Andy Murray could be playing his final match at Queen’s Club when he faces Alexei Popyrin during first-round action on Tuesday. A jam-packed schedule also includes a showdown between Karen Khachanov and Sebastian Korda.
(WC) Andy Murray vs. (Q) Alexei Popyrin
Murray is without question the king of Queen’s. Dating all the way back to the inception of this historic event in 1881, the 37-year-old Scot is the all-time leader in singles titles with six (2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016). He also triumphed in doubles with Feliciano Lopez in 2019. Reportedly set to retire from tennis later this summer at either Wimbledon or the Olympics, Murray is making his final appearance at the Cinch Championships. Although the former world No. 1 can never be discounted at this tournament, success in his swansong appears to be a longshot. Murray hasn’t won a match by anything other than retirement since the Miami second round and he dropped his Stuttgart opener last week to Marcos Giron (6-3, 6-4).
Up first for the three-time Grand Slam champion on Tuesday is a first-ever meeting with Popyrin. It has already been a productive stay at Queen’s Club for the 48th-ranked Australian, who qualified for the main draw with routine victories over Otto Virtanen and Mackenzie McDonald. Popyrin also played well in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, where he defeated Rinky Hijikata before losing to Tommy Paul in three tight sets. The crowd will obviously be behind Murray in a major way, but Popyrin just has too big of a physical edge in this matchup.
Pick: Popyrin in 3
Sebastian Korda vs. Karen Khachanov
It will be a rematch of one of the most infamous matches in recent tennis history when Khachanov and Korda meet again on Tuesday. In the Wimbledon fourth round three years ago there were an unbelievable 13 service breaks in the fifth set alone. That’s right; 13 breaks…in one set…on grass. It was Khachanov who ended up prevailing 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 10-8 and now leads the head-to-head series 3-2. They most recently faced each other twice in 2023, with Khachanov advancing via retirement at the Australian Open before winning 7-5, 6-4 in Zhuhai.
Even though the Russian survived their All-England Club marathon, grass should be an advantage for Korda. He absolutely loves this surface, whereas Khachanov has much less compact strokes and likes having more time to set up for his shots–as he does on clay. Sure enough, Korda’s grass-court swing began in stellar form–with a runner-up performance in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. Khachnaov, on the other hand, suffered one of the collapses of the year in a French Open loss to Jozef Kovalik and then the world No. 22 lost his opening match in ‘s-Hertogenbosch to Aleksandar Vukic. This is a great opportunity for Korda to keep his momentum rolling.
Pick: Korda in 3