Wildcard Ward stuns Querrey at Queen's

British wildcard James Ward continued toppling 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 American after bad light interrupted the match on Thursday and showed nerves of 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.