Alex de Minaur has dominated former world No.1 Andy Murray in their first-round meeting at an ATP 500 grass-court tournament in London.
London, Great Britain, 20 June 2023 | Leigh Rogers
Queen’s Club, Great Britain
Alex de Minaur has made a sensational start to his campaign at an ATP 500 tournament at Queen’s Club by eliminating five-time champion Andy Murray in the opening round.
The seventh-seeded Australian recorded a 6-3 6-1 victory against the former world No.1 and did not drop serve in their 85-minute encounter.
CLINICAL 👏@alexdeminaur makes the RO16, taking out Murray in a swift display, 6-3 6-1 at Queen’s.#cinchChampionships pic.twitter.com/4XkAe6HtUQ
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 20, 2023
This snaps a 10-match winning streak for world No.38 Murray, who had won back-to-back ATP Challenger titles in the past fortnight.
It also marks a welcome return to form for world No.18 De Minaur, who had not scored a top-50 victory since his title-winning run at Acapulco in early March.
De Minaur has now won all four of his career meetings against the three-time Grand Slam champion.
Muzz doesn’t like playing demon at all, crazy
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) June 20, 2023
Jordan Thompson also advanced after winning an all-Australian opening-round showdown.
Originally scheduled to play Canadian Milos Raonic, Thompson instead faced Alexei Popyrin.
Former world No.3 Raonic withdrew with a shoulder injury and was replaced by lucky loser Popyrin.
“It’s tough playing another Aussie and not knowing I was playing him at the start of the day, but I think I dealt with that pretty well,” Thompson said.
World No.76 Thompson continued his impressive grass-court form to score a 6-4 6-4 victory.
“The way (Popyrin) plays is not a huge adjustment to Raonic,” said the 29-year-old Australian.
“It can throw you off a little bit but thankfully didn’t today.”
Thompson, who last week advanced to his first ATP-level final in four years, has won eight of his 10 grass-court singles matches so far this season.
Aussies in action – Queen’s Club
RESULTS
Men’s singles, first round
[7] Alex de Minaur (AUS) d Andy Murray (GBR) 6-3 6-1
Jordan Thompson (AUS) d [LL] Alexei Popyrin (AUS) 6-4 6-4
COMING UP
Men’s singles, second round
[7] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v Diego Schwartzman (ARG)
Jordan Thompson (AUS) v [5] Cameron Norrie (GBR)
Men’s doubles, first round
Matt Ebden (AUS)/Rohan Bopanna (IND) v Jamie Murray (GBR)/Michael…
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