Cilic clicks, Paul ousts Shapovalov
London, June 16
Former Wimbledon runner-up Marin Cilic kept his focus to beat Alexander Bublik 7-6(6) 7-5 and advance to the quarterfinals of the Queen’s Club on Wednesday.
Tommy Paul upset sixth-seeded Denis Shapovalov 6-4 2-6 6-4 in a first-round match at the grasscourt tournament, and Botic van de Zandschulp reached the quarterfinals by beating Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(5) 6-3.
The seventh-seeded Cilic, a two-time Queen’s champion making his 15th appearance at the tournament, saved three set points after trailing 5-0 in the first-set tiebreaker. Bublik fell behind 3-0 in the second set and used an array of underarm serves and drop shots to get back on serve. But his second double fault in the last game set up match point for his Croatian opponent, who earned his 34th victory at the Queen’s. “The game plan against Alexander is to keep focus, you never know what is coming,” said Cilic, a finalist at Wimbledon in 2017. — Reuters
Halle Open: Hurkacz, Medvedev win
Halle: Defending champion Ugo Humbert and the second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas were both eliminated from the Halle Open in the second round. Humbert lost to Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(5) 6-3, and Nick Kyrgios fought back to beat Tsitsipas 5-7 6-2 6-4 at the grasscourt tournament. Tsitsipas hit 18 aces but Kyrgios stayed resolute, saving seven of the eight break points he faced to win in 2 hours and 5 minutes. The Australian wildcard entry next faces Pablo Carreno Busta, who defeated Sebastian Korda 6-4 0-6 6-3 earlier. Top-ranked Daniil Medvedev advanced by beating David Goffin 6-3 6-2. The Russian will next play Ilya Ivashka of Belarus in the second round. AP
