Preview: Queen's: Alex de Minaur vs. Brandon Nakashima - prediction, head-to-head, tournament so far

Fresh from dispatching Denis Shapovalov to reach his 63rd ATP Tour quarter-final, Alex de Minaur faces Brandon Nakashima in the Queen's Club last eight, aiming to book another semi-final on grass.

The Australian will need to outlast his American opponent, who dropped just four points in a routine win over Ignacio Buse to reach another quarter-final at the London event, after last year's run.

Match preview

De Minaur headed into Wednesday's contest with Shapovalov aware of his 5-0 record against the Canadian, and the Aussie got the better of his increasingly frustrated opponent.

Having been neck and neck with the Canadian, the Demon took advantage as Shapovalov gradually lost his head on court and the double faults mounted.

In a sense, it felt fitting that the match concluded with Shapovalov producing his ninth double fault in their sixth meeting on tour, as De Minaur improved to 6-0 in their head-to-head.

The upshot of Wednesday's victory is that the top seed is into another grass-court quarter-final this season, having been a finalist in Den Bosch last week before losing a tight final to Kamil Majchrzak.

A 2021 semi-finalist and 2023 finalist, the Aussie star came into this year's tournament on a three-match losing run at Queen's — suffering defeats to Carlos Alcaraz in 2023, Lorenzo Musetti in 2024 and Jiri Lehecka 12 months ago — but has put those disappointments behind him to improve to 10-6 overall at the event.

Now, the world No. 6 will aim to build on his grass-court momentum and strong record at the ATP 500 event as he targets a third semi-final in London.

The Demon will hope to secure a second victory over the second-time Queen's quarter-finalist, who defeated Buse in the day's earlier round-of-16 match.

The American may have lost serve once, but he responded by breaking his Peruvian opponent five times en route to a 6-2, 6-2 success to reach consecutive quarter-finals at the London event.

While last year's run ended with a thrilling three-setter against British star Jack Draper, the 24-year-old hopes to fare better second time around.

Having been involved in several thrilling matches at Queen's in the last two years — losing to Musetti in three in 2024, defeating big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and home player Dan Evans 12 months ago before losing to Draper — the 24-year-old has so far enjoyed a straightforward path to Friday's quarter-final.

However, the world No. 29 will anticipate another thrilling encounter in London as he faces the world No. 6, whose grass-court momentum certainly makes the top seed the favourite for Saturday's semi-final berth.

Tournament so far

Alex de Minaur:

First round: vs. Gabriel Diallo 7-6(8) 6-3

Second round: vs. Denis Shapovalov 6-4 6-1

Brandon Nakashima:

First round: vs. Marton Fucsovics 6-3 6-3

Second round: vs. Ignacio Buse 6-2 6-2

Head To Head

Mubadala Citi DC Open (2025) - Quarter-final: De Minaur 6-4 6-4

European Open (2021) - Round of 32: Nakashima 6-4 6-0

De Minaur and Nakashima are tied at 1-1 heading into their Queen's quarter-final, which marks their first meeting outside a hard court.

The American beat the Demon in their first meeting in Antwerp, albeit indoors, before the Australian star gained revenge four years later in the 2025 quarter-final in Washington.

Both matches ended with the winner securing triumph in straight sets, but it remains to be seen whether the same pattern continues on Friday.

We say: De Minaur to win in three sets

De Minaur's form heading into another Queen's quarter-final makes the Aussie star the favourite to get the better of Nakashima, whose first competitive action on the surface since Roland Garros began this week.

The Demon is unbeaten in quarter-finals at this event, beating Marin Cilic and Adrian Mannarino in 2021 and 2023 respectively, and he should improve to 3-0 in such last-eight matchups to reach the semis.