Korda overcomes Dimitrov to reach Queen's Club QFs, Murray retires

Sebastian Korda continued his impressive grass-court season on Wednesday at the cinch Championships, where he won a close second-round clash against Grigor Dimitrov.

The American, who is competing at a career-high No. 23 in the PIF ATP Rankings, battled hard to earn a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory against the 2014 Queen’s Club champion.

“It was a big struggle. We were both serving well and waiting for our chances and there weren’t many. But when they came, I tried to take them,” Korda said. “It is incredible playing at Queen’s, it is one of my favourite tournaments.”

👍Korda on course👍@SebiKorda takes out [3] Dimitrov to reach the quarter-finals@QueensTennis | #cinchChampionships pic.twitter.com/D0Mq4aT6zX

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 19, 2024

Korda was more consistent from the baseline than Dimitrov, committing nine unforced errors compared to 17 from the Bulgarian, according to ATP Infosys Stats. With his two-hour, one-minute win, the 23-year-old earned his seventh Top 10 victory and third on grass.

Korda, who reached the final on grass in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last week, now leads World No. 10 Dimitrov 2-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. He will next play Rinky Hijikata in the quarter-finals.

Five-time tournament champion Andy Murray retired five games into his match against Jordan Thompson. The former World No. 1's movement was hindered.

Murray received a visit from the physio for treatment on his lower back and was unable to continue after Thompson took a 4-1 lead.

Taylor Fritz downed former No. 3 Milos Raonic 7-6(5), 6-4 after winning 81 per cent of his first-serve points.

The fourth-seeded American tallied four consecutive points from 3/5 in the first-set tie-break to gain an advantage on the Canadian, who was playing just his fifth tournament of the year. In Fritz’s second service game of the second set, he again dug out of a hole, holding despite a 0/40 start. The 26-year-old earned a decisive break at 4-4 and proceeded to hold at love, booking his spot in the last eight.

Australian qualifier Hijikata defeated Italian Matteo Arnaldi 7-6(0), 7-6(7) to reach his third tour-level quarter-final of the season.

The 23-year-old, who is making his debut at the ATP 500 event, showed signs of nerves in the closing stages of the second set, squandering five match points before eventually sealing victory on his sixth opportunity.

Hijikata is up 23 spots to No. 75 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings after reaching his second ATP Tour grass-court quarter-final. He advanced to the semi-finals in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last year.