Daniel Evans and Lloyd Glasspool made a winning start Tuesday at the Cinch Championships, where they defeated Liam Broady and Jonny O’Mara 7-6(5), 6-4 to advance and set a blockbuster second-round clash against Roland Garros champions Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek.

Evans and Glasspool won five consecutive games after falling to a 1-4 deficit in the second set to survive their countrymen Broady and O’Mara.

Also in action at the Queen’s Club, Nicolas Mahut and Fabrice Martin saved two match points to escape Julian Cash and Luke Johnson 6-7(3), 7-6(2), 14-12.

Halle
Qualifiers Albano Olivetti and David Vega Hernandez scored the upset of the day when they rallied to beat second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 4-6, 7-6(5), 10-8 at the Terra Wortmann Open. In the Match Tie-break, Olivetti and Vega Hernandez won all nine points behind their serve to seal the victory.

Marcelo Melo and John Peers also advanced after ousting third seeds Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 6-7(3), 6-3, 10-6. Nicolas Jarry and Rafael Matos moved past Austrians Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler.

Andy Murray is not overreacting to a first-round exit Tuesday at the Cinch Championships. The 36-year-old is instead considering how well he has competed the past month, in which he has claimed two ATP Challenger Tour titles on grass.

The former World No. 1 was unable to extend his winning run in west London, with Alex de Minaur ousting the record five-time Queen’s Club champion 6-3, 6-1. Despite the defeat, Murray is choosing to draw on the positives.

“Obviously after today, it’s easy to overreact. I lost to a good player and it was obviously very comfortable,” Murray said in his post-match press conference. “But at the same time, over the past couple of weeks, yes, it’s obviously not the same level of opponents, but I won the [Nottingham Challenger] last week without dropping a set.

“I only lost one set in Surbiton. Was holding serve very comfortably. Was moving well, hitting the ball well. There are a lot of positive signs there.”

World No. 38 Murray will next head to the All England Club, where he will be celebrating the 10th anniversary since his first Wimbledon. Murray also triumphed at the season’s third major in 2016. The 46-time tour-level titlist will enjoy some downtime before playing his home Slam.

“Just recharge a little bit, and then go to work on my game,” Murray said. “I don’t want to overanalyse. Today [there are] definitely some things I can do better, but at the same time, I have done lots of good things over the last couple of weeks as well. I want to keep going in that direction.

“Keep serving well, keep working on my movement. That was something we spent a lot of time working on before Surbiton and Nottingham, and it’s really crucial for me that I’m moving well. So [I will] definitely spend a lot of time working on that.”

Murray arrived at the Queen’s Club with a chance to be seeded at Wimbledon, depending on his results at the ATP 500 event. The Scot was asked if that thought was in his mind while in action against De Minaur. Murray stated he has known about his seeding chances for several weeks and the possibility did not affect his play Tuesday.

“I knew I was pretty much either going to have to make a final here if I didn’t do well in Surbiton and Nottingham, or if I won both of those events, it was looking like at least a quarter-final to do it,” Murray said. “I was aware of that before all of the matches that I played the past few weeks.”

Alexander Zverev delivered a rock-solid performance Tuesday to down Dominic Thiem at the Terra Wortmann Open. It was both men’s first grass-court match since 2021.

The home favourite Zverev prevailed 6-3, 6-4 at Halle’s OWL Arena to advance to a second-round clash against Denis Shapovalov. Zverev kept Thiem under pressure throughout with a sublime serving performance during which he saved the only break point he faced, with the 26-year-old finishing having won 85 per cent (29/34) of points behind his first delivery.

“I’m happy to get the win,” said Zverev. “Obviously grass is a difficult surface to get a rhythm on. It was a typical grass match, in a way, one break in each set. All-in-all I’m happy to be through and hopefully will have some more matches here.

“I was moving well. I was not hitting the ball as well as I wanted to, but it’s very difficult, the first time on grass in two years.”

With his 79-minute triumph, Zverev improved to 4-8 in his ATP Head2Head series with Thiem. The World No. 22 now holds a 13-6 record in Halle, where he reached the final in 2016 (l. to Mayer) and 2017 (l. to Federer).

“I think [the crowd] will help me a lot tomorrow, but he’s an excellent grass-court player,” said Zverev, when asked about his second-round opponent Shapovalov. “He’s been to the semi-finals of Wimbledon, so it’s one of his favourite surfaces I think. I’m looking forward to that match because I think it’s going to be a real challenge.”

Defending champion Hubert Hurkacz also advanced to the second round after holding off an inspired comeback by qualifer Christopher Eubanks.

Eubanks saved four match points in the second-set tie-break before forcing a decider in his maiden ATP Head2Head meeting with Hurkacz. An early break in the third set was enough for Hurkacz to claim a two-hour, three-minute victory, however, as the sixth seed prevailed 6-4, 6-7(11), 6-3 to move to a 6-2 career record in Halle.

The defending champ is through to R2 in Halle! 👏@HubertHurkacz fights past Eubanks 6-4 6-7(11) 6-3.@ATPHalle | #TerraWortmannOpen pic.twitter.com/9VTS9aJcXF

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 20, 2023

Hurkacz’s second-round opponent will be Tallon Griekspoor, who defeated Roberto Carballes Baena 6-2, 7-5. It was a sixth consecutive tour-level victory for Griekspoor, who lifted his maiden ATP Tour title on grass in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last week.

Carlos Alcaraz survived a major scare on Tuesday to earn victory on his Cinch Championships debut. The Spaniard rallied from a set down to move past French lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) at the ATP 500.

Competing in his third tour-level grass-court event and first outside of Wimbledon, the top seed took time to adjust to the conditions. After dropping the first set, Alcaraz improved his movement on the slick London lawns. He used the drop shot effectively in the second set to level, before battling from a break down in the decider to advance after two hours and 34 minutes.

“It was really difficult for me at the beginning to adapt my tennis, my game to the grass,” Alcaraz said. “For me it is tough playing here but of course I enjoyed playing on the grass and playing at Queen’s. It is a tournament that I really wanted to play. It was a good performance from me on my first match on grass.

“I have never played a tournament except Wimbledon on grass and I wanted to play here. I have watched this tournament on TV and I always thought it looked like a beautiful place to play and be. I am enjoying every single second. The crowd was amazing and the court was unbelievable.”

The 20-year-old, who was playing for the first time since his Roland Garros semi-final defeat against Novak Djokovic, will next meet Jiri Lehecka after the Czech downed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6(4), 6-3.

Alcaraz is chasing his fifth tour-level title of the season this week. If he lifts his maiden trophy on grass, he will return to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Rinderknech caused Alcaraz problems throughout the thrilling clash in west London, repeatedly closing the net to pressure the top seed in their second ATP Head2Head meeting. The Spaniard found his best level when it mattered, though, scampering down a series of drop volleys in the third-set tie-break to improve to 36-4 on the season.

Alcaraz has captured 10 tour-level titles in his career and risen to No. 1. However, the 20-year-old has limited experience on grass, with his match against Rinderknech just his seventh on the surface. Last year the Spaniard missed Queen’s due to injury before he advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon.

“I could not play tennis on grass at home but I could practise the movement on grass when at home. I came here a few days before to play here and practise a bit. I felt really good,” Alcaraz said.