Queens: Andy Murray was knocked out in the first round by Alex de Minaur at Queens.
The five-time Queen’s Club champion paid the price for an error-filled, irritated effort, falling 6-3, 6-1 to Australia’s seventh seed.
Murray has won 10 consecutive matches while winning back-to-back grass-court crowns in Surbiton and Nottingham.
However, Australian seventh seed De Minaur – the world number 18 – was a significant step up in level and one of Murray’s most difficult first-round opponents.
The 24-year-old was no stranger to a grass court; he was a previous Eastbourne winner and advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon last year.
He was simply too powerful for Murray, sending him tumbling to a defeat that means he will not be seeded at Wimbledon next month, barring an implausible slew of withdrawals.
Murray definitely needed to reach the quarter-finals to be one of the top 32 players at SW19, but now the two-time winner – presently ranked 38 – is in danger of playing one of the big guns in the early stages.
Murray’s singles stint was brief, but tournament organisers will be happy that he has chosen to play doubles with British No. 1 Cameron Norrie; they face Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram on Wednesday evening.
Alcaraz overcomes a scare to defeat France’s Rinderknech.
When Carlos Alcaraz survived a scare earlier on Tuesday, the organisers breathed a sigh of relief.
Despite needing a third-set tie-break to defeat French journeyman Arthur Rinderknech, the top seed and world number two claimed he can compete on grass this summer.
The 20-year-old was playing his eighth match on clay, and his first outside of Wimbledon.
Rinderknech discovered out he was facing the Spaniard shortly before lunchtime after Alcaraz’s intended opponent, fellow Frenchman Arthur Fils, withdrew from the event.
But the 27-year-old almost knocked out the headliner, stealing the first set and making Alcaraz sweat before losing 4-6 7-5 7-6 (3) in just over two and a half hours.
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