Tsonga crashes out
Frenchman falls to Muller in second round at Queen’s Club
LONDON: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga became the latest star to crash out of the Aegon Championships as the world No. 10 was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller.
After Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Milos Raonic all endured shock first-round defeats on Tuesday, it was Tsonga’s turn to suffer a surprise second-round exit at Queen’s Club on Wednesday.
Fifth-seeded Tsonga is traditionally a powerful force on grass and finished as the runner-up in 2011, while twice appearing in the Wimbledon semi-finals.
But the 32-year-old, who has won titles in Lyon, Marseille and Rotterdam in 2017, was out of sorts from start to finish against the big-serving Muller.
It took Muller just 69 minutes to hand Tsonga another frustrating loss on the heels of his embarrassing first-round exit against Renzo Olivo at the French Open.
“Sometimes you cannot do anything because the guy in front of you is doing the right things to make you play in a bad way,” Tsonga said.
“I played two matches here. That’s life. I’ll try to play better in Wimbledon.
“I have to put a little bit more energy in my game.”
Muller’s impressive display maintained his recent surge, which has seen the 34-year-old win the‘s-Hertogenbosch grass-court tournament last week and reach a career-high ranking of 26.
Muller is in the quarter-finals at the Wimbledon warm-up event for a third successive year and will play former Queen’s champion Sam Querrey or Australia’s Jordan Thompson for a place in the last four.
Grigor Dimitrov fought back to avoid becoming yet another big name casualty as the Bulgarian world No. 11 defeated France’s Julien Benneteau 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Dimitrov won Queen’s in 2014 and, given the way the tournament has unfolded, the sixth seed must fancy his chances of claiming the title again.
The 26-year-old was pushed hard by the world No. 87 in almost two hours on court in searing heat, but he battled through to set up a quarter-final clash with Australian wild card Thanasi Kokkinakis or Russia’s Daniil Medvedev.
Seventh seed Tomas Berdych tamed Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov to move into the last eight with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (4-7), 7-5 victory.
Shapovalov, 18, is a former junior Wimbledon champion regarded as one of the brightest young stars in the men’s game.
He gave a glimpse of his vast talent with a fine display of power hitting against former Wimbledon finalist Berdych.
But the world No. 193 was eventually subdued by the Czech, who next takes on Jeremy Chardy or Feliciano Lopez. ■
HALLE (Germany): Robin Haase upset second-seeded Dominic Thiem 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) in the second round of the Halle Open on Wednesday.
The 42nd-ranked Haase saved four of five break points as he advanced to the quarter-finals at the grasscourt tournament.
The Dutchman next faces Richard Gasquet of France, who defeated Australia’s Bernard Tomic 6-3, 6-3.
Fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev maintained his good form with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of German compatriot and 2011 champion Philipp Kohlschreiber.
The 20- year- old Zverev, who opened with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Paolo Lorenzi on Tuesday, fired 10 aces and didn’t face a break point.
Zverev next plays seventh-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut, who defeated German wildcard Dustin Brown 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (8-6). – AFP