Before Wimbledon, Milos crashes against wild card

LONDON: Milos Raonic’s Wimbledon preparations suffered a major setback on Tuesday as the world number six crashed to a shock Queen’s Club first-round defeat against Australian wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Raonic came agonisingly close to a golden summer on grass last year when he reached the Queen’s and Wimbledon finals, only to lose to Andy Murray on both occasions.

But the Canadian’s hopes of warming up for Wimbledon with another strong showing at Queen’s were wrecked by Kokkinakis’s stunning 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (10/8) triumph on a baking hot afternoon in west London.

Kokkinakis needed a wild card from the tournament organisers to make the Queen’s main draw after his ranking plunged to 698 following an abdominal strain that sidelined him for 18 weeks.

WIN FOR KVITOVA BIRMINGHAM: Two-times Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova got her grass season off to a positive start with a 6-2 6-3 win over compatriot Tereza Smitkova at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham, England on Tuesday. Kvitova, Wimbledon winner in 2011 and 2014, is on the comeback trail after a lengthy absence following a knife attack at her home in the Czech Republic in December.

The 27-year-old’s only appearance this year was at the French Open where she lost in the second round but she is hoping to hit form before Wimbledon in July.

Kvitova took one hour and 23 minutes to beat 22-year-old Smitkova, who is ranked 167th in the world. The Czech will face Britain’s Naomi Brody in the next round after she beat France’s Alize Cornet.

MURRAY’S NEW OPPONENT

LONDON: Top seed and world number one Andy Murray will have a new opponent for the opening match of his title defence at the Aegon Championships on Tuesday after fellow Briton Aljaz Bedene withdrew from the Queen’s Club event with a wrist injury.

Lucky loser Jordan Thompson of Australia will replace him in the third match on centre court.