LONDON: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga became the latest star to crash out of Queen’s Club as the world number 10 was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller on Wednesday.
After world number one Andy Murray, three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka and former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic all endured shock first round defeats on Tuesday, it was Tsonga’s turn to suffer a surprise second round exit.
Fifth seeded Tsonga is traditionally a powerful force on grass and finished as Queen’s runner-up in 2011, while twice appearing in the Wimbledon semifinals.
But the 32-year-old, who has won titles in Lyon, Marseille and Rotterdam in 2017, was out of sorts from start to finish against the big-serving Muller. It took Muller just 69 minutes to hand Tsonga another frustrating loss on the heels of his embarrassing first round exit against Renzo Olivo at the French Open. Muller is in the quarterfinals at the Wimbledon warm-up event for a third successive year and will play former Queen’s champion Sam Querrey or Australia’s Jordan Thompson for a place in the last four.
Donald Young reached the Queen’s quarterfinals for the first time as the American world number 55 defeated Serbia’s Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-4.
Young, who arrived at Queen’s on a five-match losing streak, faces former US Open champion Marin Cilic or American qualifier Stefan Kozlov with a semifinal berth at stake.
On Tuesday, Murray suffered one of the most embarrassing defeats of his career as the world number one slumped to a stunning first-round defeat by Australia’s Jordan Thompson.
Murray was hoping to warm up for his Wimbledon title defence by winning the Queen’s title for a sixth time, but instead he succumbed to an astonishing 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 exit against the world number 90. The 30-year-old’s loss was all the more remarkable because Thompson was only called up to face Murray at the last minute.
Murray was scheduled to face Aljaz Bedene, but he withdrew with a wrist injury just hours before Tuesday’s match, leaving Thompson, who was at the west London venue as an alternate after losing in the qualifying rounds, to scramble to get ready for his unexpected date with destiny.
With the Queen’s champion well below his best, 23-year-old Thompson seized his opportunity in memorable fashion and handed Murray his earliest exit from the tournament since 2012. “It’s a big blow for sure. It’s not ideal obviously,” said Murray, who has failed to get past the second round in three of his last four tournaments.
“He was better than me. I didn’t create loads of chances and didn’t return particularly well. If I play like that, I certainly won’t win Wimbledon.”
The shock loss ended Murray’s 14-match winning streak on grass and his 10-match unbeaten run at Queen’s. “Andy’s the world number one. I’ve looked up to him. That’s definitely the biggest win of my career,” Thompson said.
“I was sitting around hoping to get a match. I got in the draw and I’m so lucky to be here.”
Murray’s downfall left Queen’s without the top three seeds as world number three Stan Wawrinka and world number six Milos Raonic also crashed out. Wawrinka was beaten 7-6 (7/4) 7-5 by Spain’s Feliciano Lopez in the Swiss star’s first match since being thrashed by Rafael Nadal in the French Open final. — AFP
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