The best efforts of the British duo James Ward and Dan Evans were always likely to fall a little short of what was needed to get the better of the top-20 opponents they faced in the second round at Queen’s Club.
Both Britons, both wild cards in this prestigious tournament, played confident tennis to beat higher-ranked opposition in their openers—and in front of a packed Centre Court crowd, too.
But faced with the No7 seed, the towering Kevin Anderson, Evans found it difficult to get his best tennis working as the big South African’s serve and baseline game took their toll.
Today wasn’t a nice feeling. No continuity on the court
Dan Evans
The first set went by in a flash, as Evans’ trusty slice found the net more than it should, though he made good inroads when Anderson missed his first serve—though that was not very often. Anderson broke twice to take the first set, 6-2.
Evans played some good defensive shots in the second set, lobbing his 6ft 8in opponent several times to the delight of the encouraging crowd, but Anderson broke to lead 4-2 and, with his serve cranking up to 136 mph, he never looked back and served out the match, 6-3, after just 65 minutes.
Evans was not happy with his performance, but admitted that Anderson had been too tall an order: “It’s just tough. Today wasn’t a nice feeling. No continuity on the court, no rhythm. Nothing, really. It was one of those things. That’s his game, but he did play really well. He served a hell of a match.”
Indeed he did: 10 aces, along with 32 points from his 34 first serves.
British No3 James Ward took on one of the super-stars among the rising band of young players that is edging up the rankings, Grigor Dimitrov.
The 23-year-old is the youngest player in the top 20, ranked No13, and all three of his tour titles have come in the last eight months, one on clay, one on hard courts, one indoors.
But grass has always been the surface that suits the Bulgarian’s varied game the best, full of flair, touch, spin and flat pace. He is a junior Wimbledon champion and first played here as an 18-year-old five years ago—and he reached the semis in 2012.
Although Ward played an impressive match to keep Dimitrov at bay for much of the time—his serving in particular was outstanding, maintaining almost 90 percent through the match—he was broken just ahead of what looked like a first-set tie-break after Dimitrov made a quite outstanding running forehand winner.
The second set went beyond Ward’s control rather faster as Dimitrov broke in the fifth game with an impressive display of serving. Ward dug in to take advantage of a lapse in concentration from the Bulgarian in the seventh game to make a break back, but Dimitrov quickly refocused to break again and he served out the match, 6-3, in 67 minutes.
My goal is to become a member at Wimbledon the easiest way possible. That is to win seven matches!
Grigor Dimitrov
Queen’s is not over for Ward: He has paired up with Evans in the doubles, and was heading to his first match against fellow Brit Jamie Murray and partner John Peers while a characteristically cheerful Dimitrov carried out his press duties.
The Bulgarian, indeed, brought a smile to the faces even of this most cynical band of press with a quip about his Wimbledon’s ambitions—though there is no doubt that here is a man who has had his eye firmly on ‘the prize’ since he first set foot on grass:
“I’d say my goal is to become a member at Wimbledon the easiest way possible. That is to win seven matches!”
Is that possible? “Yeah, I do believe that’s possible. But I take everything step by step. I’m here at Queen’s right now focusing on the matches. Of course it would be great to get as many matches as possible and just play good tennis… All I have is just positive vibes every time I’m out here, and I think in England in general I feel quite comfortable.”
He went on to talk of the “completely different mindset” he has when he steps onto a grass court: “I have always been excited. It’s a feeling I always had. Even if I was at my worst or not feeling good playing, there was always a smile as soon as I step on the court.”
As the two Brits wait to hear whether they have got wild cards for Wimbledon, Dimitrov goes on to play doubles with top singles seed, Stan Wawrinka, and then awaits the result of matches featuring other seeds in his quarter, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Dimitry Tursunov and Nicolas Mahut.
Elsewhere, former champion Marin Cilic made his earliest exit in eight visits to Queen’s, beaten by Marinko Matosevic, 6-4, 6-4.
In a packed Wednesday schedule, Wawrinka will face Marcos Baghdatis in his opening match after the Cypriot beat Bradley Klahn, 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-1.
Having recovered from a back injury during the early part of the season Vasek Pospisil ended an eight-match losing streak to beat Paolo Lorenzi, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. He will next play Sergiy Stakhovsky.
Also through are No10 seed Feliciano Lopez, No12 seed, Tursunov, as well as Jarkko Nieminen, Sam Querrey, David Goffin and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.