Milos Raonic’s Wimbledon preparations suffered a major setback as the World No. 6 crashed to a shock first-round defeat against Australian wild-card Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club on Tuesday.
Raonic came agonisingly close to a golden summer on grass last year when he reached the Queen’s and Wimbledon finals, only to lose to Andy Murray on both occasions.
But the Canadian’s hopes of warming up for Wimbledon with another strong showing at Queen’s were wrecked by Kokkinakis’s stunning 7-6(5), 7-6(8) triumph on a baking hot afternoon in west London.
Kokkinakis needed a wild card from the tournament organisers to make the Queen’s main draw after his ranking plunged to 698 following an abdominal strain that sidelined him for 18 weeks.
Meanwhile in Birmingham, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova made a winning return to grass with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over her fellow Czech Tereza Smitkova to move into the second round of Aegon Classic.
In doubles, Sania Mirza and Coco Vandeweghe sailed into quarterfinals after a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Darija Jurak and Anastasia Rodionova.
The results:
At London: ATP Aegon Championships: Stefan Kozlov bt Steve Johnson 3-6, 6-1, 6-1; Julien Benneteau bt James Ward 6-2, 6-2; Thanasi Kokkinakis bt Milos Raonic 7-6(5), 7-6(8).
Grigor Dimitrov bt Ryan Harrison 6-3, 6-1; Tomas Berdych bt Steve Darcis 7-5, 6-3; Donald Young bt Nick Kyrgios 7-6(3), 0-0 retd.; Denis Shapovalov bt Kyle Edmund 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4.
At Halle: ATP Gerry Weber Open: Andrey Rublev bt Albert Ramos 6-7(1), 7-5, 6-4; Dustin Brown bt Vasek Pospisil 6-1, 6-7(3), 7-6(4); Philipp Kohlschreiber bt Joao Sousa 3-6, 6-4, 6-4; Richard Gasquet bt Gael Monfils 3-6, 6-4, 6-3; Dominic Thiem bt Maximilian Marterer 7-5, 6-3.
At Birmingham: WTA Aegon Classic: Katerina Siniakova bt Nao Hibino 7-5, 7-5; Daria Gavrilova bt Hsieh Su-Wei 6-4, 6-4; Petra Kvitova bt Tereza Smitkova 6-2, 6-3; Johanna Konta bt Lesya Tsurenko 6-3, 7-6(6); Ashleigh Barty bt Marksta Vondrousova 7-5, 7-6(1); Camila Giorgi bt Natalia Vikhlyantseva 6-3, 7-6(4); Naomi Osaka bt Lauren Davis 6-1, 2-6, 7-6(4); Barbora Strycova bt Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-3; Elina Svitolina bt Heather Watson 6-2, 5-7, 6-3; Naomi Broady bt Alize Cornet 7-6(3), 6-0.
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Coco Vandeweghe & Sania Mirza bt Darija Jurak & Anastasia Rodionova 6-2, 6-4.
At Mallorca: WTA Mallorca Open: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova bt Sara Sorribes 4-6, 7-5, 6-4; Julia Goerges bt Lara Arruabarrena 6-1, 6-2; Shelby Rogers bt Beatriz Haddad Maia 7-6(4), 6-3; Mona Barthel bt Anna Kalinskaya 7-6(6), 6-4; Francesca Schiavone bt Eugenie Bouchard 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3; Roberta Vinci bt Sara Errani 6-2, 6-1; Kirsten Flipkens bt Mandy Minella 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; Jana Cepelova bt Pauline Parmentier 6-2, 6-0; Caroline Garcia bt Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 6-4; Kristyna Pliskova bt Timea Babos 6-2, 3-6, 6-3; Anastasija Sevastova bt Elise Mertens 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-1 .
