Tsonga bows out as shocks continue

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga became the latest star to suffer a shock exit from the pre-Wimbledon warm-up at Queen’s Club as the world number five was beaten 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 7-6 (7/5) by Croatia’s Ivan Dodig yesterday. With top seed Andy Murray, fourth seed Gilles Simon and four-time Queen’s champions Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt already eliminated from the grass-court event, it seems Tsonga had a golden opportunity to go all the way. But the Frenchman, seeded second, produced a lethargic display and world number 69 Dodig took full advantage to claim one of the best wins of his career. Tsonga reached the final here last year, losing to Murray, and became the first player ever to beat Roger Federer from two sets down at a grand slam in the Wimbledon quarter-finals a few weeks later. With that kind of pedigree on grass, Tsonga was the clear favourite. But Dodig, who defeated Rafael Nadal in Montreal last year, played with freedom and confidence, while Tsonga was a shadow of the vibrant force who so often over-powers opponents. Tsonga must have hoped his experience would prove decisive when the first set went to a tie-break. Instead, the former Australian Open finalist produced an error-strewn effort that allowed Dodig to secure the lead. Earlier, South Africa’s Kevin Anderson advanced to the last eight for the first time after defeating Spanish fifth seed Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (12/10), 7-6 (9/7). Anderson, seeded ninth, had never been past the last 16 in his previous four visits, but he finally broke that sequence with an impressive victory over world number 17 Lopez. At a towering 6ft 8in, Anderson can fire down serves with a potent combination of high bounce and fearsome power and, with his ground-strokes also improving, he has risen to 30th in the world rankings. Nadal makes winning start to grasscourt season Newly-crowned French Open champion Rafael Nadal made a winning return to grass courts yesterday, defeating Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko 7-5, 6-1 in the second round of the Halle ATP tournament. The Spanish world number two, playing at the German venue for the first time since 2005, will tackle German eighth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarter-finals. Kohlschreiber, the defending champion, made the last eight with a 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-3 win over Poland’s Lukasz Kubot. Top-seeded Nadal last played this tournament seven years ago, fresh from his first French Open title but suffered a rude awakening on his debut on grass, losing in the first round to Alexander Waske.from gulf times.