LONDON (AFP) – Former champions Grigor Dimitrov and Marin Cilic have advanced to the last 16 at the Queen’s Club grass-court tournament three seeded players were eliminated from the Wimbledon warmup.
Dimitrov, the 2014 champion, took out third-seeded Cameron Norrie of Britain 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-4. Norrie was a finalist at Queen’s last year.
Another Briton, a wild card in Liam Broady, was beaten by Cilic, who won the tournament in 2012 and ’18 and also reached two more finals. Cilic won 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.
The biggest shock saw fourth-seeded Taylor Fritz of the United States lose 6-3, 6-2 to Jack Draper, a 20-year-old British wild card ranked at No. 99.
Reilly Opelka, the eighth-seeded American, was defeated by Alex de Minaur of Australia 6-4, 6-4.
Other winners in the last 32 on day one of the tournament were Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Alexander Bublik, who advanced after Lorenzo Musetti was forced to retire after falling heavily.
Andy Murray didn’t even get to start a match at Queen’s Club.
The five-time champion opted to skip the event after sustaining an abdominal strain in the final he lost in Stuttgart on Sunday.
“The tournament means a lot to me, and it’s disappointing not to compete, especially after playing some good matches on the grass already,” Murray said.
Murray is hoping to be fit enough to play at Wimbledon, which starts on June 27.