Australia’s Thompson knocks Rune out of Queen’s Club tennis

Australia’s Jordan Thompson caused an early upset at the Queen’s Club tournament in London with a first-round win over seventh-seed Holger Rune on Monday.

Thompson came from a set down to beat Rune, a semi-finalist at the grass-court warm-up event for Wimbledon last year, 4-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 in a match lasting more than two hours.

Rune was unhappy with the condition of the court after slipping several times on the damp grass.

“Terrible court, what is this?,” he said to umpire James Keothavong. “I can’t stand on the court. It’s too wet. Call the supervisor. I fell three times. It’s too wet. You think I’m falling on purpose?”

Meanwhile world number 10 Grigor Dimitrov, the 2014 Queen’s champion, made short work of a 6-1, 6-2 win over France’s Adrian Mannarino.

“I was very happy with the way I started the match,” said Dimitrov. “I think I set the bar high and wanted to be steady the whole time.

“Serve and return I just tried to focus on, they are the fundamentals of this surface,” added the Bulgarian, 33.

Former Wimbledon runner-up Milos Raonic survived two match points in a marathon third-set tie-break before beating Britain’s Jack Draper 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 7-6 (11/9).

Injuries have seen Raonic slip from number three in the world rankings to 186.

But the 33-year-old Canadian retains one of the most powerful serves in the game, and several of his 140 mph (225 kph) thunderbolts proved too much for Norrie. Raonic struck 45 aces in total.

Reigning Queen’s and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz, fresh from winning the French Open, begins his defence of this ATP title against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo on Tuesday, as British tennis great Andy Murray faces Alexei Popyrin.

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