Andy Murray suffers first-round Queen's exit to Alex De Minaur in blow to Wimbledon seeding hopes

Five-time Queen’s champion Andy Murray suffered a 6-3 6-1 first-round exit to Alex De Minaur in a bitter blow to the 36-year-old’s hopes of earning a Wimbledon seeding. Murray headed to London on the back of a 10-match winning run on grass that saw him claim Challenger titles in Surbiton and Nottingham. Ad But he was second best throughout against the Australian seventh seed, who extended his head-to-head superiority over the Scot to 4-0.

ATP LondonNorrie excited to 'pick brains' of doubles partner Murray at Queen'sYESTERDAY AT 18:38 Murray rose to No. 38 in the ATP rankings after his success in Nottingham, edging closer to a top-32 spot that would make him a seed for Wimbledon, but his immediate Queen’s exit is a huge setback to that ambition. De Minaur will face Diego Schwartzman in the second round.

Murray made a promising start, holding the opening game before forcing De Minaur to save three break points as he applied pressure for an early breakthrough. Alcaraz fights back to squeeze past Rinderknech at Queen's after Rune wins Norrie excited to 'pick brains' of doubles partner Murray at Queen's Second seed Tsitsipas survives Barrere scare to progress in Halle The Scot swung his racket in frustration when he double-faulted to surrender break point in the following game from 30-0 up, but he got out of trouble with some big serving. De Minaur eventually earned the break in game five, seizing his first opportunity when a Murray backhand flew wide.