Would you believe it, it’s Day 1 again as we begin the ATP500 week here at The Queen’s Club. First up inside the Andy Murray Arena, we had veteran Brit Dan Evans, facing the 7th seed, Frances Tiafoe of the USA in a first grass court appearance of the season for the American. Dan Evans looked strong from the start of the match, executing his sliced backhand to perfection – a shot that has always made him a threat on the grass. Evans got the first break to go 4-3 up off the back of some beautiful tennis. Tiafoe was able to break back to level up at 5-5, but this was again countered by Evans who eventually clinched the first set 7-5. An early break of serve in the 2nd set saw the Brit looking confident out there, he got himself a second break and was able to see the match out 7-5, 6-2. Quite a surprise result in our first match of the week!
Next up – Holger Rune (4th seed) had a last minute change of opponent to face lucky loser Christopher O’Connell from Australia. Rune’s been in good form lately - he won the Barcelona Open back in April, beating Carlos Alcaraz on the clay. On paper this would be a straightforward win for Rune, and what played out wasn’t far from that. The Dane looked strong in his first grass court appearance of the year and was effective in his service games, not conceding a single break. His opponent competed well but was unable to really rattle Rune who won in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.
The third match of the day saw another Brit enter the Centre Court stage to face Jakub Mensik. The young Czech has made quite the name for himself this season, as at just 19 years old he claimed his first Masters title, beating Novak Djokovic to win the Miami Open in March. A very close first set, with 0 break points, went all the way to a tiebreak. They remained neck and neck but it was Mensik who got the breakthrough and won the tie break 8-6. The first break of serve in the match came early in the second set for Cam Norrie, who then followed up with an important hold to take a comfortable 4-1 lead. You know what they say about London buses? Norrie then clinched a second break of serve and finished the set off 6-1 – we were going to a decider. The final set saw another shift in momentum as Mensik began to pull away. The 19 year old secured a double break to win the match 7-6, 1-6, 6-1, serving a hugely impressive 20 aces along the way.
Last up on Centre Court, we had 23 year old Scotsman Jacob Fearnley, who recently broke into the top 50, against qualifier Alex Bolt from Australia. A very clinical first set from Fearnley saw him convert 2/2 break points, not concede a single break point, and manage a 100% win percentage on his first serve. As a result, he comfortably won the first set 6-2. The second set was not so smooth sailing as Bolt provided much more competition, but Fearnley got the break at just the right time to set himself up to serve for the match, winning it 6-2, 6-4.
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