Hijikata Stuns Lehecka as Fery Reaches First Queen’s Quarter

Grass-court tennis served up its now-customary chaos at the HSBC Championships on Thursday, as Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata toppled second seed Jiří Lehečka and a British wildcard wrote his own headline at The Queen’s Club.

The upset. Hijikata, through to the main draw via qualifying, recovered from a set down to beat the 2025 finalist 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(7), saving his best tennis for a tense closing breaker. It was the kind of result that has defined the men’s grass swing this season, and it carried the Australian into his second career quarter-final at Queen’s. The ATP confirmed the scoreline.

The home story. The afternoon, though, belonged to Arthur Fery. The 23-year-old British wildcard, ranked outside the top 150, beat France’s Adrian Mannarino 7-6(7), 6-4 on his Andy Murray Arena debut to reach the first ATP 500 quarter-final of his career. According to the LTA, Fery dropped just five points behind his first serve and became the seventh British wildcard in history to reach the men’s quarter-final at the tournament — the third top-50 win of his career and comfortably the biggest week of his professional life.

The seeds who held. Among the favorites, former champion Tommy Paul kept his strong London record intact, easing past Botic van de Zandschulp 7-6(5), 6-3 to reach his third Queen’s quarter-final and extend a long unbeaten run at the venue. Fourth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina advanced past Corentin Moutet 6-4, 6-3, while top seed Alex de Minaur, seventh seed Francisco Cerúndolo and American Brandon Nakashima all came through in straight sets to complete the last eight.

What’s next. The quarter-finals are scheduled for Friday, with de Minaur meeting Nakashima, Fery facing Cerúndolo in the tie that will draw the home crowd, Paul taking on Davidovich Fokina, and Hijikata awaiting the winner of an unfinished first-round match. With Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and a string of top names absent from the field this year, the door to a maiden grass title is open — and a qualifier and a wildcard are still standing.