LONDON: Carlos Alcaraz was relieved to overcome the challenge of Arthur Rinderknech in straight sets to reach the semifinals at Queen鈥檚 Club and extend his career-best winning streak to 16 matches on Friday.

In his first tournament since winning the French Open in remarkable fashion against Jannik Sinner, the world No. 2 had been forced to come through a grueling three-set battle against Jaume Munar in Thursday鈥檚 second round.

But Alcaraz was ruthless with his opportunities against world No. 80 Rinderknech as the Spaniard took his only two break point chances for a 7-5, 6-4 win inside 90 minutes on court.

鈥淚 thought I was going to feel much worse, but we are tennis players, we have to do whatever we have to do to feel good,鈥� said Alcaraz after his three-and-a-half-hour battle against Munar.

鈥淚鈥檓 glad that today was one hour and 20 minutes, a bit more like grass.鈥�

Alcaraz, who won the Wimbledon warm-up event in 2023, will face Spanish compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut in Saturday鈥檚 semifinals after he beat fourth seed Holger Rune 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (4/7), 6-2.

鈥淚鈥檓 feeling great, and I鈥檓 just happy to play at such a good level today. It was a big challenge today, but I鈥檓 happy with the way I played and felt today,鈥� added Alcaraz.

Jack Draper, who ended Alcaraz鈥檚 defense at Queen鈥檚 last year, reached the semifinals for the first time and secured a top-four seed at Wimbledon with a tense 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over American Brandon Nakashima.

The 23-year-old had twice lost in the last eight at Queen鈥檚, but now he is just two wins away from joining Andy Murray as only the second British champion at the tournament in the Open area.

Draper will move above Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz in the world rankings next week to a career-high of four.

That means at Wimbledon, which starts on June 30, Draper will avoid defending champion Alcaraz and world No. 1 Sinner until the semifinals.

鈥淟ast year I went there ranked 40th and now I鈥檓 fourth. To get to that position is an incredible feeling,鈥� Draper said.

鈥淚t is testament to the work me and my team have done and I鈥檓 proud of that.鈥�

Draper will face Jiri Lehecka in the last four on Saturday after the Czech world No. 30 beat beat British No. 2 Jacob Fearnley 7-5, 6-2.