Ward ousted by Raonic at Queens Club tournament

 

James Ward crashed out of the Aegon Championships as the Canadian Milos Raonic fought back from a set down to eventually secure a 5-7 6-3 6-2 victory over the Brit. Ward was very impressive in the early exchanges and deservedly took the first set, but Raonic improved to clinch the second set and eventually cruise past his opponent in the decider.

The first set saw the Brit produce a promising display as he settled into the match early and was barley troubled on serve. Raonic was coming back from an injury that had ruled him out of the French Open, and the rustiness in his game was evident as he made a few unforced errors during the set. The Brit looked confident in the rallies with the Canadian and his solid play earned him a break point on the Raonic serve at 5-5. Ward had returned Raonic’s serve pretty well so far, and on the break point he did just enough to get a booming first serve back into court, and the Canadian surprisingly missed a forehand at the net to concede the first break of the match. The Brit comfortably consolidated the break and with that the set as well, winning it with a deep forehand winner.

Ward appeared to be in the ascendancy and created potential opportunities to break the Canadian serve once again early in the second set, but he was slightly indecisive on the big points, which allowed Raonic to keep the set remaining on serve. The Canadian though started to improve as the forehand clicked into gear, pushing his opponent back to dominate the rallies. A well crafted exchange ended with a delightful volley from Raonic to fashion a break point on Ward’s serve at 4-3, and a wide backhand from the Brit handed the Canadian the chance to serve out the set. Despite being pushed to deuce after failing to convert set points, Raonic finally wrapped up the set to take the contest into a third set.

Raonic had the crucial momentum as the decider got underway, and quickly took firm control of the match when another unforced error from Ward sealed the first break of the third set. From then on, Raonic was unstoppable as he wasted little time holding serve thanks his excellent serving and forehand combination . The Brit looked understandably deflated and another break of serve sealed Ward’s fate as he eventually succumbed to the Canadian. Raonic will now play Richard Gasquet in the second round as the Canadian continues to make his comeback from injury.

In the other matches, Fernando Verdasco was forced to save match points before edging Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6 7-5 7-6, and Australian veteran Lleyton Hewitt made his final appearance at the Aegon Championships as the former champion was defeated by Kevin Anderson 6-7 7-5 6-2. However, the match between Sam Querry and the defending champion Grigor Dimitrov will resume tomorrow as Dimitrov fought back from a set and a break down to take the contest into a decider, which will be completed on Tuesday.