Wednesday at Queen's
Big win
Nicolas Mahut. The Frenchman, most famous for contesting the 11hrs and five minutes epic against John Isner at Wimbledon in 2010, pulled off the upset of
the tournament so far, shocking top seed Andy Murray 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(1). Mahut, who reached the final at the AEGON Championships in 2007, where he lost to Andy Roddick in three sets, played perfect grass court tennis, stretching Murray in every capacity. “It’s a lucky court for me.”
Cruising through
Wednesday saw straight sets wins for, among others, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, David Nalbandian, Grigor Dimitrov, Ivan Dodig, Sam Querrey, Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, Janko Tipsarevic, Steve Darcis and Olivier Rochus. But quickest of the day was Marin Cilic, who blistered through against young Australian Matthew Ebden 6-2, 6-1 with a very strong serving performance. It is an encouraging return to form for Cilic, who was ranked world No.9 in 2010.
Marathon matches
Plenty. First there was Edouard Roger-Vasselin’s 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 win over Andy Roddick, then Mahut-Murray, then Simone Bolelli’s 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) defeat of Gilles Simon, then Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 over Steve Darcis, followed by Lukas Rosol’s 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 upset of Marcos Baghdatis. Tatsumo Ito took three to beat Paolo Lorenzi, their match carried over from Tuesday, only then to lose, before Xavier Malisse came through against Alex Bogomolov Jr.
One to watch
Yen-Hsun Lu. The young man who shot into the headlines when he upset Andy Roddick at Wimbledon saw off Ivo Karlovic in three tie-breaks.
Quote of the day
"Anything is a possibility"
Andy Roddick refuses to be drawn on his futures plans
Stat of the day
41
The percentage of shots Nicolas Mahut took from inside the baseline. He made several approaches to the net putting pressure on Murray from the back of the court, and his aggressive approach was rewarded as he recorded his first victory over the No.1. seed.
Hero of the day
The weather. The sun shone brightly!
Coming up on Thursday
Nicolas Mahut v Grigor Dimitrov
The first meeting between the French marathon man and talented young Bulgarian.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga v Ivan Dodig
The 2010 runner-up, the highest remaining seed, takes on fellow 27-year-old Dodig, the world No.69, in their first meeting.
Janko Tipsarevic v Yen-Hsun Lu
The world No.8 aims to register a third win out of three over Ivo Karlovic's conqueror.
David Nalbandian v Edouard Roger-Vasselin
The 2002 Wimbledon runner-up takes on the Frenchman who knocked out Andy Roddick.
Click here for live scores, statistics and draws from the AEGON Championships
Meanwhile in Birmingham...
It was a day for the underdogs as Heather Watson, Misaki Doi, and Urszula Radwanska caused upsets at the AEGON Classic, taking down Elena Baltacha, Francesca Schiavone and defending champion Sabine Lisicki respectively.
Melinda Czink added to the catalogue of surprises by defeating 2011 runner-up Daniela Hantuchova.
Coming up on Thursday
Ladies Day - one lucky female spectator will take home a bespoke diamond ring.
