Wawrinka frustrated by Querrey

LONDON: Stan Wawrinka showed glimpses of his grand slam winning form, but was bundled out of the Queen’s Club Championships by former champion Sam Querrey yesterday.

The Swiss squandered several set points in the opening set and although he took the second on a tiebreak he capitulated in the decider after dropping serve at 1-2, losing 7-5 6-7(3) 6-1.

His frustration boiled over as he buried his racket frame into the lush centre court turf, taking a sizeable divot in the process, before snapping it over his knee.

Big-serving American Querrey, champion in 2010, calmly ticked off the next three games to move into the quarter-finals where he will meet either top seed Marin Cilic or Gilles Muller.

Wawrinka’s ATP ranking has plummeted to 261 after his firstround loss at the French Open, having reached the final a year ago, but the good news is that his knees appear strong again after two surgeries last August.

He struck the ball with authority in the second set and played a solid tiebreak, but his lack of sharpness told as he was sent packing by the fifth seed.

Querrey joined fellow American Frances Tiafoe in the last eight after he beat Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-4 2-6 6-4.

Frenchman Jeremy Chardy maintained his impressive form on grass with a 7-6(6) 6-3 defeat of young Russian Danil Medvedev.

Meanwhile, world number five Elina Svitolina continued her good form on grass ahead of Wimbledon, easing her way into the quarter-finals of the Birmingham Classic yesterday.

The second seed Ukrainian found her rhythm early in the contest and powered past France’s Alize Cornet 6-4 6-2 in one hour and 22 minutes.

The 23-year-old, chasing her first grand slam title, will hope to improve on her last-16 appearance at last year’s Wimbledon.

Naomi Osaka was forced to retire due to an abdominal injury in her last-16 clash against Dalila Jakupovic, with the Slovenian qualifier leading 6-3. – Reuters