Wawrinka ends wretched run with a solid start at Queen’s
Nishikori survives opening grass test in Halle
LONDON, June 18, (AFP): Stan Wawrinka kicked off his Wimbledon preparations with a 6-2, 6-3 win over British youngster Cameron Norrie in the Queen’s Club first round on Monday.
Wawrinka has struggled to return to peak form since suffering a left knee injury last yeat that required two operations and wiped out the second half of the Swiss star’s season.
Still hampered by the problem this term, Wawrinka was sidelined again for three months in between a second round exit at the Australian Open and a first round loss in the French Open.
The 33-year-old arrived in west London having lost six of his last seven ATP Tour matches and, given grass has never been Wawrinka’s favourite surface, he might have feared more misery at the pre-Wimbledon event.
But the three-time Grand Slam champion had an obliging opponent in wild card entry Norrie.
Wawrinka hardly had to break sweat to see off Norrie and next faces former Queen’s winner Sam Querrey of the United States or British wild card Jay Clarke.
In other first round action, top seed Marin Cilic made a flying start to his bid for another strong grass-court campaign with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco.
Former US Open champion Cilic is bidding for a second Queen’s title and a fourth appearance in the final after losing last year’s title match against Feliciano Lopez.
The world number six, who finished as Australian Open runner-up in January, was back on grass in London for the first time since his tearful injury-plagued Wimbledon final defeat against Roger Federer last year.
Cilic made short work of Verdasco and his second round opponent is Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller, who beat rising Canadian star Denis Shapovalov 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (8/6).
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, the biggest names in the Queen’s draw, are both due in first round action on Tuesday.
Djokovic plays Australian qualifier John Millman and Murray will make his first appearance for 11 months after finally recovering from a hip injury that needed surgery in January.
The former world number one faces a tricky opener against talented but temperamental Australian Nick Kyrgios, who pushed Roger Federer to three sets before narrowly losing in the Stuttgart semi-finals at the weekend.
Murray, a two-time Wimbledon winner, has admitted he doesn’t have great expectations at the start of his comeback after so long on the sidelines.
Finally free of a nagging elbow injury, world number 21 Kyrgios has grander plans — starting with securing his first win over his good friend at the sixth attempt.
Kyrgios has a well-earned reputation as one of the tour’s more controversial figures after some petulant be- haviour in the past.
The 23-year-old remains combustible, but for now he insists he’s focused on ruining Murray’s return.
Asked if he needed to tone down his flamboyant demeanour on court, a defiant Kyrgios said: “Even against Roger I just had fun out there. There were points when we were both laughing and joking.
Japan’s Kei Nishikori had to fight through a tiebreaker to start his grass season with a win on Monday as he beat Matthias Bachinger in the ATP Halle tournament.
The seventh seed who has twice played semi-finals at the event, worked for just under 90 minutes to beat his 159th-ranked German opponent 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) and reach the second round.
Nishikori, a former top 10 regular now ranked 27th after wrist injuries last season, was joined in the second round by fourth seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, who beat the second German on the day, putting out Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 6-1.
“If he had won the second set, it could have been tight, you never know what can happen in the third. I’m happy with how I’m playing and looking forward to the next round.
Dutchman Robin Haase provided early drama with his 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 comeback victory over Portugal’s Joao Sousa.
Roger Federer, who won in Stuttgart on Sunday, returned to Germany after a rapid visit to Switzerland.