Jack Draper's Queen's campaign came to an end on Saturday as he was beaten 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in a tightly contested semifinal clash with world No. 30 Jiri Lehecka while suffering from tonsillitis.
Draper, who smashed and broke his racket against a digital advertising hoarding that surrounded the court in the final stages of the contest, had been hoping to underline his grass-court credentials ahead of Wimbledon, but the Brit could not find a way past his highly rated opponent.
After the defeat, Draper revealed he was diagnosed with tonsillitis on Friday.
"Today's probably the worst I have felt," Draper said. "Did I think about withdrawing? No, not at all. I'm in the semifinals at Queen's. I'd probably go on court with a broken leg. I wouldn't have pulled out for anything."
Second seed Draper, bidding to follow in the footsteps of five-time Queen's champion Andy Murray, dropped his opening service game and Lehecka barely a put a foot wrong as he took the first set in clinical fashion.
Draper saved a break point early in the second set and then broke fellow 23-year-old Lehecka's serve for the first time in the 10th game to level the match.
Both players were rock solid on serve in the decider with Lehecka having the first chance of a break at 4-4 but Draper survived to pile the pressure on his opponent.
But Lehecka did not flinch and broke serve at 5-5 with two stunning passing shots, one a forehand and then a backhand, to leave Draper smashing his racket in anger against the advertising hoarding and receiving a code violation as a result.
There was still the small matter of holding serve to reach the final but Lehecka did that in style, roaring in delight after clinching his first victory against a top-10 player since beating Carlos Alcaraz in Doha in February.
He will face either top seed Alcaraz once again in Sunday's final.
Asked for his thoughts on reaching the final, Lehecka told the BBC: "It means a lot. You don't meet a player like Jack every day; he's an amazing competitor."
Information from Reuters contributed to this report