Earlier in the day, the Queen’s Club Championships saw Lorenzo Musetti offer up an exciting upset when he defeated the tournament’s 2nd seed, Alex De Minaur in three sets to advance to the second round. The 4th seed, Taylor Fritz, also defeated Japanese talent, Taro Daniel, in an exciting clash that lasted an hour and four minutes.
It took Matteo Arnaldi two hours and eight minutes to come from a set down and defeat Ugo Humbert in their first-round clash. What followed were clashes involving the defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz, 5-time champion and home favorite, Andy Murray, and other top seeds like Tommy Paul (5), and Ben Shelton (6).
Queen’s Club Defending Champion Wins
It took Carlos Alcaraz one hour and 21 minutes to overcome Francisco Cerundolo. This was the Argentine’s first match since the 5-set defeat to Novak Djokovic in the French Open fourth round.
After a flawless hold of his serve, Carlos Alcaraz broke Cerundolo’s serve in the second game of the first set to establish a 2-0 first-set lead. The Spaniard then broke the Argentine again after consolidating his lead to extend the lead to 4-0. Alcaraz went on to serve out the set to win 6-1.
The second set of this first-round Queen’s Club clash wasn’t as routine for Alcaraz as the first. Cerundolo broke his serve in the second game to open up a 2-0 lead on the Spaniard. It wasn’t until the ninth game of the set that the Spaniard got a break back to get back on serve.
Alcaraz then edged forward two games later with a double break before serving out the set to win 7-5. Alcaraz would take on either Mariano Navone or Jack Draper in the Queen’s Club second round.
Home Favorite Earns A Gritty Win
Andy Murray, the Queen’s Club’s 5-time singles champion, six times when adding doubles titles, clashed with Alexei Popyrin in the first round. Andy Murray started the clash with a flawless service display, holding to love.
Seven games later, the Brit broke the Australian’s serve and served out the match to take a 6-3 first-set lead. 11 minutes into the second set, Popyrin broke Murray’s serve and held serve to open a 3-0 lead. The Australian held on to his serve to win the second set 6-3.
Andy Murray struck back immediately, breaking Popyrin’s serve in the second game of the third set after a 6-minute duel. The former world No. 1 and Olympic champion held on to his serve to start his Queen’s Club campaign with a win.
Other Queen’s Club Championships Clashes
Tommy Paul clashed with Sebastian Baez in the first round of the Queen’s Club Championships. The American converted two breakpoints in the first set to eclipse the Argentine’s breakpoint and eventually win the first set 6-4. Paul’s dominance when returning Baez’s serves won him the second set 6-4. The American will play against Alejandro Tabilo in the Queen’s Club second round.
Sebastian Korda was nearly flawless on his first serves in his first-round clash with Karen Khachanov. He needed one break of Khachanov’s serve in seven chances to take the first set 7-5. The second set required a tiebreak. The straight-sets win means Korda would face Grigor Dimitrov in the second round.
Billy Harris survived a second-set resurgence from Tomas Martin Etcheverry to win their Queen’s Club first-round clash in three sets, while Lyon Open winner, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, defeated 6th seed, Ben Shelton, in straight sets. Brandon Nakashima clawed one set back after dropping the first set to Danny Evans, and eventually took the win via walkover after the Brit retired.
About the Author
Ebenezer has been an avid writer for over a decade and a half. Within that period, he has garnered experience in various fields such as editing, graphics design, transcribing, sales, data analysis, and football management. He’s also the author of the mystery thriller novel “The Eye of Ra.” For more articles by Ebenezer Ugorji, click here and here!
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