London: British wildcard James Ward continued flooring the seeds at Queen's Club on Friday when he finished off defending champion Sam Querrey to reach the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon warm-up event.
London cabbie's son Ward, ranked 216 in the world and trained by an Argentine cage fighter, returned to court level at one set all against the 13th seeded American after bad light stopped play on Thursday and showed real steel, breaking serve in the seventh game of the decider to win 3-6 6-3 6-4.
With rain clouds still threatening to disrupt the programme the 24-year-old Ward, who knocked out fourth seed Stanislas Wawrinka in the second round, is due back on court later to face Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
There was further good news for British players, if not the fans who had bought tickets, when second seed Andy Murray was given a walkover into the semi-finals after Croatian opponent Marin Cilic withdrew because of an ankle injury.
World number one Rafa Nadal will aim for a semi-final spot later when he plays French fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga while Andy Roddick, bidding for a record fifth title at the west London tournament, is up against Spain's Fernando Verdasco.
Ward, who usually competes on the second-tier Challenger Circuit, a world away from the stage inhabited by Murray, had Diego Visotzky at courtside on Friday, the mixed martial arts (MMA) cage fighter hired in an attempt to improve his ranking.
His performances so far suggest his unusual choice of fitness trainer is having a beneficial effect.
"Sometimes I do make him wrestle, it's part of the mental conditioning thing," the sturdy Visotzky said on Friday as Ward prepared for his surprise quarter-final.
"It's conditioning so I let him beat me sometimes. If I wanted to, maybe I could kill him!"
Motivation, if any were needed, for Ward to continue punching above his weight throughout the grasscourt season.
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