LONDON: Australia’s Marinko Matosevic ended Marin Cilic’s attempt to reach a third consecutive Queen’s Club final at the first hurdle with a surprise 6-4, 6-4 victory yesterday.
Cilic won the Wimbledon warm-up tournament in 2012 when his opponent David Nalbandian was disqualified in the final for kicking an advertising board into the shins of a lines judge.
The 25-year-old Croatian, who is coached by compatriot and former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, almost made a successful defence of his title last year before finally losing to Andy Murray in three sets in the final.
But the ninth seed’s hopes of becoming the first player to reach three successive Queen’s finals since Andy Roddick from 2003 to 2005 were shattered by Bosnia-born Matosevic in just 77 minutes.
Meanwnhile, South Africa’s Kevin Anderson also advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 win against British wild card Dan Evans.AFP
