Andy Murray loses out on $500k to Alex de Minaur at Queen’s club

After a devastating loss to Alex de Minaur in the first round at Queen’s Club on Tuesday, British tennis superstar Andy Murray’s hopes of being seeded for Wimbledon were dashed.

Since having career-saving surgery, two-time Wimbledon champion Murray has been on a winning streak, most recently winning 10 consecutive matches and the ATP Challenger titles in Surbiton and Nottingham.

The former World No. 1 would have preferred to enter Wimbledon in the top 32 seed; however, world No. 18 Alex de Minaur sprayed water on his hopes at the first round of the Cinch Championships on Tuesday.

Alex de Minaur makes quick work of Andy Murray

At the London grass-court tournament, the 36-year-old former world No. 1 lost 6-3, 6-1, to the world No. 18 Australian. Andy failed to put up a fight whatsoever.

CLINICAL 👏@alexdeminaur makes the RO16, taking out Murray in a swift display, 6-3 6-1 at Queen's.#cinchChampionships pic.twitter.com/4XkAe6HtUQ

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 20, 2023

This year, Murray has won three ATP Challenger titles and skipped the French Open to focus on Wimbledon, where he triumphed for the first time in four years at the Open du Pays d’Aix in May.

However, with this swift defeat, his hopes of entering his local Grand Slam tournament as a seeded player are gone.

Murray positive about Wimbledon despite setback

“Obviously, after today, it’s easy to overreact. I lost to a good player and it was obviously very comfortable,” Murray said in his post-match press conference. “But at the same time, over the past couple of weeks, yes, it’s obviously not the same level of opponents, but I won the Nottingham Challenger last week without dropping a set.”

Magical moves, @andy_murray 💫#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/RIlx6ujC7R

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 21, 2023

“I only lost one set in Surbiton. Was holding serve very comfortably. Was moving well, hitting the ball well. There are a lot of positive signs there.”

“Just recharge a little bit, and then go to work on my game,” Murray added. “I don’t want to overanalyze. Today definitely some things I can do better, but at the same time, I have done lots of good things over the last couple of weeks as well. I want to keep going in that direction.”

Andy Murray can't believe he used to win tennis matches against Djokovic, Nadal and Federer 😅 pic.twitter.com/dBxIi95jx9

— Eurosport (@eurosport) June 13, 2023

“Keep serving well, keep working on my movement. That was something we spent a lot of time working on before Surbiton and Nottingham, and it’s really crucial for me that I’m moving well. So definitely spend a lot of time working on that.”

Wimbledon kicks off on July 3rd, and Andy Murray will be hoping to win his third Wimbledon title despite going in as an unseeded player.

How far do you think he will go? Don’t forget to share your opinions in the comments.