Alex de Minaur threw a spanner into Andy Murray’s Wimbledon buildup on Tuesday as he dumped the five-time champion out in the opening round at Queen’s club.
The Aussie outsider produced a no-nonsense 6-3, 6-1 defeat in 86 minutes to leave Murray scrambling after entering the ATP 500 with a pair of back-to-back Challenger titles to hand.
A year ago, former No. 1 Murray did his grass prep at the ATP events in Queen’s where he reached the final against Matteo Berrettini.
His strategy this year after more than half a decade of injury was to work for a Wimbledon seeding, with his current 38th within shouting distance of a 32nd seeding had he progressed further this week.
But De Minaur dashed the immediate dream as he won his third match over the Scot, who would have needed to reach the quarter-finals here to earn a seeded spot.
“I was so excited to play Andy [Murray] on Centre Court at Queens. I’m super proud of how I played and it couldn’t have gone any better for me,” the winner said..
“This is one of my favourite tournaments so I always look forward to coming here – I think it suits my game and hopefully I can keep it going.
“I’m winning matches, I will try to keep on doing that. I’m in a good space mentally and I’m playing good tennis so hopefully I can keep it up.”
De Minaur can boast minimal grass experience outside of the 2021 Eastbourne trophy (20-1 in sets). But the 36-year-old Brit will have to earn his 3rd Top 20 win
The No. 18 has never been past the Wimbledon fourth round, an achievement he managed last summer.
