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Defending Champ Lopez Ousts Goffin At Queen's Club

  • Posted: Jun 19, 2018

Defending Champ Lopez Ousts Goffin At Queen’s Club

Jun192018

Mayer defeats 2015 finalist Anderson in final-set tie-break

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).

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“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.

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Murray makes encouraging return but loses to Kyrgios

  • Posted: Jun 19, 2018
2018 Fever-Tree Championships on the BBC
Venue: Queen’s Club, London Dates: 18-24 June
Coverage: Watch live on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TVs, the BBC Sport website and app.

Andy Murray’s comeback after almost a year out with a hip injury ended in a narrow defeat by Nick Kyrgios at Queen’s.

The 31-year-old Briton lost 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 5-7 against the Australian world number 21.

Murray was playing his first competitive match since losing at Wimbledon last year.

He tested Kyrgios in an encouraging performance, saving two match points before losing.

  • Watch live coverage from Queen’s
  • ‘I love playing tennis. I’ve missed it a lot’ – Murray column
  • Live scores, schedule and results
  • Djokovic wins Queen’s opener in style

Former world number one Murray insisted he was not focusing on winning against 23-year-old Kyrgios, but was solely interested in the way his body would cope with the rigours of playing an ATP tour match.

Yet he looked on course for a win that few gave him hope of achieving after so long out of the game.

True, Kyrgios – a mercurial and unpredictable player – was not fully focused in an erratic first set, eventually switching on mentally to fight back against his good friend and win in two hours and 39 minutes.

Neither Kyrgios’ display, nor the result, should take anything away from Murray’s performance.

Although there were periods where Murray looked understandably rusty, all the facets of the three-time Grand Slam champion’s game – accurate serving, shot-making, dogged defence, court coverage and will-to-win – were seen at times in front of a packed home crowd in London.

Understandably, he faded in the decider – his shot selection letting him down in the final game as a double fault allowed Kyrgios to take his third match point.

“It was great to see him back and see him healthy,” said Kyrgios, who beat Murray for the first time at the sixth attempt.

  • Kvitova beats Konta in Birmingham
  • Federer extends winning run in Halle

Murray proves he is fit enough to compete

Murray’s road back to the court has been a long one – 342 days to be precise – and one which he admits left him “very concerned” about his recovery.

Limping heavily at Wimbledon last year, it was remarkable he managed to reach the last eight before losing in five sets against American Sam Querrey – the last time we saw him on a match court until his return at Queen’s on Tuesday.

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“I was in a bad place,” he said this week. “I could barely walk.”

Rest and recuperation was tried in a bid to manage the problem before he decided to have surgery in January.

The Scot says he is not pain-free and does not expect his hip to be perfect.

Despite that, he believes he can still be more competitive than he was a year ago – and so it proved against Kyrgios.

He showed few signs of restricted or troubled movement against Kyrgios, scampering regularly across the baseline and sprinting forwards to the net.

However, there were worrying signs at the start of the third – Murray holding his lower back and then starting to limp heavily.

Still he dug deep, showing he has not lost any of his fighting spirit, nor any of his will-to-win, before Kyrgios came through to win.

‘Extraordinary performance’ – analysis

Former Great Britain Davis Cup captain John Lloyd on BBC Two: “The expectations are going to rise on Andy Murray after this performance. He still has a bit of work to do but for a first match back it was remarkable.

“The first set looked like a normal first set. He made a few errors and in the third he played well. It was an extraordinary performance considering he has been out for nearly a year.”

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Defending Doubles Champs Survive In London

  • Posted: Jun 18, 2018

Defending Doubles Champs Survive In London

Jun182018

Zverev brothers oust third seeds in Halle

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares were fully tested at the Fever-Tree Championships on Monday, saving seven of nine break points to oust Frenchmen Adrian Mannarino and Fabrice Martin 4-6, 7-6(3), 10-8.

The defending champions have won their opener at The Queen’s Club in each of their three appearances as a team. Three of their six victories at the event as a pair (6-1) have come in Match Tie-breaks. This year’s Acapulco titlists, who have lifted seven tour-level trophies together, next face Novak Djokovic/Stan Wawrinka or Tomas Berdych/Fernando Verdasco.

Murray, a home favourite, was not the only Brit to advance on the first day of action. Kyle Edmund and Neal Skupski earned their first-ever doubles victories at the tournament, beating Grigor Dimitrov and Ryan Harrison 3-6, 7-6(2), 10-3.

Skupski

The Brits overcame a 0-3 deficit in the second set and saved one match point while serving at 5-6 before winning 18 of the match’s final 23 points.

Top seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic also had to battle through a Match Tie-break, defeating Spaniards Felciiano Lopez and Marc Lopez 6-4, 6-7(5), 10-7. Marach/Pavic, who have won four tour-level titles this year will play Rohan Bopanna and Edouard Roger-Vasselin, who moved past Kevin Anderson and Julien Benneteau 6-3, 7-6(3).

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Zverev Brothers Upset Third Seeds In Halle
Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev surprised No. 3 seeds Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 10-8 at the Gerry Weber Open on Monday. The brothers brought a three-match losing streak as a pair to an end, advancing to face Raven Klaasen/Michael Venus or Tim Puetz/Jan-Lennard Struff.

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Queen's Club 2018: Britain's Cameron Norrie loses to Stan Wawrinka

  • Posted: Jun 18, 2018
2018 Fever-Tree Championships on the BBC
Venue: Queen’s Club, London Dates: 18-24 June
Coverage: Watch live on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button, Connected TVs, the BBC Sport website and app. Coverage times

British number two Cameron Norrie was knocked out in the first round of the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen’s Club by Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Wawrinka, who has dropped to 261 in the world after injury, won 6-2 6-3 against the world number 80.

He next faces 2010 champion Sam Querrey, who beat 19-year-old Briton Jay Clarke 6-3 6-3.

Britain’s Andy Murray makes his return to competitive action on Tuesday.

Croatian top seed and 2012 champion Marin Cilic progressed with a 6-3 6-4 win over Spain’s Fernando Verdasco.

Sixth seed Jack Sock of the United States lost 7-5 6-3 to 22-year-old unseeded Russian Daniil Medvedev.

Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller won 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (8-6) against Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov.

  • Watch live BBC TV coverage from Queen’s Club
  • How I recovered from lowest point’ – Murray’s BBC Sport column
  • Live scores, schedule and results

Wawrinka too strong for Norrie

Norrie, 22, has enjoyed a rapid rise this year, climbing into the top 100 for the first time and reaching his first ATP Tour semi-final on the clay in Lyon.

On his way to the last four he earned the biggest win of his career against American world number 10 John Isner, then pushed French number one Lucas Pouille in their French Open second-round match.

But going into Monday’s match against Wawrinka, Norrie had won only two tour-level matches on grass.

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Victory was only Wawrinka’s second on grass in the past three years.

However, his greater pedigree – and power – told as Norrie was far from his best.

Norrie saved a break point in his first service game, only for the powerful Wawrinka to take another opportunity for a 3-1 lead.

Wawrinka dominated the first set, based on some big serving and dominant groundstrokes, and broke again in the final game to wrap up the opener in 27 minutes.

The former Australian Open, French Open and US Open champion broke again early in the second set, going on to seal a comfortable win in less than an hour.

I’m happy to be back healthy and fit – Wawrinka

Wawrinka sat out the second half of the 2017 season after needing knee surgery following his early Wimbledon exit last year, before suffering another setback earlier this year.

Victory over Norrie was only his fifth since his first-round SW19 defeat by Daniil Medvedev in July.

“I’m really happy. It was a really good start – it is never easy, the first match on grass. I served well and I’m happy to be back healthy and fit,” said Wawrinka, who lost in the first round of the French Open last month.

“In general it has been improving and now I feel really good on the court. I feel strong physically.

“I know I will have some ups and downs. I need to be patient, especially mentally, and ready to accept the frustration of not playing my best tennis.”

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