Share

Cilic shocked at Queen's

London - Australia's Marinko Matosevic has ended Marin Cilic's attempt to reach a third consecutive Queen's Club final at the first hurdle with a surprise 6-4, 6-4 victory on Tuesday.

Cilic won the Wimbledon warm-up tournament in 2012 when his opponent David Nalbandian was disqualified and the 25-year-old Croatian made it back to the final last year before losing to Murray.

But the ninth seed's hopes of becoming the first player to reach three successive Queen's finals since Andy Roddick from 2003 to 2005 were shattered by Bosnia-born Matosevic in a 6-4, 6-4 first round defeat in west London.

Matosevic, 28, was still in combative mood during his post-match press conference as he became the first male player to disagree with Murray's shock coaching appointment.

"For me, I couldn't do it since I don't think that highly of the women's game," said Matosevic, who is coached by compatriot Mark Woodforde.

"His mum coached him and she did a great job with him, so we'll see what happens.

"It's all equal rights these days. Got to be politically correct. So, yeah, someone's got to give it a go. Won't be me."

Although he wasn't in action on Tuesday, there was still plenty of attention on reigning Queen's and Wimbledon champion Murray, who starts his spell working with Mauresmo in Wednesday's second round match against France's Paul-Henri Mathieu.

Murray rocked the tennis world when he announced on Sunday that Mauresmo was his choice to replace Ivan Lendl, who quit in March, as his coach for at least the grass-court season.

Mauresmo, a former world number one and Wimbledon champion, arrived at Queen's to link up with Murray on Tuesday, but kept a low profile, telling reporters "I'll see you tomorrow" when approached after watching compatriot Julien Benneteau lose to Victor Estrella Burgos.

Murray may have noted that the first round provided mixed results for the two other leading male players coached by women.

Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin, coached by his wife Anastasia, was beaten 6-4, 6-1 by Czech 15th seed Radek Stepanek, while Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin, coached by his mother Klaudiya, defeated compatriot Farrukh Dustov 7-6 (9/7), 6-3.

The out-spoken Matosevic has been in good form of late, reaching the final of the grass-court Challenger event in Nottingham last week following his first ever match win at a Grand Slam when the world number 60 defeated Dustin Brown in the French Open first round.

And he finished off world number 26 Cilic in impressive fashion to clinch a second round match against Matthew Ebden or Lukas Lacko.

Matosevic admitted he has playing with much more freedom since his victory in Paris.

"Before when someone would mention something to do with a Grand Slam, it would make me feel uncomfortable. Now I just feel free to play tennis," he said.

"Like I said in Paris, it's a huge gorilla lifted off my shoulders now. I have no more worries."

Bulgarian fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov was watched by girlfriend and newly crowned French Open champion Maria Sharapova, as he advanced to the third round with a 7-5, 6-3 win over British wild card James Ward.

South Africa's Kevin Anderson, the seventh seeded world number 18, also moved into the last 16 with a 6-2, 6-3 win against another British wild card Dan Evans.

As a former Wimbledon semi-finalist Marcos Baghdatis knows his way around a grass-court and the Cypriot wild card, a 6-7 (6/8), 6-2, 6-1 winner over American Bradley Klahn, could present a tricky second round test for top seed Stan Wawrinka, the world number three who won the Australian Open earlier this year.

Results from second day of the ATP Queens tournament on Tuesday:

First round
David Goffin (BEL) bt Dominic Thiem (AUT) 6-4, 6-2
Dmitry Tursunov (RUS x12) bt Igor Sijsling (NED) 6-3, 6-4
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) bt Benot Paire (FRA) 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/1)
Feliciano Lopez (ESP x10) bt Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 6-1
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) bt Bradley Klahn (USA) 6-7 (6/8), 6-2, 6-1
Marinko Matosevic (AUS) bt Marin Cilic (CRO x9) 6-4, 6-4
Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) bt Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) 6-3, 6-7 (9/11), 6-1
Denis Istomin (UZB) bt Farrukh Dustov (UZB) 7-6 (11/9), 6-3
Vasek Pospisil (CAN x11) bt Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3

Second round
Kevin Anderson (RSA x7) bt Daniel Evans (GBR) 6-2, 6-3

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should Siya Kolisi keep the captaincy as the Springboks build towards their World Cup title defence in 2027?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
26% - 1273 votes
No! I think the smart thing to do is start again with a younger skipper ...
29% - 1470 votes
I'd keep Siya captain for now, but look to have someone else for 2027.
45% - 2249 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE