ended with a disappointing 6-4 7-6 (7-1) quarter-final defeat by American Sebastian Korda.

Norrie, 27, improved in the second set but some poor shots and a double fault resulted in a one-sided tie-break.

World number 32 Korda will face top seed Carlos Alcaraz next after the Spaniard beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-4.

‘I feel like I’m definitely improving’ – Norrie

Norrie, who reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year, lost in the third round of the French Open but is pleased with how his game is shaping up on grass, despite his defeat to Korda.

“I’m feeling like I definitely turned a corner after the clay,” he said. “I’ve had really good preparation. I was feeling really good in the last couple weeks, and then I played three really good matches.

“It was not my best performance today, but I feel like I’m definitely improving.

“In the big moments I haven’t been playing as well as I was earlier in the year. So now I’m looking to get back to preparing for Wimbledon.”

Norrie was broken in the fifth game but had three break points of his own in the following game.

However, he was unable to take advantage as Korda’s serve got him out of trouble.

Norrie then needed back-to-back aces to hold his next service game and could not muster a break as he lost the opening set.

Norrie trailed early in the second set but hauled himself back to 3-3, the first time he was able to make inroads on Korda’s serve.

But Korda, the son of former Australian Open winner Petr and brother of major champion golfer Nelly, raced away with the tie-break to reach the last four on his Queen’s debut.

Korda, 22, said: “It’s massive. I’m playing really well on grass, I feel comfortable and I’m really enjoying myself here.

“Everything is clicking right now.”

Meanwhile, Britain’s Neal Skupski and Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof lost 6-3 7-6 (7-4) in the semi-finals of the men’s doubles to American Taylor Fritz and Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic.

‘It gave me fire in the belly to beat him’

Second seed Holger Rune of Denmark will face Alex de Minaur in the other singles semi-final after overcoming Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 7-5 in a match spiced up when the Italian smashed an overhead straight at him.

“He can do what he wants,” said Rune. “I mean, it’s not the best thing to do, for sure. But again, it is legal. He can hit the ball where he wants to.

“It just gave me fire in the belly to beat him even more. I’m super happy to manage to beat him in two sets. It feels good. I’m in the semi-final, he’s not. So I’m happy.”

Australian De Minaur, who beat Andy Murray in his opening match, defeated Adrian Mannarino of France 6-4 4-6 6-4.

Medvedev loses in Halle while Sinner sustains injury

Russian top seed Daniil Medvedev lost 7-5 7-6 (7-3) to Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut in the Halle Open quarter-finals.

Third seed Andrey Rublev came from behind to defeat Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 3-6 6-3 6-4 and set up a meeting with the Spaniard.

Germany’s Alexander Zverev also progressed with a 7-5 6-3 win over Chile’s Nicolas Jarry and will face Alexander Bublik in the last four.

The Kazakh player advanced to the semi-finals when Italian fourth seed Jannik Sinner had to withdraw from their last-eight match with a leg injury.

Bublik won the first set 7-5 and was up 2-0 in the second when Sinner pulled out.

Sinner, the world number nine, will hope to be fit for Wimbledon, which starts on 3 July.

Meanwhile, world number 11 Karen Khachanov has withdrawn from the grass-court Grand Slam because of a stress fracture in his back.

The 27-year-old sustained the injury at the French Open, where he was beaten in the quarter-finals by Novak Djokovic.