Harriet Dart continued to carry British hopes at the Rothesay Birmingham Classic as she beat Anhelina Kalinina for a second successive week to make the quarter-finals.

Dart was awarded a Wimbledon wild card earlier in the day and celebrated in style by earning a 6-3 3-6 6-1 victory over the Ukrainian fifth seed.

The British number four, who has been playing with tonsillitis, beat Kalinina in Nottingham last week on her way to the quarter-finals and this victory books her second successive last-eight spot.

She will face fourth seed Anastasia Potapova or Caty McNally in the last eight on Friday as she continues her impressive build-up for SW19, where she is now guaranteed a spot in the main draw.

“I was always expecting a battle, I played great last week and I knew she would raise her level. The courts are a little bit quicker here so I just had to adjust a little bit more,” she said in her on-court interview.

“I am just really pleased to be through.

“I am kind of used it, I played quite a lot of long matches, not out of choice, but it happens. I always love coming back to Birmingham, it is pretty awesome.

“I love playing on grass and I love playing in front of the home fans and I love these couple of weeks the most for sure.”

The world number 134, who beat fellow Brit Jodie Burrage in the first round, moved into a 3-0 lead but only after saving seven break points during her first two service games.

It took Kalinina 23 minutes to get off the mark but there was no stopping Dart who took the opening set 6-3.

A much closer second set occurred before Kalinina sensed her opportunity in the sixth service game to move 4-2 ahead and force a decider.

But Dart regrouped and raced clear in the deciding set, having match points at 5-0.

Kalinina did make her serve it out, but that proved no problem for the Brit, much to the delight of the Edgbaston Priory crowd.

Earlier in the day, Linda Fruhvirtova progressed into the quarter-finals after the highly-rated teenager defeated Bernarda Pera 6-1 7-6 (3).

China’s Zhu Lin, who beat Katie Boulter on day one, also continued her fine tournament with victory over third seed Magda Linette by a 6-3 6-0 score.

Top seed Barbora Krejcikova started her time in Birmingham with a 6-3 6-3 win over Cristina Bucsa in the first round.

British number one Cameron Norrie came from a set down to reach the quarter-finals of the cinch Championships.

Norrie, the fifth seed, dropped the opener against Australian Jordan Thompson but then lost just five more games in a 4-6 6-3 6-2 victory at Queen’s Club.

World number 76 Thompson was inspired in the first set, which he sealed with a stunning cross-court backhand winner.

But the 29-year-old’s forehand let him down badly as Norrie broke for 4-2 on his way to levelling the match.

Norrie broke in the first game of the decider, but he had to save three break points as he served for the match before completing the victory in just under two hours to reach a sixth quarter-final this year.

He said: “I think it was the perfect match. Jordan really likes the grass and in the first set he played a couple of good points to beat me.

“I thought I’d played great so I didn’t have to change too much. I came out with a lot of energy in the third set and that’s what got me through.

“It’s really good to be that consistent but you always want more as a tennis player. I want to keep pushing for more, especially in the bigger tournaments.

Norrie was due to play doubles with Andy Murray later on Wednesday evening but the two-time Wimbledon champion, who lost in the singles on Tuesday, withdrew through fatigue.

Andy Murray’s uncle and brother have questioned why the two-time Wimbledon champion is not on an official poster of past and present greats.

The All England Club posted on its social media channels an image of 15 famous players walking down a staircase.

Under the banner “here’s to the next generation of headline acts”, young duo Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz – neither of whom have made an impact at the Championships yet – stand in the foreground.

Behind them are a selection of “epic” rivalries including Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and Serena and Venus Williams.

But Murray, who ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s champion in 2013, is nowhere to be seen.

His uncle, Niall Erskine, tweeted underneath the image: “Appalling at every level, all about the men in the forefront and your own British history maker nowhere to be seen. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

And Jamie Murray, who has been competing along with his brother at the cinch Championships this week, replied to Wimbledon’s Instagram post with “Where’s @andymurray?”

He added: “Didn’t they talk about the big 4 for 10 years until he smashed his hip to pieces when he was world No 1?”

Illustrator Grant Gruenhaupt responded by saying more paintings are planned.

Meanwhile, Jamie Murray and partner Michael Venus lost their first-round doubles match at Queen’s Club against Matthew Hebden and Rohan Bopanna in two tie-breaks.

Andy Murray was due to play in the doubles alongside Cameron Norrie later on Wednesday but the Scot, knocked out of the singles on Tuesday, has withdrawn from the event.

Five-time Wimbledon singles champion Venus Williams has been awarded a wild card for next month’s championships.

Williams, who played mixed doubles at the All England Club last year, has not played in the singles event since 2021 but rolled back the years on Monday to beat Camila Giorgi at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham days after her 43rd birthday.

Williams competes sparingly these days and only played her first tournament since January at a grass-court event in the Netherlands last week before heading to Birmingham.

Her gutsy 7-6 (5), 4-6 7-6 (6) victory over Giorgi in more than three hours on Monday represented a first win over a top-50 opponent since 2019.

Ten singles wild cards have been handed to British male and female players, including Liam Broady and Katie Boulter, while Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina will be involved in Wimbledon after she missed last year’s tournament due to her pregnancy.

Former world number three Svitolina gave birth in October but made the quarter-finals at Roland Garros last month in her first grand-slam since becoming a mother.

Svitolina made the last four at Wimbledon in 2021 and could encounter more Russian and Belarussian players in SW19.

She was booed at the French Open after not shaking hands with Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka following her quarter-final exit.

British hopefuls Jodie Burrage, Harriet Dart, Katie Swan, Heather Watson have also been given wild cards.

In the men’s singles Ryan Peniston has received a wild card, along with fellow Britons Arthur Fery, Jan Choinski and George Loffhagen, with the trio set to make their main draw debuts at Wimbledon.

Belgian David Goffin, the world number 124, has been handed a wild card following his run to the quarter-finals in 2022, where he lost in five sets to British number one Cameron Norrie.

The All England Club has one more women’s singles and two more men’s singles wild cards to hand out.

Andy Murray suffered a major blow to his Wimbledon hopes after falling to a first-round defeat at the cinch Championships.

The five-time Queen’s Club winner paid for an error-strewn, irritable performance as he slipped to a 6-3 6-1 loss against Alex De Minaur.

Murray had won 10 matches in a row in claiming back-to-back grass-court titles in Surbiton and Nottingham.

But Australian seventh seed De Minaur – the world number 18 – was a major step up in class and probably one of the trickiest first-round opponents Murray could have drawn.

The 24-year-old certainly knew his way around a grass court; he is a former Eastbourne champion and reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year.

He was simply too strong for 36-year-old Murray, sending him spinning to a defeat which means, barring an unlikely raft of withdrawals, that he will not be seeded at Wimbledon next month.

Murray probably needed to reach the quarter-finals at least to have a chance of being one of the top 32 players at SW19, but now the two-time champion – currently ranked 38 – is at risk of facing one of the big guns in the early rounds.

Murray’s appearance in the singles may have been fleeting, but tournament organisers will at least be relieved he has opted to play doubles with British number one Cameron Norrie; they face Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram on Wednesday evening.

They were breathing a sigh of relief earlier on Tuesday when Carlos Alcaraz survived a scare.

The top seed and world number two insisted he can challenge on the grass this summer despite needing a third-set tie-break to beat French journeyman Arthur Rinderknech.

The 20-year-old was playing only his seventh match on the surface, and his first outside of Wimbledon.

Lucky loser Rinderknech only found out he was playing the Spaniard shortly before midday after fellow Frenchman Arthur Fils, Alcaraz’s scheduled opponent, withdrew from the tournament.

But the 27-year-old almost knocked the headline act out, taking the first set and giving Alcaraz an uncomfortable afternoon before going down 4-6 7-5 7-6 (3) in just over two-and-a-half hours.

Alcaraz, the US Open champion who was playing his first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at Roland Garros, said: “It has been a really tough match, he has played four or five matches on the grass and this was my first one.

“It was really difficult to adapt my game to the grass. For me it’s tough to play here, but Queen’s is a tournament I really wanted to play.

“I couldn’t play tennis on grass at home but I practised the movement on grass. I practised here a little bit before the tournament and I felt really good, even though it was the first match.

“I would say I’m going to be better in the next round.”

Britain’s Liam Broady was denied a notable win after world number 46 Adrian Mannarino came from a set down to win in three.

Broady, ranked 97 places behind the Frenchman at 143, raced away with the first set but was pegged back in a 1-6 6-4 6-3 defeat.

Fellow Brit Ryan Peniston – who beat Ugo Humbert on Monday – will face second seed Holger Rune in round two after the Danish youngster won 7-6 (4) 7-6 (3) against Maxime Cressy for his first career victory on grass.

Katie Boulter’s winning run ended with defeat by China’s Zhu Lin in the first round of the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham.

Boulter celebrated the best achievement of her career in Nottingham on Sunday when she won her first WTA Tour title to reach a new highest ranking of 77.

It cemented her position as British number one in the absence of the injured Emma Raducanu, but Boulter was unable to back it up at Egbaston Priory, where she made the quarter-finals last year.

Boulter certainly had her chances against Zhu, ranked 39, but she was unable to convert enough of them in a 7-5 7-5 defeat.

Boulter began well, opening up a 3-1 lead, but Zhu responded strongly and took her second set point in the 12th game.

The second set was a rollercoaster featuring seven breaks of serve and 17 break points.

Boulter was only able to take three of her 10 opportunities, though, and – after saving two match points at 4-5 – she sent a backhand long on the third, two games later.

Play did not get under way until 1.30pm because of rain, with second seed Jelena Ostapenko battling to a three-set win over Czech teenager Linda Noskova in the opening match.

Carlos Alcaraz insisted he can challenge on the grass this summer despite needing a third-set tie-break to beat French journeyman Arthur Rinderknech at the cinch Championships.

The 20-year-old top seed and world number two was playing only his seventh match on the surface – and his first outside of Wimbledon – at Queen’s Club.

Lucky loser Rinderknech only found out he was playing the Spaniard shortly before midday after fellow Frenchman Arthur Fils, Alcaraz’s scheduled opponent, withdrew from the tournament.

But the 27-year-old almost knocked the headline act out, taking the first set and giving Alcaraz an uncomfortable afternoon before going down 4-6 7-5 7-6 (3) in just over two-and-a-half hours.

Alcaraz, the US Open champion who was playing his first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at Roland Garros, said: “It has been a really tough match, he has played four or five matches on the grass and this was my first one.

“It was really difficult to adapt my game to the grass. For me it’s tough to play here, but Queen’s is a tournament I really wanted to play.

“I’ve never played a tournament except Wimbledon on grass and I wanted to play here. I watched this tournament on TV and I always thought it’s a really beautiful place to be. The crowd was amazing and the court is unbelievable.

“I couldn’t play tennis on grass at home but I practised the movement on grass. I practised here a little bit before the tournament and I felt really good, even though it was the first match.

“I would say I’m going to be better in the next round.”

Britain’s Liam Broady was denied a notable win after world number 46 Adrian Mannarino came from a set down to win in three.

Broady, ranked 97 places behind the Frenchman at 143, raced away with the first set but was pegged back in a 1-6 6-4 6-3 defeat.

Fellow Brit Ryan Peniston – who beat Ugo Humbert on Monday – will face second seed Holger Rune in round two after the Danish youngster won 7-6 (4) 7-6 (3) against Maxime Cressy for his first career victory on grass.

“It’s going to be fun,” said Rune, who lost to Peniston at Eastbourne last year.

“It’s always a challenge to play a home player. Hopefully the support will be good for both players.”

A delighted Venus Williams fought for more than three hours to defeat Camila Giorgi at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham and post her best victory for nearly four years.

Two days after her 43rd birthday and with a right knee problem restricting her  movement, the former world number one showed that her competitive spirit has not diminished as she ground out a 7-6 (5) 4-6 7-6 (6) win.

Williams plays sparingly these days, returning at a grass-court event in the Netherlands last week for her first tournament since January, and this was only her second victory since Wimbledon 2021, and her first over a top-50 opponent since 2019.

Giorgi is a former Wimbledon quarter-finalist and a player very much at home on grass but Williams still possesses a fearsome strike, while her serve touched 120mph.

A heavy fall in the first set did not help her knee and she noticeably limped but she kept her nose in front, putting aside the disappointment of failing to serve out the match at 5-3 in the decider to take her second match point in the tie-break.

Williams held her arms aloft and repeatedly pumped her fist as the crowd, who had been drowned out at times by the support from the Ashes Test down the road, cheered.

“This one is especially sweet because I have been away from the tour for so long,” she said. “The last couple of years I’ve had little to no matches and long stretches between matches and that’s very challenging.

“I almost feel like when I’m on the court I’m reminded of things I used to do that worked really well, so there’s a lot of memories and deja vu – I’ve never had that experience before. I felt like I played well the whole match and that felt great.

“Tennis is awesome. There’s so many people that would love to do what I’m doing right now so I don’t take it for granted. I faced some huge challenges in the match. I thought I didn’t do much wrong and I found myself still not winning. I think that brought the emotion out.”

There were different emotions for another former top-10 player returning to grass, with Elina Svitolina beaten 6-2 6-0 by Czech 18-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova in less than an hour.

Svitolina made a brilliant comeback on clay following the birth of daughter Skai last October, reaching the quarter-finals of the French Open, but was unable to find her feet on the grass.

Wearing the colours of her native Ukraine, the 28-year-old quickly lost the first four games and made far too many errors against a much steadier opponent.

“Linda played really well today, from the start until the end,” said Svitolina. “I don’t think she did anything wrong at any point.

“I was struggling at the beginning and obviously on the grass you have no time to adjust. For me, it didn’t happen today but I’ll go on the practice court and try to do better next time.”

Svitolina chose not to use her protected ranking from before her pregnancy to enter Wimbledon so must wait to find out whether she will receive a wild card.

Third seed Magda Linette had to battle her way into round two, coming from a set down to defeat Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 3-6 7-5 6-4.

Nottingham champion Katie Boulter begins her campaign on Tuesday against China’s Lin Zhu while Jodie Burrage and Harriet Dart play each other.

Jeremy Miller is the Men’s Open champion of the Inaugural Innovative Invitational Amateur Tennis Classic after a hard-fought three set win over David Goldsmith in the final at the Liguanea Club on Saturday.

Miller won the toss and chose to serve before dominating early proceedings to take the first set 6-2.

Goldsmith, however, refused to go quietly. He increased his level of aggression significantly in the second to take it by six games to three, setting up a decisive third set.

The pair traded breaks of serve until, eventually, they were knotted at 4-4 in the final set before Miller played an exceptional game to break Goldsmith’s serve to make it 5-4, giving him an opportunity to serve for the title and the $100,000 prize.

Miller then held his nerve and served it out to become the inaugural champion of the open.

“It feels great,” Miller told SportsMax.tv after the match.

“I came out here with an objective to basically show everybody that I can be a winner,” he added.

Miller also spoke about adjustments he had to make after losing the second set.

“I just had to re-focus, dig in, stay with it and not let the games get away from me too much. When I got my chances, I just had to try to take them. Sometimes it got a little bit rocky but I just had to keep pushing,” he said before giving credit to the excellent crowd that showed up to witness the Tennis.

“It was fantastic. I love the crowd support. I was looking for some energy at the start of the third set and I got it. That really made a big difference for me,” he added.

The other category finals that were contested on Saturday were the Men’s Class 2, Men’s Class 3 and Women’s B finals.

The Men’s Class 2 final saw Rudi Jackson come from a set down to defeat Seth Grennell 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Lavois Cruikshank secured a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 victory over Jeffrey Leckie in the Class 3 final while Maureen Williams beat Raquel Nevins 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 in the Women’s B final which lasted almost four hours.

Nick Kyrgios has pulled out of this week’s ATP tournament in Germany citing ongoing knee issues but is hopeful of being fit for Wimbledon.

The Australian played his first tournament since October in Stuttgart last week after undergoing surgery on his left knee in January.

But he complained afterwards about feeling inhibited during a first-round loss to China’s Wu Yibing and has made the decision not to play in Halle.

“Very unfortunate news that I won’t be able to compete at Halle this year,” Kyrgios said in a video on the tournament’s Twitter feed.

“I’m still dealing with a couple of things in my knee, just trying to give myself the best opportunity to compete at Wimbledon. As you all know, that tournament means a lot to me and I just want to do everything right by my body.

“I didn’t want to go out there and not give you the same performance I gave last year. So hopefully next year I’ll be healthy enough to play.”

Kyrgios enjoyed the best season of his career in 2022, with the highlight a run to his first grand slam singles final at Wimbledon, where he was beaten by Novak Djokovic.

When the 28-year-old announced he would need to go under the knife on the eve of the Australian Open, it was hoped he would only be out for a matter of weeks and the fact he is still experiencing problems is a real cause for concern.

After losing in Stuttgart, Kyrgios wrote on Twitter: “Be patient with me my fans please…. It’s a process to get back to where I was. I know it’s hard for you to see me perform like today, but I need more time and hopefully can get back to where I was.”

British wild card Ryan Peniston sprung another surprise at the cinch Championships – and gave Andy Murray a Wimbledon boost – with a straight-sets win over Ugo Humbert.

Essex lad Peniston, currently ranked a lowly 265, shocked top seed and world number five Casper Ruud at Queen’s Club last year on his way to the quarter-finals.

The 27-year-old found the grass of west London to his liking again as he secured a place in the second round, and a potential meeting with second-seed Holger Rune, with an impressive 6-4 6-2 victory.

“I loved playing her last year, so to come back, it feels pretty comfortable to be on the court. It’s just amazing,” said Peniston.

“I was nervous – I was more nervous last year. But once you get going it is a lot of fun out there.”

World number 37 Humbert is one of the players Murray needs to overtake in the rankings if he is to be seeded at Wimbledon next month, so his early exit will only help the Scot’s cause.

A place in the quarter-finals at Queen’s might be enough to place the two-time champion back in the top 32, meaning he can avoid drawing one of the big names in the early rounds at SW19.

Murray, on a 10-match winning streak on the grass, faces Australian world number 18 Alex de Minaur in the first round on Tuesday.

Andy Murray’s victory at Nottingham took him to his highest singles ranking in over five years and raised hopes of a Wimbledon seeding.

When Murray was ranked 839th in the world in July 2018 as he recovered from his first hip surgery, challenging at grand slams again seemed a forlorn hope but he has fought back into the world’s top 40.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the Scot’s road back.

Ranking history

Back-to-back titles at the Lexus Surbiton Trophy and the Rothesay Open Nottingham have lifted Murray to 38th in the ATP world rankings.

That is his best position since he was listed 34th in the April 23, 2018 update, with a turbulent period in between as Murray battled his hip problems.

He had dropped out of the top 100 by June of that year and to a career low of 839 in the July 16, 2018 edition of the rankings.

He remained outside the top 200 until October 2019 and though he climbed to 102 in July 2021, he ended that year ranked 134th and did not re-enter the top 100 until February 7, 2022 when we was 95th.

He made the top 50 briefly last June and for most of the year from August onwards. After dipping back as low as 70 in February, he has now spent five straight weeks in the top 50 since the May 8 update.

Tournament wins

Murray’s only tournament win on the main ATP Tour since his surgeries came at the 2019 European Open in Antwerp.

That came via an impressive win over fellow three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka in the final, while his semi-final opponent Ugo Humbert would go on to win the event the following year.

He reached further finals in Sydney and Stuttgart last year and Doha this February, where he lost to Daniil Medvedev.

His grass-court wins in Surbiton and Nottingham made it three titles for him on this year’s ATP Challenger Tour, having also won on the clay of Aix-en-Provence in May.

Queen’s record

Murray now takes his form to the biggest grass-court tournament outside of Wimbledon, knowing a deep run in the cinch Championships at The Queen’s Club could earn him a spot among the 32 seeds at SW19.

His past record there offers plenty of encouragement, with a record five titles to his name.

He won the event ahead of his two Wimbledon triumphs in 2013 and 2016 as well as in 2009, 2011 and 2015 to stand alone as Queen’s Club’s most successful player.

He will need to reach at least the quarter-finals this year to have a chance of being seeded at Wimbledon and the less-encouraging omen is his somewhat boom-and-bust record – outside of his five wins he has reached just one other quarter-final, which he lost to Andy Roddick in 2008.

Murray has lost in the last 16 four times – most recently two years ago against Matteo Berrettini – and the last 32 three times with a solitary last-64 exit back in 2006.

Andy Murray knows what he needs to do at Queen’s this week in order to achieve a seeded ranking for Wimbledon.

Murray returns to his favourite stomping ground, where he is a five-time champion, on the back of successive titles on the ATP Challenger Tour.

The 36-year-old’s success in Nottingham took him up to 38 in the world – his highest ranking since his hip operation – and a run to the last four at Queen’s would be enough to take him into the top 32 and guarantee a seeding at SW19.

It will not be easy for Murray, though, as the class in opposition will be a step up from the second tier, beginning with his first-round match with world number 18 Alex de Minaur on Tuesday.

“When I made the decision to come and play Nottingham rather than the 250s (ATP Tour tournaments), I was at least going to have to win here and maybe make the semis at Queen’s as well because I did well last year and I have given myself a chance,” said Murray, who is defending ranking points from his run to the final at Stuttgart this time last year.

“I pretty much know what I have to do, and if I make the semis at Queen’s I will definitely make seeding and maybe the quarters may be enough.”

Murray’s double success at Surbiton and Nottingham has seen him play 10 matches in 14 days, a big physical test for him considering he is playing with a metal hip.

The two-time Wimbledon champion will have a light day on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s match-up with Australian De Minaur, whose girlfriend Katie Boulter also won in Nottingham on Sunday.

“It has been tough, I found Sunday’s match hard, two quite late finishes and then a big change by playing at 11am, a completely different preparation,” Murray added.

“But I am going completely match tight, I make sure I do all the right recovery stuff. I will treat Monday as a day off and get ready for Tuesday.

“He (De Minaur) loves playing on the grass, a lot of the Aussies do. It is not going to be easy, he makes you work very hard and is quick around the court. He is a very good returner.”

On this day in 2016, Andy Murray won a record fifth Aegon Championships title at Queen’s Club with victory over Milos Raonic.

Although he lost the first set and was 3-0 down in the second, Murray pulled off a great fightback to secure a 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-3 victory over the world number nine.

Victory also ensured his success was unparalleled at Queen’s with a record fifth title, moving him ahead of four-time winners including Roy Emerson, Boris Becker, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, and John McEnroe.

“It’s a tournament that obviously means a lot to me,” Murray said afterwards.

“It’s been my most successful tournament by far, clearly. To be the first player to win five times is… it’s not an easy tournament to win.

“It always has a great field and the players I have beaten in the finals, a lot of times have been top players. It’s not like I have had easy finals.

“They have been top, top players, most of them top 10, some of them grand slam winners, grand slam finalists. That’s good.”

The win put the Scot in good stead ahead of preparations for Wimbledon, which was set to begin just eight days later.

Both players met again in the final as Murray won 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) to become Wimbledon champion for a second time.

Defending champion Matteo Berrettini has withdrawn from next week’s cinch Championships at Queen’s due to an abdominal injury.

The 27-year-old Italian missed the clay court season due to a stomach muscle tear and lost 6-1 6-2 to Lorenzo Sonego last week on his return to action in Stuttgart.

Berrettini joined an elite group of players last summer when beating Filip Krajinovic in the cinch Championships final to become one of eight players in the open era to successfully retain the Queen’s Club crown.

The world number 21 was runner-up to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2021 – he withdrew last year after testing positive for Covid – and it remains to be seen if the Italian will be fit enough to compete at SW19 next month.

Top seed and world number two Carlos Alcaraz will make his debut at Queen’s and faces qualifier Arthur Fils in the opening round.

Alcaraz, 20, has limited experience on grass and will be hoping for an extended run in his bid to improve on his best result on the surface, which was in reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon last year.

Unseeded record five-time champion Andy Murray faces a tough opening match against Australian world number 18 Alex de Minaur.

The 36-year-old Scot heads to Queen’s in fine fettle after back-to-back ATP Challenger Tour titles on grass at Surbiton and Nottingham as he continues his build-up to Wimbledon.

British number one Cameron Norrie, Wimbledon semi-finalist last year and the fifth seed at Queen’s, will play Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in the opening round.

Second seed  Holger Rune, beaten by Norway’s Casper Ruud in the French Open quarter-finals, will bid to win his first tour-level match on grass when he faces American Maxime Cressy.

American third seed Taylor Fritz, a two-time title-winner on grass after victories at Eastbourne in 2019 and 2022, will play Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles in the first round.