Jack Draper praised British tennis for its strength after Jacob Fearnley and Cameron Norrie joined the Madrid Open's final 32.
After Fearnley and Norrie beat the seed opponents, the fifth seed Draper defeated the Netherlands' No. 34 Talon Grixpur 6-3 6-4.
Fearnley ranked 68 in the world, defeating 20 players for the first time, defeating the first set from Tomas Machac of the 19th seed of the Czech Republic to resume the game with a 1-6 6-3 6-2 record.
His next opponent will be former Grand Slam semifinalist and 15th seed Bulgaria's three-pointer Dimitrov.
Norrie, now World 91, continued his good form in Madrid, with 2-6 6-4 6-0 success with another Czech player Jiri Lehecka (26th seed), holding a meeting with Canadian lucky loser Gabriel Diallo.
“Last year, Cam was obviously injured, so it was great to see him come back,” Draper told Sky Sports.
“And Jacob, a guy of my age, an incredible player. The British public doesn't know much about him, but I think he will be one of the best players in the world.
“Cam has been there all the time, and he can do that too, so I think it’s really exciting for British tennis and our healthy competition.”
Draper rebounded from the failed defeat of Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Monte Carlo to hold a meeting in the third round with former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini in Italy.
The 23-year-old led 4-2 in just half an hour, and the early rest period left him on his way to winning within an hour and 15 minutes.
He added: “I’m still relatively new to clay, so I know it’s going to be a tough challenge.”
“Everything ticked well, so I hope I can continue to gain more and more confidence and become more effective on this surface.”
Fearnley said he felt he played some “worst tennis” in the first set – and then twisted his ankle.
He said: “It actually helps, believe it or not.
“So far, I think I’m in good shape.”
This is his fourth game after the qualifying matches, and he added: “I’m playing in these big games, these big games and getting used to these surroundings, the better I will be, the better I play.”
