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Tsonga loses at Queen’s tilt
(AP) – Another star attraction was eliminated from the Queen’s grass-court tournament when fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lost to Gilles Muller 6-4, 6-4 Wednesday in the second round.
With Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Milos Raonic – the top three seeded players – exiting in first-round play on Tuesday, the leading warmup event for Wimbledon looks wide open.
Muller, who won the Ricoh Open on grass in the Netherlands last week, won 86 percent of points on his big first serve and saved all three break points against an overpowered Tsonga.
“Sometimes you cannot do anything because the guy in front of you is playing well and he’s doing the right things to make you play in a bad way,’’ said Tsonga, who was the runner-up at Queen’s in 2011. “That’s it.’’
Sixth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov avoided becoming another high-profile departure when he bounced back from committing three double-faults in the opening game and losing the first set to beat Julien Benneteau 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Marin Cilic, who plays Stefan Kozlov on Thursday, is the only player left in the tournament that is seeded higher than Dimitrov, the 2014 champion at Queen’s.
Not that the Bulgarian is taking any notice.
Seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych also avoided an upset, breaking serve for the first time in the final game of the match in beating 18-year-old Canadian left-hander Denis Shapovalov 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 7-5.
LOS ANGELES – Multiple stars from last summer’s Rio Olympics highlight this year’s nominees for best male and female athletes for The ESPYs.
Swimmer Michael Phelps, who won five gold medals in Rio, joins National League MVP Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook as the four nominees for best male athlete.
Gymnast Simone Biles and swimmer Katie Ledecky, who each won four gold medals in Rio, are two of the four female finalists. The other two are tennis great Serena Williams and Candace Parker of the WNBA champion LA Sparks.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant are two of the nominees for best championship performance. Brady helped the Patriots overcome a 25-point deficit for the largest comeback in Super Bowl history and earn his fifth ring.
Durant was the NBA Finals MVP after averaging 35.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists in the Warriors’ five-game series win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Westbrook and Phelps are also finalLONDON ists for best record-breaking performance. Phelps extended his records to 23 gold medals and 28 total medals after his dominance in Rio.
Westbrook had 42 triple-doubles last season, breaking Oscar Robertson’s 55-year old record, and became just the second player to average a tripledouble for a full season.
Mississippi State’s stunning win over UConn in women’s basketball in the NCAA Tournament Final Four is among the finalists for best upset. Morgan William’s jumper at the buzzer ended UConn’s 111-game winning streak that included four national championships.