Andy Murray will finally be back in action when he takes the court in front of the home crowd at Queen’s Club on Tuesday. Murray has a blockbuster first-rounder on his hands against Nick Kyrgios, while David Goffin is facing Feliciano Lopez.
Nick Kyrgios vs. Andy Murray
Murray will be playing for the first time since Wimbledon last summer when he competes in the Fever-Tree Championships opening round on Tuesday afternoon. The former world No. 1 has been out for almost a full year with a hip injury, forcing him down to No. 156 in the world with points remaining only from a 2017 quarterfinal performance at Wimbledon. Murray has no points to defend at Queen’s Club because he lost right away to Jordan Thompson last season, but the 31-year-old Scot is still 30-6 lifetime at this tournament with five titles.
Up first for Murray is a sixth career contest against Kyrgios, who is getting swept 5-0 in the head-to-head series. The 23-year-old Australian is a hopeless 1-14 in total sets and he has completed the career Grand Slam of losses to Murray–one each at the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. They most recently clashed at the All-England Club in 2016, when Murray cruised 7-5, 6-1, 6-4. Obviously, though, circumstances have changed heading into this one. Whereas the two-time Wimbledon champion has been away from the tour, Kyrgios is 13-5 in 2018 and coming off a solid comeback of his own in Stuttgart (advanced to the semis, fell to eventual champion Roger Federer in a third-set tiebreaker). This will likely be too tough of a test for Murray in his first match in almost 12 months.
Pick: Kyrgios in 2
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(4) David Goffin vs. Feliciano Lopez
Goffin and Lopez will be going head-to-head for the fourth time in their careers when they clash during first-round action on Tuesday. All three of their previous encounters have gone the way of Goffin, who is 6-0 in total sets at Lopez’s expense and has never even been pushed to a tiebreaker. They most recently faced each other earlier this season on the indoor hard courts of Rotterdam, where the Belgian prevailed 6-1, 6-3.
Although Goffin has been snake-bitten by injuries at various times over the past two seasons, he still registers inside the top 10 at ninth in the rankings. The 27-year-old is a modest 19-9 for his 2018 campaign, but he won multiple matches in all but one of his recent clay-court events. Lopez is going relatively strong at 37 years old, with a ranking of No. 36 and a likely seed at Wimbledon. The Spaniard kicked off his grass-court swing by reaching the Stuttgart quarters, beating Viktor Troicki and Gilles Simon before bowing out against Kyrgios. Grass gives Lopez a chance in this one, but it is a terrible matchup for him regardless of the surface. Goffin’s defense is better than Lopez’s offense at this point and the No. 4 seed loves having a target when his opponents choose to rush the net.
Pick: Goffin in 2
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he’s back!
Kyrgios in two Goffin in three
So glad to have Andy back…but he’s going down in 2;…and Goffin, as usual, in 2.
I picked Lopez in three, because its grass and he’s the defending champ.
But, he’s not the player of last year, so probably wrong.
Kyrgios in three.
Good call Big AL 👍 For me it was a tough pick because Lopez is the better grass court player. Not surprised Goffin lost.
Kryrgios in three, exactly right too.
The funny thing is: TDC gave us all credit for Anderson winning when Anderson lost. It’s happened before, crediting the wrong player, but I don’t remember them correcting it. Probably nobody at all picked Leonardo Mayer over Anderson.
Just to clarify: …it was tough to pick Lopez – he is the better grass court player but I’m a big fan of Goffin.
Sorry sometimes I just don’t make sense. Anyway Not surprised Goffin lost.
Goffin in 2.
And, for no reason other than a gut feeling, I’m picking Murray in 3. He’ll be better than expected, Kygrios will have a let-down, and the streak will continue.
I am looking forward to seeing Murray on the court again. I don’t know what to expect. An easier opponent would have been preferable.
I don’t think Murray will win because Kyrgios seems to be back in the groove and playing quality tennis again. But he can gauge where he’s at and what he needs to do to get back to good form again. I wish him well in his comeback.
I can’t wait to see Andy playing too Nny!…But contrary to u Nny..i picked him to win!hahaha….I know it seems impossible..but Nicky The Brat are known to be inconsistent with his form too…He could get as high as a sky this week..but down to earth so suddenly the next…Andy,even tho this is his 1st match comeback..but he still superior in experience & mental toughness compared to Nicky imo…But,of coz..this is just a prediction!~hehehe…
So…Andy in 2 or 3…C’mon Andy!!…U can do it!!
Just hope Andy doesn’t injure himself in the process 😰
Yeah!.,..me too ed!!…Grass in the 1st few days is very dangerous as we all know…Hope Andy will survive any unfortunate…Like Novak said,any wrong footing will be a risk to his new hip…Let’s pray for Andy!!
MA,
Good for you sticking with your man! I would love to see him do it!
Hehehe…Yes Nny!…Really really hope he will win this…It will give him confidence not only with his game..but more importantly..with his body…
Holy cow: what kind of bad luck is that? Poor Andy getting Kyrgios for his first match after being out for so long. Good to see him back on court but no way he will withstand NK’s barrage.
Kyrgios in 2
The most likely outcome. Andy is a legitmate try-hard and Kyrgios is a quitter. Really this isn’t a shocking outcome, it is quite what one would expect.
You spoke too soon Connor. Kyrgios has seemed to have grown up a bit (knock on wood) in recent times. He seems to care more and probably playing on grass helps that because this is probably his favorite surface. I honestly think that if he maintains a motivated attitude and keeps his emotions in check, he is the second favorite behind Fed at Wimbledon. Now he still can get emotional and that’s okay (even Murray can be pretty cranky at times). He just can’t let it get to him and affect his play drastically like he used to.
I am suprised to see Goffin down a set to Lopez.
Just turned on the TV. I didn’t realize Kyrgios and Murray were still playing, I thought I had missed the match when I took a nap. Glad I can watch the business end of this one. Can someone tell me how Murray has looked so far? Does he look pretty healthy? Hopefully he does because Wimbledon isn’t the same without him, even if I don’t personally enjoy watching him that much.
Kyrgios’ backhand is so good. As is his forehand. As his his serve. He stays healthy for the rest of the season and he’s top 10 no doubt.
Benny
Murray has been good!
But I don’t know how well he would hold up over 5 sets
PS nick is a headcase! He tanked a large part of the first set!
Crap!! I didn’t know 😂 He’s gotten it together I guess. He can’t afford such mental lapses at Wimbledon. He needs to realize he can literally win the whole thing if he gets hot enough.
From watching these last few games, you seem to be right Amy. It’s also nice to see him digging deep and getting so fired up after 11 months. He really wants this win as does Kyrgios (even if NK doesn’t really show it as much). Valiant effort from Andy after such an extended layoff!!
Yes indeed Benny!!
Best of 5 is a different ball game tho and Andy got very tired so I don’t know how far he could go…
I would say Murray can make a run at his home slam if he was able to push one of the most in form grass court players at the moment to the brink. He just needs to get some rest and be fit and ready for best of five. If anyone can do that, it’s Murray.
I thought Murray played better than I expected. I think he was a bit tired in that third set. Kyrgios did tank the first set avdcthatcis one thing I really dislike about him. I do not think he has the mental strength to go through seven Bof5 set matches,
At least Kyrgios came back in the second set and started playing again. This was a very good effort from Murray and he should feel encouraged. The stamina will come in time.
I am surprised that Lopez beat Goffin, but then he is the defending champ so maybe not that surprising.
Sascha Zverev losing to Coric in Halle is a surprise, but I did not see the match.
Lopez winning is pretty surprising due to their H2H and is poor 2018 form, but Coric is just a bad matchup for Zverev at this point. I think Coric leads the H2H 3-1 now and he only beat Coric this year in Miami when Coric had already made the Indian wells semis the prior week and was in the Miami quarters running on fumes.
I was not aware of the H2H with Zverev and Coric. So maybe not so surprising. They are showing Queen’s on the tennis channel. They briefly showed a split screen earlier of Zverev’s match and the Kyrgios/Murray match, but did not stay with it.
I did not get to see Goffin/Lopez.
I saw in an article that Kyrgios was apparently just smacking the ball as hard as he could in the first set, basically tanking. I think he still has improved his mental game and motivation as he was able to come back from it, but he does need to eliminate that from his artillery at Wimbledon. This guy could win Queens and make at least the semis at Wimbledon if he doesn’t let his emotions run too wild.
I don’t really see him going that far at wimby. He is just too mentally and emotionally erratic.
amy,
I agree with you. That is my sense of Kyrgios. He can’t stay focused mentally in Bof5 set matches. Emotionally he can be all over the place. After he won the second set, he was on the sidelines carrying on as yelling about something. It never ends with him.
When Kyrgios was interviewed before the match they talked about how he and Andy are great friends because Andy has always spoken up for him when he’s been criticised; then he said this was the best match-up Andy could have for his first match back and at the time I thought he sounded like he would tank so that Andy could win his first match back. As the match started, my gut feeling was realised because Nick just was not competitive. He was simply passing the ball back to Andy and messing about not going for his shots.
I just feel sorry for the people who paid good money to and witness that attitude.
?
the people got exactly what they paid to see. actually more value on the $ than expected.
If you’ve been to Queens you would know the vast majority of the people would’ve disapproved of NK’s behaviour. They came to see Andy – not to watch NK acting the fool.
people disapprove of NK’s behavior everywhere. Queen’s isn’t special in that regard.
Nick hasn’t done Murray any favours because Murray still doesn’t know where his game is at.
I think Kyrgios stepped it up and made a much better effort in the second set to win it. The tennis channel commies were getting on Kyrgios to at least give Murray his best after that first set.
So I think Murray can gauge where his game is at to some point. He did seem to tire out in the third set, so he can see where his fitness level is. He has been out so long. I don’t see Murray doing anything at Wimbledon this year.
I have never cared for Kyrgios and simply don’t understand why he is talked up so much or regarded as being ‘so good for the sport’. I hope all the coaches out there tell their charges not to emulate his behaviour 😒
I thought in the circumstances Murray coped pretty well today. I agree with NNY I doubt he has the fitness and stamina to go deep at Wimbledon this year but he must be relieved to simply be back playing tennis again. The rest will follow.
ed,
Well said!
😀
NNY
I’m glad I’m not alone 😉
What get’s up my nose is the ostentatious showboating he goes in for. Had to laugh yesterday though when he lost points because he messed up on quite a few.
I don’t like him for his loutish attitude,but mainly because he doesnt try hard enough.He’s a waste of a brilliant talent
That goes without saying. He is wasting his considerable talent. His attitude stinks. He acts like the world owes him a living.