Jack Draper is the last Brit standing at Eastbourne

And then there was one. After a memorable few days for British tennis here, now only Jack the lad remains standing.

Jack Draper, 20, will carry the flag into the singles semi-finals after he beat compatriot Ryan Peniston on Thursday. 

Earlier, both Cameron Norrie and Harriet Dart lost their quarter finals to players who are making a habit of collecting home scalps. Maxime Cressy did for Dan Evans on Wednesday and then edged past Norrie 7-5 7-5.

Next on Centre Court, Dart was ultimately outclassed by Petra Kvitova, the two-time Wimbledon champion who beat Katie Boulter 24 hours earlier. No disgrace there.

For Norrie, though, this was a strange end to his Wimbledon preparations. ‘Perfect, exactly what I needed,’ is how he described this week.

After a solitary grass-court win, this defeat, Norrie insisted, allowed him to tailor his schedule.

But for all of Cressy’s power and deftness, losing to the world No 60 hardly feels like a blessing. Not with Norrie about to lead the British charge at SW19.

‘I don’t know why I am getting asked so much about the being British No 1. For me it’s not the biggest deal in the world,’ he said. ‘Obviously, it is great to be British No 1… it’s very cool, but does not mean anything.’ 

Hardly a rallying cry to Aorangi Terrace. Has anyone come up with a good name for when he is on court? Norrie’s knoll, perhaps? ‘No, just keep it traditional,’ he said. 

‘It’s very cool to be leading all the British guys in the rankings, but I am just focusing on trying to go deep in Wimby.’ 

This was the world No 12’s second Eastbourne quarter-final and his second defeat. He still awaits a first title on grass. Draper remains in the hunt here after he beat Peniston, who reached the quarter finals with victory over Pedro Martinez earlier in the day.

Against Draper, Peniston broke early in both sets, only for the 20-year-old to twice wrest back control. It ended 6-3 6-3.

On Friday, Draper will face Cressy and learn his first-round fate at Wimbledon. On debut last year, he faced Novak Djokovic.

‘I was in Aorgani Park watching it on the big screen,’ he recalled. ‘Hopefully this time I will be on court when it happens so I am not getting nervous.’

Draper added: ‘I definitely believe in my ability and my game to beat the best players in the world, especially on grass. I will go to Wimbledon confident whoever I play… there is no doubt I can go far next week but at the same time there are a lot of things that need to fall into place.’