Raonic wins, then drops out of Fever-Tree Championships

Milos Raonic has pulled out of the Queen's Club grass-court tennis tournament with a right pectoral strain.

Tennis Wrap: Milos Raonic drops out after win, Novak Djokovic cruises in 1st round

6 years ago

Duration 1:19

After his opponent retired with an injury, Raonic dropped out of the Fever-Tree Championships in the 1st round with a pectoral strain.

The tournament made the announcement on its official Twitter account Tuesday, just hours after Raonic won his first-round match over Yuki Bhambri. Raonic was up 6-1, 3-1 on Bhambri before the Indian qualifier retired.

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"Unfortunately I have sustained a strain to my right pectoral muscle. This happened on the second to last point of the match, and as a result I am not able to continue with the tournament," Raonic said in a statement on the tournament's Twitter page. "I'm really disappointed as I was playing well and I love this tournament.

"I have happy memories from reaching the final in 2016 and hoped to do so again. I wish the tournament another successful event, and I hope to be back in top shape and health for Wimbledon."

Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont., was coming off a run to the final at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany, where he lost to top-ranked Roger Federer on Sunday.

His status for Wimbledon, which starts July 2 at the All England Club, is now in question. He missed the last Grand Slam when he sat out the French Open with an undisclosed injury.

Once No. 3 in the world, Raonic has seen his ranking plummet over the last couple of years because of a litany of injuries. But he had seen his ranking rise this year, and his trip to the final in Stuttgart moved him up four spots to No. 31.​

Murray loses first match back

Meanwhile, Andy Murray won the first set on his return from injury after almost a year away from competitive tennis before Australian Nick Kyrgios rallied to win 2-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5 in their first round match on Tuesday.

Despite the defeat, Murray — who last played 342 days ago at Wimbledon 2017 — will take encouragement from his long-awaited return. Former top-ranked Murray still had a visible limp and sometimes looked to struggle with side-to-side movement after hip surgery in January, but he had lost none of his competitive spirit.

Kyrgios, who also looked to be struggling with injury, beat Murray for the first time in six attempts after 2 hours, 39 minutes.

Earlier, Novak Djokovic's first appearance at the Wimbledon warmup tournament in eight years was successful when he put away Australian qualifier John Millman 6-2, 6-1.

Djokovic, entered as a wild card, will play second-seeded Grigor Dimitrov in the second round.

Djokovic's comeback from right elbow surgery in January has been gathering pace after reaching the Rome semifinals and French Open quarterfinals. He leads Dimitrov 6-1 in career matchups.

Dimitrov, the 2014 Queen's champion, struggled past Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3. Dimitrov saved six of eight break points.

The only other Canadian taking part in the 32-man draw was Denis Shapovalov, who lost his first match to Gilles Muller on Monday.

Match Wrap: Denis Shapovalov eliminated in 1st round at Fever-Tree Championships

6 years ago

Duration 1:09

For the 2nd-straight time, Shapovalov has been eliminated in the 1st round of an ATP tournament, after losing to Gilles Muller 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (8-6) at the Fever-Tree Championships.