Third seed Juan Martin del Potro opened his Queen’s campaign with a clinical 7-5 6-4 victory over Canada’s world number 25 Denis Shapovalov.

The 30-year-old, whose season has been interrupted by a knee injury, rarely looked like surrendering his serve.

Shapovalov, 20, has lost in the first round of his past three events and struggled with his ball toss at times.

British number one Kyle Edmund and compatriot Dan Evans are in action later on Wednesday.

Edmund plays top-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, while three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka is Evans’ opponent.

Andy Murray’s return to competitive action after five months out and surgery on a career-threatening hip injury has been pushed back until Thursday after Tuesday’s rain delays.

He will play alongside Spain’s Feliciano Lopez in the doubles.

Former British number one Andy Murray is set to take another step in his comeback from hip surgery by playing with Brazilian Marcelo Melo at Eastbourne next week.

Murray will make his competitive return alongside Spain’s Feliciano Lopez in the doubles at Queen’s this week.

Their match has been pushed back to Thursday after rain washed out play in London on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old Scot had a hip resurfacing operation in January.

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The three-time Grand Slam singles champion has linked up with 37-year-old Lopez in a short-term arrangement at Queen’s, playing again just five months after being seemingly resigned to retirement because of the “constant pain” in his hip.

Now he will play with 35-year-old Melo on the south coast, while it has not been confirmed who Murray is set to partner if he plays at Wimbledon next month.

Former world number one doubles player Melo is a two-time Grand Slam men’s doubles champion, having won the 2015 French Open and 2017 Wimbledon titles, and is currently fourth in the doubles rankings.

Murray, whose last match was a five-set defeat by Roberto Bautista Agut in the opening round of the Australian Open in January, has said he still has “quite a lot of work to do” before he can play in singles again.

No player has ever resumed a singles career after a hip resurfacing operation, although American doubles player Bob Bryan returned five months after the surgery in 2018.

The Nature Valley International starts in Eastbourne on Monday, with live coverage across the BBC on television, radio and online.

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When the Wimbledon wildcards are announced on Wednesday there may well be an unfamiliar name among them – Paul Jubb.

Last month, the 19-year-old raised a few eyebrows in the tennis world when he became the first Briton to land the US colleges’ prestigious NCAA men’s singles title, previously won by Grand Slam winners Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Bob Bryan.

That victory should have guaranteed him a wildcard for September’s US Open, but he will be denied the privilege because he is not American.

The York-born player, who moved to Hull to live with his grandmother at the age of three, began playing tennis at primary school before he stepped up his commitment to the sport while attending Malet Lambert school.

After winning the under-16s national title, he decided to take the opportunity of further developing his skills in the American college system.

He is not the only Briton to follow that route, with British number two Cameron Norrie also coming through the US system and recommending more players consider it.

“Lawn Tennis Association coach James Trotman [who has worked with British number one Kyle Edmund] played a big part and mentioned my name to a few people, including my current coach Josh Goffi,” Jubb told BBC’s Look North.

“Josh, while he was recruiting in London, came up to Hull to watch me train. The ball got rolling and a few months later I was at the University of South Carolina, where, aside from playing tennis, I’m also studying retail management.”

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Jubb only lost two matches during the college season before overcoming previously unbeaten Nuno Borges of Mississippi State in the NCAA final in Florida, in May.

“It was a huge confidence booster,” he added. “Hopefully, it’s a step in the right direction for a long future.”

Jubb is back in his homeland at the moment. He took part in his first ATP Challenger match this month, taking a set off compatriot and world number 204 James Ward before eventually losing.

“My expectations weren’t high,” he said of his defeat at the Surbiton Trophy.

“I felt like I was right there with him and I took a lot of confidence from the match.”

Jubb says he is hoping to get more experience on the professional tour and will remain in London during the grass-court season – a convenient location if Wimbledon comes calling.

Andy Murray’s return to competitive action has been delayed until Thursday after rain washed out Tuesday’s play at Queen’s Club.

The 32-year-old is playing in the doubles alongside Feliciano Lopez after five months out and a hip operation.

The pair’s match against Colombia’s Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah was due to be played on Wednesday.

However, Kyle Edmund’s match against Stefanos Tsitsipas is one of several to take its place in the order of play.

British number one Edmund had expected to get his Queen’s campaign underway on Tuesday, only to be thwarted by persistent rain.

British number three Dan Evans’ match against Stan Wawrinka was also carried over until Wednesday.

Juan Martin del Potro, Nick Kyrgios and Grigor Dimitrov are among the other players to have their schedules disrupted.

More rain is forecast for Wednesday, although with drier spells in the afternoon.

It is only third time in the tournament’s 18-year history that an entire day’s play has been lost to rain.

The tournament’s showpiece court was briefly revealed midway through the afternoon but more rain brought the covers back across.

The day’s play at the Nature Valley Classic in Birmingham, which features some of the world’s best women’s players, was brought to an early end by rain.

Wednesday’s Centre Court order of play:

Juan Martin del Potro (Arg) v Denis Shapovalov (Can)

Stan Wawrinka (Swi) v Dan Evans (GB)

Stefanos Tsitsipas (Gre) v Kyle Edmund (GB)

Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) v Felix Auger-Aliassime (Can)

Matches to start at 12:00 BST

Roger Federer will meet Jo-Wilfried Tsonga next after beginning his grass-court season with a 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 win over Australia’s John Millman in Halle.

Federer, 37, lost to Millman at last year’s US Open and was given a thorough work-out by the world number 57.

Neither offered up any break points in the first set and, after Federer had swept the tie-break, the Swiss secured the only break of the second set.

Tsonga beat Federer in an epic five-set comeback at Wimbledon in 2011.

The French world number 77, who overcame compatriot Benoit Paire 6-4 7-5 in his own first-round match, also beat Federer in the pair’s two most recent matches.

In total, Federer leads their head-to-head record by 11 wins to six.

“It is always important to win your first game on grass, because otherwise the grass season can be very short,” said Federer, a 20-time Grand Slam champion, after his win.

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German Alex Zverev, who hurt his knee in his win over Robin Haase on Monday, has withdrawn from the tournament’s doubles draw.

The second seed however remains in the singles and will take on American Steve Johnson on Thursday.

Defending champion Borna Coric coasted to a comfortable 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 win over Spain’s Jaume Munar and will play Portugal’s Joao Sousa next.