Andy Murray’s Wimbledon dream shattered after dropping opening match at Queen’s

Andy Murray’s dream of being seeded at Wimbledon got here to an finish as he fell on the first hurdle at Queen’s. The world No 38 suffered a 6-3 6-1 defeat to seventh seed Alex de Minaur in simply an hour and 25 minutes. He wanted to win to maintain his hopes of being within the high 32 forward of Wimbledon.

Murray got here into Queen’s on a 10-match successful streak on the grass, choosing up back-to-back Challenger titles in Surbiton and Nottingham. The Brit had a dropping 0-3 document in opposition to de Minaur – together with at Monte Carlo earlier this yr.

He appeared to take an early lead with three break factors however the seventh seed saved all of them to get on the board. But it was de Minaur who pounced first to take a 3-2 lead and he broke Murray for a second time to shut out the opener 6-3 in simply 48 minutes.

The Australian confirmed his ability as one of many quickest gamers on tour and moved effortlessly across the courtroom as he broke Murray once more within the second set, taking a stronghold on the match.

The 36-year-old discovered himself beneath rising strain from de Minaur and fought off three extra break factors earlier than lastly succumbing on the fourth to let the world No 18 serve for the match.

The Brit fought again to save lots of three match factors however he could not do sufficient to get again within the contest as de Minaur snapped Murray’s successful streak with a convincing straight-set victory, dropping simply 4 video games.

Murray had been bidding to earn a spot as one of many high 32 seeds at Wimbledon and will have assured it with a semi-final run this week. But he couldn’t translate his successful run on the Challenger circuit to the ATP Tour.