HALLE: World number two Daniil Medvedev’s Wimbledon preparations suffered a setback on Tuesday when he was bundled out by Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 in the opening round of the ATP 500 tournament in Halle.

Medvedev, who suffered a quarter-final exit at the French Open, will hope he rediscovers his touch on grass before he resumes his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title at Wimbledon starting June 28.

He has never progressed beyond the third round at the grasscourt major since his main draw debut in 2017.

Struff goes on to play qualifier Marcos Giron in the second round.

Swiss tennis ace Roger Federer, who turns 40 in August, will play 20-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime in the second round after the Canadian’s 6-3, 7-5 first-round win over Hubert Hurkacz of Poland.

Third-seed Alexander Zverev was pleased with his first match this season on grass as he dispatched fellow German Dominik Koepfer with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win. The world number six will play Ugo Humbert of France in the second round.

Fourth seed Andrey Rublev played his first game on grass for two years as he beat his doubles partner Karen Khachanov 6-3, 7-6(7/5) in the first round. His second-round opponent is Australian Jordan Thompson.

Lloyd Harris managed another upset win as the South African beat eighth-seeded Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4 to set up a second-round meeting with qualifier Lukas Lacko.

Kei Nishikori of Japan will play Sebastian Korda of the USA in the next round after a hard-fought 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 win over Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2021