Tiafoe upset by local wild card at Queen’s Club
Denmark’s Holger Rune returns the ball to Australia’s Christopher O’Connell during their tennis match at The Queen’s Club grass court tennis championships in London, Monday, June 16, 2025. (Ben Whitley/PA via AP)
LONDON (AP) — British wild card Dan Evans upset world No. 13 Frances Tiafoe 7-5, 6-2 on Monday for his first win at Queen’s Club since 2021.
Backhand slices and quick net reflexes underpinned No. 199 Evans’ second ever top-20 win on grass. The first was at 2019 Wimbledon.
“I still believed I’ve got that tennis in me and I still believe I can do good things inside the top 100. But believing it and it happening is a lot different,” Evans said. “You know how some days you think, ‘Are you deluded, are you nuts, have you still got it, still got it in your legs?’ Today showed I still have a bit left.”
Other first-round winners included fourth-seeded Holger Rune and eighth-seeded Jakub Mensik on his Queen’s debut. The 19-year-old Czech hit 20 aces while beating former finalist Cameron Norrie 7-6 (6), 1-6, 6-1.
Mensik next faces Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, a three-set comeback winner over Nuno Borges of Portugal, while Rune lined up Mackenzie McDonald of the U.S., who ousted Gael Monfils of France 6-4, 6-4.
The top two seeds are Wimbledon and French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz, and Taylor Fritz, who won Stuttgart on Sunday for his fourth title on grass.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis