Dan Evans was beaten in straight sets by Sebastian Korda, while Ryan Peniston shocked Ugo Humbert; Cameron Norrie defeated Miomir Kecmanovic to reach the last-16; Andy Murray begins his tournament on Tuesday
Monday 19 June 2023 20:44, UK
Cameron Norrie got his grass-court season off to a winning start at the cinch Championships, as Dan Evans suffered an early exit.
Norrie was given a decent work-out by Miomir Kecmanovic, fending off one break point in the first set with some heroic defending at the net
The 27-year-old, runner-up at Queen's two years ago, was taken to a second-set tie-break and let three match points slip before converting a fourth to wrap up a 6-4 7-6 (5) victory.
British tennis fans are in for an extra treat this week as Norrie and Murray will team up for the first time in the doubles competition, four years on from Murray winning the doubles title at Queen's with Feliciano Lopez.
"I just asked him, 'Do you want to play doubles at Queen's?'. He said, 'Yeah, let's do it'. It was pretty simple," Norrie explained. "I'm just going to enjoy it and get another match on the grass and hopefully just pick his brains on a few things. Obviously he's got a lot of confidence at the moment, a good guy to play with."
There was first-round disappointment for British No 2 Dan Evans, who lost 6-4 7-5 to American Sebastian Korda to suffer a seventh defeat in eight matches heading into Wimbledon.
"I have to compete harder than I did today and be better mentally," Evans said. "But it's becoming difficult to do that with the amount of losses. It's frustrating and also a little bit embarrassing. So there's a lot of emotion in that. It's hard to see what I can do next.
"I'm not looking forward to playing any tennis at the minute. It's tough. When you feel no confidence, it's not a good spot to be in. You know, I'd love to say I'm looking forward to playing my next match but I'm not. That's the honest truth for you."
British wild card Ryan Peniston sprung another surprise - an gave Murray a Wimbledon boost - with a straight-sets win over Ugo Humbert.
The world No 265, who shocked top seed and world No 5 Casper Ruud at Queen's Club last year on his way to the quarter-finals, found the grass of west London to his liking again as he produced an impressive 6-4 6-2 victory.
"I loved playing here last year, so to come back, it feels pretty comfortable to be on the court. It's just amazing," Peniston said. "I was nervous - I was more nervous last year. But once you get going it is a lot of fun out there."
World No 37 Humbert is one of the players Murray needs to overtake in the rankings if he is to be seeded at Wimbledon next month, so his early exit will only help the Scot's cause.
A place in the quarter-finals at Queen's might be enough to get Murray back in the top 32, meaning he can avoid drawing one of the big names in the early rounds at SW19. Murray, on a 10-match winning streak on the grass, faces Australian Alex de Minaur on Tuesday.
There was also no fairytale for Britain's second wild card, Jan Choinski, who went down 6-4 6-2 to Italian sixth seed Lorenzo Musetti.
