Jack Draper was blown out of the HSBC Championships in front of Jon Bon Jovi to end British interest in the singles.
The PA system played Livin’ On A Prayer during the second set at the Queen’s Club to inspire the crowd and the big left-hander.
But the British No.1 did not go out in a blaze of glory as he lost 6-4 4-6 7-5 to Czech world No.30 Jiri Lehecka.
Frustrated Draper smashed his racquet against the advertising boards in fury – and received a warning – after he was broken for only a second time to allow Lehecka to serve for the match.
The Czech’s big serve was only broken once – and he sent down one huge serve of 141mph – and served 16 aces.
It was Draper’s final event before Wimbledon starts on June 30 though he could play an exhibition match at the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic at Hurlingham Club next week.
Reaching the semi-finals here for the first time will see Draper overtake Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz and return to world No.4 in the new rankings on Monday. He will also be seeded in the top four at Wimbledon and avoid Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz until the semi-finals.
But after losing to world No.62 Alexander Bublik in the fourth round of the French Open, this is the second consecutive event where Draper has lost to a lower ranked player.
Draper gave up the only break of the first set in the opening game when he followed two aces with a double fault on break point.
The world No.30 took his first set point after only 34 minutes with a service winner.
At 1-2 in the second set, Lehecka saved four break points – and the British No.1 smashed into the net and then hit his racquet against his shoe in frustration.
In the next game, Draper saved a break point by retrieving a drop shot and wrongfooting the Czech by going cross court.
With Lehecka serving to stay in the second set at 4-5, Draper forced two set points. And he finally broke the Czech’s serve for the first time when he chased down a drop volley and he steered a backhand pass onto the back of the baseline.
The third set was threatened by rain as the sky darkened but serves still dominated till 5-5. Draper received a time violation and Lehecka then made a crucial break with a superb backhand winner to serve for the match. The British No.1 then picked up another warning for showing his anger by smashing his racquet.
And Lehecka took his first match point after two hours and seven minutes when Draper pushed a forehand service return long.