Defending Champ Lopez Ousts Goffin At Queen’s Club

Defending champion Feliciano Lopez got his Fever-Tree Championships title defence off to the best of starts, beating fourth seed David Goffin 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-3 on Tuesday.

The Spanish left-hander defeated Goffin for the first time in four FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, winning 88 per cent of first-serve points and converting each of his three break point chances throughout the one-hour, 49-minute encounter.

Lopez improves to 21-11 at The Queen’s Club and 3-1 on grass this year, after reaching the MercedesCup quarter-finals (l. to Kyrgios) last week. The 31-year-old has won 66 per cent of his grass-court matches, according to his FedEx ATP Win/Loss Record, his best statistic on any surface. Lopez also advanced to the quarter-finals after Canada’s Milos Raonic withdrew from the tournament after his first-round win.

Former finalist Raonic was leading 6-1, 3-1, when his Indian opponent, Yuki Bhambri, a qualifier, retired due to injury after 45 minutes. Raonic, the 2016 runner-up (l. to Murray), later in the day withdrew from the tournament with a right shoulder injury, a major personal disappointment following a final run at last week’s MercedesCup (l. to Federer).

“Unfortunately I have sustained a strain to my right pectoral muscle,” shared Raonic. “This happened on the second to last point of the match, and as a result I am not able to continue with the tournament. I’m really disappointed as I was playing well and I love this tournament – I have happy memories from reaching the final in 2016 and hoped to do so again. I wish the tournament another successful event, and I hope to be back in top shape and health for Wimbledon.”

Leonardo Mayer scored his second career Top 10 win, edging third seeded Kevin Anderson 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(3).

Mayer, now 2-29 against Top 10 opposition, withstood 26 aces from the 2015 finalist to snap a three-match losing streak after two hours and 24 minutes. The Argentine, making just his second appearance at The Queen’s Club, reduces his FedEx ATP Head2Head series deficit against Anderson to 2-4. Mayer’s only previous win against a Top 10 player came against David Ferrer at the 2014 German Tennis Championships presented by Kampmann.

“Anderson is a player who has a great serve… Today I could not break him but I made some small differences in both tie-breaks,” said Mayer.

“It’s very nice for me to beat a [Top 10] player like him… it’s been a long time since I won against a top player. Today I played really well.”

Mayer will face #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe for a quarter-final spot. Tiafoe defeated countryman Jared Donaldson in straight sets on Monday.

Kontinen/Peers Comfortably Through To QF
Reigning Nitto ATP Finals champions Henri Kontinen and John Peers made a successful return to London at the Fever-Tree Championships, defeating Canadian duo Daniel Nestor and Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 7-5.

The second seeds won 85 per cent of serve points (41/48) to advance after 56 minutes. Kontinen and Peers will meet Mike Bryan and Jack Sock for a semi-final spot.

The American duo came from a set down before dominating a Match Tie-break to beat Santiago Gonzalez and Sam Querrey 6-7(5), 6-2, 10-2. Bryan and Sock won 50 per cent of return points in the 72-minute clash.

Did You Know?
Since March’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Milos Raonic has compiled a 15-4 record on the ATP World Tour.