Defending champion Murray beaten by Thompson at Queen´s

Andy Murray suffered a shock first-round exit in his Aegon Championships defence, going down 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 to lucky loser Jordan Thompson.

World number one Murray, a five-time champion at Queen’s and the reigning Wimbledon title-holder, was left stunned by the Australian – a late replacement for the injured Aljaz Bedene – winning his first match against a top-10 opponent.

The Brit felt he was returning to his best form after a difficult start to 2017 with a run to the French Open semi-finals, but his grass-court campaign began with a surprise defeat and will leave him facing familiar questions in the build-up to Wimbledon.

Thompson showed he was going to give his all from the early stages, digging in during the rallies and creating three break points in Murray’s opening service game.

The defending champion managed to fend him off and there was nothing to split them until a first-set tie-break, in which the world number one appeared to be lacking confidence as he surrendered a 3-1 advantage.

Upset alert

5-time Queen’s champion Andy Murray loses the first set to Jordan Thompson…#AegonChampionships pic.twitter.com/qVqYaSmji8

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 20, 2017

Murray, whose hesitant overhead volley into the net gifted Thompson the first set, put pressure on his opponent’s serve in game two of the second but was unable to convert from being 0-40 to the good.

Thompson – ranked 90th in the world – continued to apply the pressure and he picked up two breaks before serving out the match with an ace down the middle.

The shocks keep coming at Queen’s

World No.90 @jordanthommmo2 beats Murray 7-6(4) 6-2#AegonChampionshipspic.twitter.com/Sc3ISKHDfS

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 20, 2017