Eastbourne

Defending champion Taylor Fritz won two matches in one day by battling through “crazy” windy conditions at Eastbourne.

After Fritz’s second-round tie with 18-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca was suspended at 6-3 6-7 (5-7) for bad light on Wednesday, the pair resumed on Thursday afternoon, with Fritz edging the deciding set 7-5.

That match finished at 12:47 BST – and four hours and 23 minutes later Fritz returned to centre court to face Marcos Giron in the quarter-finals.

Fritz came through 7-5 4-6 7-5 against his American compatriot to reach the last four.

“I love this tournament. I’ve been very lucky to not play in very windy conditions,” Fritz, a three-time champion in Eastbourne, said.

“It’s tough for me when I don’t get to play the tennis that I love to play here. I have to scrap and play crazy tennis when it’s windy.

“I’m obviously really glad to get through it.”

Fritz, who beat world number three Alexander Zverev in the Stuttgart Open final 11 days ago, is among the favourites for the Wimbledon title.

He faces world number 28 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Friday’s semi-final after the Spaniard beat Czech Jakub Mensik 6-4 7-5.

Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova has withdrawn from Eastbourne with a thigh injury just four days before her SW19 title defence begins.

The Czech was taken to three sets in both of her matches on the south coast, beating Britons Harriet Dart and Jodie Burrage in round one and two respectively.

She was set to face France’s Varvara Gracheva in the quarter-finals but pulled out before the match began.

Two-time major singles champion Krejcikova initially felt the issue on Wednesday and said it had “got worse” overnight.

“I’m very sorry to have to withdraw as I’m having some soreness in my right thigh,” the 29-year-old said.

“I think it’s better with Wimbledon in the next couple of days just to rest it and to see what’s going on and to resolve that.”

Krejcikova, who will open play on Tuesday at Wimbledon as the defending women’s champion, has played just six matches this year after a lengthy lay-off with a back injury.

She lost her first-round match at Queen’s last week then saved match points against both Dart and Burrage.

The world number 17 beat Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the Wimbledon final last year.

Evans, who has a main-draw wildcard for Wimbledon, has just returned to the top 200 after a difficult few years.

The Englishman managed his nerves as the tension built against Paul. Evans hit just 17 winners to the American’s 31, but he also committed 26 unforced errors compared to Paul’s 43.

He will aim to be even more clinical when he faces American lucky loser Jenson Brooksby in the quarter-finals.

Earlier, Billy Harris continued his recent Eastbourne joy as the Englishman reached the quarter-finals for the second successive year.

Harris, who reached the main draw as a lucky loser having lost in qualifying, beat Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci 6-3 6-4.

Harris will face French fourth-seed Ugo Humbert next and could potentially meet Evans in the semi-finals.

But British number two Jacob Fearnley suffered a chastening defeat by Marcus Giron.

The American dispatched Fearnley 6-3 6-1, with the Scot hitting five double faults and losing his serve five times.

Wimbledon begins on 30 June.