Sentimental favorite Andy Murray will take on French Open quarterfinalist Matteo Berrettini in the Queen’s Club second round, while Denis Shapovalov tries to fend off a charge by 2019 champ Feliciano Lopez.
(1) Matteo Berrettini vs. (Q) Andy Murray
Andy Murray’s return from hip replacement surgery has been a bit of a disaster. The Scot is now ranked 124th in the world. He has managed to make a little noise on the Challenger circuit, attempting to work himself into form, but his main tour record is 2-2 on the season. He looked spry in his first round win over Benoit Paire…but without being too insulting, it was Paire. The Frenchman has won two matches in 2021 (in 18 tries); he’s just playing abysmally right now, so that result meanings nothing for Murray.
The Scot will have the help of an adoring home crowd cheering him on, but as he runs into top seed Matteo Berrettini it’s probably not going to be enough to propel him into the next round. Berrettini is already an accomplished player on the lawns, even with a completely missing 2020 grass-court season. He won the title in Stuttgart, reached the semis in Halle, and made it to the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2019. It’s hard to imagine Murray even getting a set.
Cheryl pick: Berrettini in 2
Ricky pick: Berrettini in 3
Feliciano Lopez vs. (2) Denis Shapovalov
While Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez struggles during the rest of the ATP season (he’s 6-10 so far this year), when he gets on the grass courts at Queen’s Club, he shines. Of his seven career titles, 4 have come on grass–and his last two were at Queen’s in 2019 and 2017. Normally it would be bad luck to run into the No. 2 seed so early in the tournament, but in this case it might not be so bad for Lopez.
Shapovalov hasn’t exactly proved his mettle on grass. Prior to this week, the world No. 14 had won exactly three career matches on grass–none of which came in 2019. With his big serve Shapovalov’s game should translate to grass, but it just hasn’t done so yet. While the Canadian is technically the favorite as the No. 2 seed, expect Lopez to earn opportunities to advance.
Cheryl pick : Lopez in 3
Cheryl pick: Shapovalov in 3
WWW?
I’d love to see Andy win but…Berretini’s big serve and forehand on grass? Formidable to overcome.
I saw some of Feli’s last match. His serve was working well, but his once fearsome forehand looked like a powder puff and his backhand was awol. Couldn’t belive he won the match! Still, Shapo’s pretty erratic so Feli might win.