Contrasting shocks for Australians at Queens
Alex de Minaur has crashed out of Queen's at the first hurdle in a serious blow for the Australian No.1 with Wimbledon looming.
But there was a much better outing for Alexei Popyrin, who has the tools and form to spring a surprise at the London grand slam, and enjoyed a very useful work-out in beating compatriot Aleksandar Vukic in three tight sets.
There was also a shock main court appearance for Adam Walton, who was suddenly called up to face world No.2 Carlos Alcaraz as a lucky loser. That was because Alejandro Davidovich Fokina - who had come to England after getting married in Marbella, Spain, at the weekend - had withdrawn with illness.
Alcaraz had been practising with another Aussie, Jordan Thompson, when he was given the news, which he greeted with a grin towards Thompson..
Walton, ranked 86, was making his main draw Queen's debut. Thompson will meet the winner if he gets past Spain's Jaume Munar in his match on Tuesday (local time)
De Minaur was playing his first match on grass this year, and his first on any surface since tumbling out of Roland Garros in the first week.
He had taken a break to reset, professing mental and physical burn-out, but looked flat on court as he lost 6-4 6-2 to powerful world No.30 Jiri Lehecka.
De Minaur was broken in the opening game, and never managed to break back in the first set as Lehecka served up to 226kph. He was unable to break in the second set either, dropping serve himself at 1-1, in part due to an unlucky netcord, and 2-4.
Forehand errors and a poor first serve were de Minaur's main failings, though Lehecka played well too.
"We all know how well Alex can play on grass, I knew I needed to serve well and be aggressive," said the Czech. "The first game was very important, to be a break up was a great advantage."
It was the first time Lehecka had beaten a top-12 ranked player on grass.
Popyrin, now ranked 21, took the first set against Vukic easily enough but was then drawn into a dogfight which will prove useful for both players, eventually winning 6-2 6-7 (9-11) 7-6 (7-3).
Popyrin will now play Jack Draper, the British No.1 and No.2 seed, who dismissed Jenson Brooksby 6-3 6-1.
Alex de Minaur has crashed out of Queen's at the first hurdle in a serious blow for the Australian No.1 with Wimbledon looming.
But there was a much better outing for Alexei Popyrin, who has the tools and form to spring a surprise at the London grand slam, and enjoyed a very useful work-out in beating compatriot Aleksandar Vukic in three tight sets.
There was also a shock main court appearance for Adam Walton, who was suddenly called up to face world No.2 Carlos Alcaraz as a lucky loser. That was because Alejandro Davidovich Fokina - who had come to England after getting married in Marbella, Spain, at the weekend - had withdrawn with illness.
Alcaraz had been practising with another Aussie, Jordan Thompson, when he was given the news, which he greeted with a grin towards Thompson..
Walton, ranked 86, was making his main draw Queen's debut. Thompson will meet the winner if he gets past Spain's Jaume Munar in his match on Tuesday (local time)
De Minaur was playing his first match on grass this year, and his first on any surface since tumbling out of Roland Garros in the first week.
He had taken a break to reset, professing mental and physical burn-out, but looked flat on court as he lost 6-4 6-2 to powerful world No.30 Jiri Lehecka.
De Minaur was broken in the opening game, and never managed to break back in the first set as Lehecka served up to 226kph. He was unable to break in the second set either, dropping serve himself at 1-1, in part due to an unlucky netcord, and 2-4.
Forehand errors and a poor first serve were de Minaur's main failings, though Lehecka played well too.
"We all know how well Alex can play on grass, I knew I needed to serve well and be aggressive," said the Czech. "The first game was very important, to be a break up was a great advantage."
It was the first time Lehecka had beaten a top-12 ranked player on grass.
Popyrin, now ranked 21, took the first set against Vukic easily enough but was then drawn into a dogfight which will prove useful for both players, eventually winning 6-2 6-7 (9-11) 7-6 (7-3).
Popyrin will now play Jack Draper, the British No.1 and No.2 seed, who dismissed Jenson Brooksby 6-3 6-1.
Alex de Minaur has crashed out of Queen's at the first hurdle in a serious blow for the Australian No.1 with Wimbledon looming.
But there was a much better outing for Alexei Popyrin, who has the tools and form to spring a surprise at the London grand slam, and enjoyed a very useful work-out in beating compatriot Aleksandar Vukic in three tight sets.
There was also a shock main court appearance for Adam Walton, who was suddenly called up to face world No.2 Carlos Alcaraz as a lucky loser. That was because Alejandro Davidovich Fokina - who had come to England after getting married in Marbella, Spain, at the weekend - had withdrawn with illness.
Alcaraz had been practising with another Aussie, Jordan Thompson, when he was given the news, which he greeted with a grin towards Thompson..
Walton, ranked 86, was making his main draw Queen's debut. Thompson will meet the winner if he gets past Spain's Jaume Munar in his match on Tuesday (local time)
De Minaur was playing his first match on grass this year, and his first on any surface since tumbling out of Roland Garros in the first week.
He had taken a break to reset, professing mental and physical burn-out, but looked flat on court as he lost 6-4 6-2 to powerful world No.30 Jiri Lehecka.
De Minaur was broken in the opening game, and never managed to break back in the first set as Lehecka served up to 226kph. He was unable to break in the second set either, dropping serve himself at 1-1, in part due to an unlucky netcord, and 2-4.
Forehand errors and a poor first serve were de Minaur's main failings, though Lehecka played well too.
"We all know how well Alex can play on grass, I knew I needed to serve well and be aggressive," said the Czech. "The first game was very important, to be a break up was a great advantage."
It was the first time Lehecka had beaten a top-12 ranked player on grass.
Popyrin, now ranked 21, took the first set against Vukic easily enough but was then drawn into a dogfight which will prove useful for both players, eventually winning 6-2 6-7 (9-11) 7-6 (7-3).
Popyrin will now play Jack Draper, the British No.1 and No.2 seed, who dismissed Jenson Brooksby 6-3 6-1.
Alex de Minaur has crashed out of Queen's at the first hurdle in a serious blow for the Australian No.1 with Wimbledon looming.
But there was a much better outing for Alexei Popyrin, who has the tools and form to spring a surprise at the London grand slam, and enjoyed a very useful work-out in beating compatriot Aleksandar Vukic in three tight sets.
There was also a shock main court appearance for Adam Walton, who was suddenly called up to face world No.2 Carlos Alcaraz as a lucky loser. That was because Alejandro Davidovich Fokina - who had come to England after getting married in Marbella, Spain, at the weekend - had withdrawn with illness.
Alcaraz had been practising with another Aussie, Jordan Thompson, when he was given the news, which he greeted with a grin towards Thompson..
Walton, ranked 86, was making his main draw Queen's debut. Thompson will meet the winner if he gets past Spain's Jaume Munar in his match on Tuesday (local time)
De Minaur was playing his first match on grass this year, and his first on any surface since tumbling out of Roland Garros in the first week.
He had taken a break to reset, professing mental and physical burn-out, but looked flat on court as he lost 6-4 6-2 to powerful world No.30 Jiri Lehecka.
De Minaur was broken in the opening game, and never managed to break back in the first set as Lehecka served up to 226kph. He was unable to break in the second set either, dropping serve himself at 1-1, in part due to an unlucky netcord, and 2-4.
Forehand errors and a poor first serve were de Minaur's main failings, though Lehecka played well too.
"We all know how well Alex can play on grass, I knew I needed to serve well and be aggressive," said the Czech. "The first game was very important, to be a break up was a great advantage."
It was the first time Lehecka had beaten a top-12 ranked player on grass.
Popyrin, now ranked 21, took the first set against Vukic easily enough but was then drawn into a dogfight which will prove useful for both players, eventually winning 6-2 6-7 (9-11) 7-6 (7-3).
Popyrin will now play Jack Draper, the British No.1 and No.2 seed, who dismissed Jenson Brooksby 6-3 6-1.
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Canberra Times
an hour ago
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Queen's KO leaves de Minaur undercooked for Wimbledon
Lehecka had not played on grass for nearly two years, having missed the entirety of the 2024 grasscourt season with a back injury, but looked far more comfortable than de Minaur , a Queen's finalist in 2023 and Wimbledon quarterf-inalist last year, who won three of the last 15 points.
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
De Minaur backs fiancee over abusive social media
Alex de Minaur has supported his British fiancee and fellow tennis star Katie Boulter after she opened up on the social media abuse she receives. Boulter shared her experiences with BBC Sport to highlight the issue of players receiving toxic messages online. The 28-year-old's examples included a message telling her to buy "candles and a coffin for your entire family" with a reference to her "grandmother's grave if she's not dead by tomorrow", one stating she should "go to hell" as she had cost the poster money, and another stating "hope you get cancer". Boulter said: "I just wonder who the person is that has sent that. I don't think it's something that I would ever say to my worst enemy. It's just an awful, awful thing to say to anyone. It's horrible. "It shows how vulnerable we are. You really don't know if this person is on site. You really don't know if they're nearby or if they know where you live or anything like that." "It's great for her to step up and shine a light into this, which is something that happens to every single tennis player out there. Every single athlete, I would say," said de Minaur. "Hopefully there is something that can be done about it. It's something that's been going on for a while now. It's something that a lot of people have spoken out against, but it doesn't change. Boulter believes much of the abuse comes from gamblers who have lost money and de Minaur, speaking his his surprise defeat to Jiri Lehecka at Queen's, agreed. "When you lose, you're feeling not in the best state emotionally, but then you've also got to deal with everything that happens behind the scenes with angry gamblers. "I haven't gone on my social media yet, but I'm sure I'll have a lot of people not too happy with my result today. "Every single tennis player on the tour gets thousands, millions of messages every time they lose a match or they cost someone money betting on them. So it's something that you've gotten used to. "I would love for it to be dealt with or fixed somehow, but I'm not too sure what's the answer." The WTA and International Tennis Federation on Tuesday published their first report into online abuse of players after the launch of the Threat Matrix service last January. The report reveals 1.6million posts and comments were analysed, with around 8,000 directed at 458 players identified as abusive, violent or threatening. Five players received 26 per cent of the total abuse, while 40 per cent of the messages were identified as coming from angry gamblers. Fifteen accounts have been identified to law enforcement because of the serious and prolific nature of the messages, while details have been shared with security teams at tennis events to prevent individuals accessing venues. Alex de Minaur has supported his British fiancee and fellow tennis star Katie Boulter after she opened up on the social media abuse she receives. Boulter shared her experiences with BBC Sport to highlight the issue of players receiving toxic messages online. The 28-year-old's examples included a message telling her to buy "candles and a coffin for your entire family" with a reference to her "grandmother's grave if she's not dead by tomorrow", one stating she should "go to hell" as she had cost the poster money, and another stating "hope you get cancer". Boulter said: "I just wonder who the person is that has sent that. I don't think it's something that I would ever say to my worst enemy. It's just an awful, awful thing to say to anyone. It's horrible. "It shows how vulnerable we are. You really don't know if this person is on site. You really don't know if they're nearby or if they know where you live or anything like that." "It's great for her to step up and shine a light into this, which is something that happens to every single tennis player out there. Every single athlete, I would say," said de Minaur. "Hopefully there is something that can be done about it. It's something that's been going on for a while now. It's something that a lot of people have spoken out against, but it doesn't change. Boulter believes much of the abuse comes from gamblers who have lost money and de Minaur, speaking his his surprise defeat to Jiri Lehecka at Queen's, agreed. "When you lose, you're feeling not in the best state emotionally, but then you've also got to deal with everything that happens behind the scenes with angry gamblers. "I haven't gone on my social media yet, but I'm sure I'll have a lot of people not too happy with my result today. "Every single tennis player on the tour gets thousands, millions of messages every time they lose a match or they cost someone money betting on them. So it's something that you've gotten used to. "I would love for it to be dealt with or fixed somehow, but I'm not too sure what's the answer." The WTA and International Tennis Federation on Tuesday published their first report into online abuse of players after the launch of the Threat Matrix service last January. The report reveals 1.6million posts and comments were analysed, with around 8,000 directed at 458 players identified as abusive, violent or threatening. Five players received 26 per cent of the total abuse, while 40 per cent of the messages were identified as coming from angry gamblers. Fifteen accounts have been identified to law enforcement because of the serious and prolific nature of the messages, while details have been shared with security teams at tennis events to prevent individuals accessing venues. Alex de Minaur has supported his British fiancee and fellow tennis star Katie Boulter after she opened up on the social media abuse she receives. Boulter shared her experiences with BBC Sport to highlight the issue of players receiving toxic messages online. The 28-year-old's examples included a message telling her to buy "candles and a coffin for your entire family" with a reference to her "grandmother's grave if she's not dead by tomorrow", one stating she should "go to hell" as she had cost the poster money, and another stating "hope you get cancer". Boulter said: "I just wonder who the person is that has sent that. I don't think it's something that I would ever say to my worst enemy. It's just an awful, awful thing to say to anyone. It's horrible. "It shows how vulnerable we are. You really don't know if this person is on site. You really don't know if they're nearby or if they know where you live or anything like that." "It's great for her to step up and shine a light into this, which is something that happens to every single tennis player out there. Every single athlete, I would say," said de Minaur. "Hopefully there is something that can be done about it. It's something that's been going on for a while now. It's something that a lot of people have spoken out against, but it doesn't change. Boulter believes much of the abuse comes from gamblers who have lost money and de Minaur, speaking his his surprise defeat to Jiri Lehecka at Queen's, agreed. "When you lose, you're feeling not in the best state emotionally, but then you've also got to deal with everything that happens behind the scenes with angry gamblers. "I haven't gone on my social media yet, but I'm sure I'll have a lot of people not too happy with my result today. "Every single tennis player on the tour gets thousands, millions of messages every time they lose a match or they cost someone money betting on them. So it's something that you've gotten used to. "I would love for it to be dealt with or fixed somehow, but I'm not too sure what's the answer." The WTA and International Tennis Federation on Tuesday published their first report into online abuse of players after the launch of the Threat Matrix service last January. The report reveals 1.6million posts and comments were analysed, with around 8,000 directed at 458 players identified as abusive, violent or threatening. Five players received 26 per cent of the total abuse, while 40 per cent of the messages were identified as coming from angry gamblers. Fifteen accounts have been identified to law enforcement because of the serious and prolific nature of the messages, while details have been shared with security teams at tennis events to prevent individuals accessing venues. Alex de Minaur has supported his British fiancee and fellow tennis star Katie Boulter after she opened up on the social media abuse she receives. Boulter shared her experiences with BBC Sport to highlight the issue of players receiving toxic messages online. The 28-year-old's examples included a message telling her to buy "candles and a coffin for your entire family" with a reference to her "grandmother's grave if she's not dead by tomorrow", one stating she should "go to hell" as she had cost the poster money, and another stating "hope you get cancer". Boulter said: "I just wonder who the person is that has sent that. I don't think it's something that I would ever say to my worst enemy. It's just an awful, awful thing to say to anyone. It's horrible. "It shows how vulnerable we are. You really don't know if this person is on site. You really don't know if they're nearby or if they know where you live or anything like that." "It's great for her to step up and shine a light into this, which is something that happens to every single tennis player out there. Every single athlete, I would say," said de Minaur. "Hopefully there is something that can be done about it. It's something that's been going on for a while now. It's something that a lot of people have spoken out against, but it doesn't change. Boulter believes much of the abuse comes from gamblers who have lost money and de Minaur, speaking his his surprise defeat to Jiri Lehecka at Queen's, agreed. "When you lose, you're feeling not in the best state emotionally, but then you've also got to deal with everything that happens behind the scenes with angry gamblers. "I haven't gone on my social media yet, but I'm sure I'll have a lot of people not too happy with my result today. "Every single tennis player on the tour gets thousands, millions of messages every time they lose a match or they cost someone money betting on them. So it's something that you've gotten used to. "I would love for it to be dealt with or fixed somehow, but I'm not too sure what's the answer." The WTA and International Tennis Federation on Tuesday published their first report into online abuse of players after the launch of the Threat Matrix service last January. The report reveals 1.6million posts and comments were analysed, with around 8,000 directed at 458 players identified as abusive, violent or threatening. Five players received 26 per cent of the total abuse, while 40 per cent of the messages were identified as coming from angry gamblers. Fifteen accounts have been identified to law enforcement because of the serious and prolific nature of the messages, while details have been shared with security teams at tennis events to prevent individuals accessing venues.
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Queen's KO leaves de Minaur undercooked for Wimbledon
Alex de Minaur's quickfire exit from Queen's has left Australia's big Wimbledon hope in danger of heading into the grasscourt grand slam severely undercooked. The Aussie No.1 took a break after suffering a first week exit on the clay of Roland Garros, admitting the unrelenting schedule of the tennis calendar had left him mentally spent and physically drained. He skipped the Rosmalen grasscourt warm-up in the Netherlands, which he won last year, to live the life of a "normal human being ... going for coffees, to dinners, visiting parks and nature, playing golf ... instead of obsessing about tennis 24/7." However, the time out does not seem to have helped, not yet at least. De Minaur lacked sharpness in his first round match at the London ATP 500 event and Jiri Lehecka, a rising Czech with a big serve, took full advantage. The world No.30's average serve, at 211kph, was the same as de Minaur's fastest and he never looked in danger of dropping it as he won 6-4 6-2. De Minaur made uncharacteristic errors on his forehand and his first serve percentage was below 60 per cent. Lehecka had not played on grass for nearly two years, having missed the entirety of the 2024 grasscourt season with a back injury, but looked far more comfortable than de Minaur , a Queen's finalist in 2023 and Wimbledon quarterf-inalist last year, who won three of the last 15 points. "I understand (the need), the schedule is brutal, but it's not the best time to take a break, between two slams," said British former Australian Open finalist John Lloyd on BBC. "You can see he's flat. He needs matches, but he won't get them if he plays like that." De MInaur had not planned to play in either of the final warm-ups next week - Eastbourne on England's south coast and Mallorca, Spain - but may now rethink. Asked how he was feeling he said, "Good question. I'm not too sure. Obviously wasn't the kind of result I was hoping for coming here to Queen's. "So back to the drawing board, and we're going to have to make some decisions." De Minaur had told AAP at the weekend, "so there might be a little bit of a difference or a conversation to be had if Queen's doesn't go well." But he added: "I've got to start having a more of a mentality of a big player and start backing myself to not have to play so many tournaments, back myself to do well in in those big tournaments." Alex de Minaur's quickfire exit from Queen's has left Australia's big Wimbledon hope in danger of heading into the grasscourt grand slam severely undercooked. The Aussie No.1 took a break after suffering a first week exit on the clay of Roland Garros, admitting the unrelenting schedule of the tennis calendar had left him mentally spent and physically drained. He skipped the Rosmalen grasscourt warm-up in the Netherlands, which he won last year, to live the life of a "normal human being ... going for coffees, to dinners, visiting parks and nature, playing golf ... instead of obsessing about tennis 24/7." However, the time out does not seem to have helped, not yet at least. De Minaur lacked sharpness in his first round match at the London ATP 500 event and Jiri Lehecka, a rising Czech with a big serve, took full advantage. The world No.30's average serve, at 211kph, was the same as de Minaur's fastest and he never looked in danger of dropping it as he won 6-4 6-2. De Minaur made uncharacteristic errors on his forehand and his first serve percentage was below 60 per cent. Lehecka had not played on grass for nearly two years, having missed the entirety of the 2024 grasscourt season with a back injury, but looked far more comfortable than de Minaur , a Queen's finalist in 2023 and Wimbledon quarterf-inalist last year, who won three of the last 15 points. "I understand (the need), the schedule is brutal, but it's not the best time to take a break, between two slams," said British former Australian Open finalist John Lloyd on BBC. "You can see he's flat. He needs matches, but he won't get them if he plays like that." De MInaur had not planned to play in either of the final warm-ups next week - Eastbourne on England's south coast and Mallorca, Spain - but may now rethink. Asked how he was feeling he said, "Good question. I'm not too sure. Obviously wasn't the kind of result I was hoping for coming here to Queen's. "So back to the drawing board, and we're going to have to make some decisions." De Minaur had told AAP at the weekend, "so there might be a little bit of a difference or a conversation to be had if Queen's doesn't go well." But he added: "I've got to start having a more of a mentality of a big player and start backing myself to not have to play so many tournaments, back myself to do well in in those big tournaments." Alex de Minaur's quickfire exit from Queen's has left Australia's big Wimbledon hope in danger of heading into the grasscourt grand slam severely undercooked. The Aussie No.1 took a break after suffering a first week exit on the clay of Roland Garros, admitting the unrelenting schedule of the tennis calendar had left him mentally spent and physically drained. He skipped the Rosmalen grasscourt warm-up in the Netherlands, which he won last year, to live the life of a "normal human being ... going for coffees, to dinners, visiting parks and nature, playing golf ... instead of obsessing about tennis 24/7." However, the time out does not seem to have helped, not yet at least. De Minaur lacked sharpness in his first round match at the London ATP 500 event and Jiri Lehecka, a rising Czech with a big serve, took full advantage. The world No.30's average serve, at 211kph, was the same as de Minaur's fastest and he never looked in danger of dropping it as he won 6-4 6-2. De Minaur made uncharacteristic errors on his forehand and his first serve percentage was below 60 per cent. Lehecka had not played on grass for nearly two years, having missed the entirety of the 2024 grasscourt season with a back injury, but looked far more comfortable than de Minaur , a Queen's finalist in 2023 and Wimbledon quarterf-inalist last year, who won three of the last 15 points. "I understand (the need), the schedule is brutal, but it's not the best time to take a break, between two slams," said British former Australian Open finalist John Lloyd on BBC. "You can see he's flat. He needs matches, but he won't get them if he plays like that." De MInaur had not planned to play in either of the final warm-ups next week - Eastbourne on England's south coast and Mallorca, Spain - but may now rethink. Asked how he was feeling he said, "Good question. I'm not too sure. Obviously wasn't the kind of result I was hoping for coming here to Queen's. "So back to the drawing board, and we're going to have to make some decisions." De Minaur had told AAP at the weekend, "so there might be a little bit of a difference or a conversation to be had if Queen's doesn't go well." But he added: "I've got to start having a more of a mentality of a big player and start backing myself to not have to play so many tournaments, back myself to do well in in those big tournaments." Alex de Minaur's quickfire exit from Queen's has left Australia's big Wimbledon hope in danger of heading into the grasscourt grand slam severely undercooked. The Aussie No.1 took a break after suffering a first week exit on the clay of Roland Garros, admitting the unrelenting schedule of the tennis calendar had left him mentally spent and physically drained. He skipped the Rosmalen grasscourt warm-up in the Netherlands, which he won last year, to live the life of a "normal human being ... going for coffees, to dinners, visiting parks and nature, playing golf ... instead of obsessing about tennis 24/7." However, the time out does not seem to have helped, not yet at least. De Minaur lacked sharpness in his first round match at the London ATP 500 event and Jiri Lehecka, a rising Czech with a big serve, took full advantage. The world No.30's average serve, at 211kph, was the same as de Minaur's fastest and he never looked in danger of dropping it as he won 6-4 6-2. De Minaur made uncharacteristic errors on his forehand and his first serve percentage was below 60 per cent. Lehecka had not played on grass for nearly two years, having missed the entirety of the 2024 grasscourt season with a back injury, but looked far more comfortable than de Minaur , a Queen's finalist in 2023 and Wimbledon quarterf-inalist last year, who won three of the last 15 points. "I understand (the need), the schedule is brutal, but it's not the best time to take a break, between two slams," said British former Australian Open finalist John Lloyd on BBC. "You can see he's flat. He needs matches, but he won't get them if he plays like that." De MInaur had not planned to play in either of the final warm-ups next week - Eastbourne on England's south coast and Mallorca, Spain - but may now rethink. Asked how he was feeling he said, "Good question. I'm not too sure. Obviously wasn't the kind of result I was hoping for coming here to Queen's. "So back to the drawing board, and we're going to have to make some decisions." De Minaur had told AAP at the weekend, "so there might be a little bit of a difference or a conversation to be had if Queen's doesn't go well." But he added: "I've got to start having a more of a mentality of a big player and start backing myself to not have to play so many tournaments, back myself to do well in in those big tournaments."
