Sports Blog 15/06/2015: Tennis Preview – Queen’s Club Championships 2015, Monday 15th to Sunday 21st June

The 2015 Aegon Championships (i.e. the Queen’s Club Championships) gets underway on Monday, with a few contenders for Wimbledon in action.

For the first time Queen’s has been upgraded from a 250 series event to a ATP World Tour 500 series event, with no byes to the second round for the top seeds but one less match due to a smaller number of players.

No. 1 seed, and ranked 3rd in the world, is Andy Murray. So far the Scot’s 2015 season has been blighted by one man: Novak Djokovic. He lost the final of the Australian Open, the final of the Miami Open, the semi-final of the Indian Wells Masters AND the semi-final of the French Open to Djokovic. His only significant tournament victory this season has been in the Madrid Open, a tournament from which the big Serb was absent. Yet with the Djokovic-blockade not present at Queen’s, Murray will be hoping to perform better than he did last year, when he exited in the 3rd round to Radek Stepanek. Odd years are also Murray’s forte; he has won in 2009, 2011 and 2013, so 2015 could be in his favour. He faces Lu Yen-hsun, runner-up at the Geneva Open, in the first round.

Next up is Stan Wawrinka, 2nd seed and recent (and surprising) French Open champion. The Swiss player impressively beat fellow countryman Federer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Novak Djovokic on the way to the title, only his second piece of Grand Slam silverware in his career. Other than the French Open Wawrinka has had a mixed 2015 season that saw an Australian Open semi-final but disappointing exits in the Miami and Madrid Opens. Fresh off than Roland Garros win Warwinka is in the form of his career and will be looking to go further than his semi-final exit last year; he faces Nick Kyrgios in the first round, at a Match Supremacy quote of 2.5-5.5 and 4/7 fixed odds to win the match.



There is perhaps a slight dip in quality from 2nd to 3rd seed, with the young Canadian Milos Ranoic taking that space. Ranoic was absent from the French Open due to a foot injury, but was runner-up in the 2015 Brisbane International, quarter-finalist at the Australian Open after going out to Djokovic and an Indian Wells semi-finalist. He plays Britain’s No. 4 James Ward, and is expected to win at a Raonic/Ward Match Supremacy spread of 10.5-13.5.

Marin Cilic will be hoping to kick-start his limp 2015 season, and comes into Queen’s as the 4th seed. He went out in the first round last year, but then went on to shockingly win the 2014 US Open after beating Federer in the semis and Kei Nishikori in the final. Yet 2015 has been a tough year for Cilic; injured at the start of the season Cilic missed the Aussie Open, and when he finally debuted at Indian Wells Cilic exited in only the 2nd round. He fared slightly better in the French Open, getting to the 4th round before losing to David Ferrer and will hope to get a longer workout at Queen’s. Adrian Mannarino is his first obstacle, and Cilic sits at a Match Supremacy spread of 6.5-9.5.

As the 5th seed Rafael Nadal is currently operating at a lower level than he is used to. The Spaniard lost to Djokovic in the French Open quarter finals, making the 2015 tournament the first time he hasn’t won the French Open in 6 years. This leaves Nadal ranked 10th in the world; however, he just won his first grass tournament since 2011 at the Mercedes Cup, and will be looking to get a good run out ahead of Wimbledon at the end of the month. He faces the Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov and is at a confident Match Supremacy spread of 10-13.

Last year’s Queen’s champion Grigor Dimitrov is 6th seed after an overall disappointing 2015 season. Victories over Wawrinka and Feliciano Lopez in the 2014 tournament saw an impressive win, but 2015 has led to an embarrassing 1st round exit to Jack Sock in the French Open and a 4th round exit to Andy Murray in the Aussie Open. He should win his first match at Queen’s, however, and has a Match Supremacy spread of 7.5-10.5 against the USA’s Sam Querrey.

Gilles Simon is 7th seed and 13th in the world after a limp 2015. The highlight for Simon was victory at the Open 13 in France, but since then saw a 3rd round exit in the Australian Open and a 4th round defeat in the French Open. Simon takes on Belgian No. 1 David Goffin in the first round, and has a small Simon/Goffin Match Supremacy spread of 2-5 with fixed odds of 8/13 to win the match against Goffin’s 13/10.

Finally for the top 8, last year’s runner-up Feliciano Lopez takes on Joao Sousa, who was defeated by Andy Murray in the 2nd round of the French Open. Lopez himself exited in the 1st round of the Roland Garros, but still has the advantage over Sousa, at a Match Supremacy spread of 7.5-10.5.

Check Spreadex throughout the tournament for the latest spread-betting and fixed odds opportunities!