Andy Murray avenged last year’s embarrassing Queen’s Club exit against Nicolas Mahut as the world number two kicked off a hectic Thursday with a 6-3 7-6 (7/4) victory in his rain delayed second round clash.
Murray had suffered a shock defeat against Mahut at the same stage of the pre-Wimbledon warm-up event 12 months ago, but the US Open champion’s dominant display ensured there would be no repeat.
The 26-year-old will have little time to savour his win as he is scheduled to return to court later on Thursday to face Australia’s Marinko Matosevic in the last-16 as the tournament catches up following several days of bad weather.
The gruelling schedule will be a significant test for two-time Queen’s champion Murray, who missed the French Open with a back injury.
This was the Scot’s first competitive action for a month, but he showed few signs of rust despite the slippery conditions on the grass courts in west London.
“The back felt great, especially with the conditions we have had,” Murray told the BBC.
“It is very cold and I’m sure, as anyone who has had a back problem knows, that’s not good. But even with all the stopping and starting it feels great and that is probably the most satisfying thing about the match.”
Mahut, a former Queen’s finalist who played the longest match in tennis history against John Isner at Wimbledon in 2010, can be a tricky proposition on grass.
But top seed Murray had taken the first set on Wednesday and was level at 2-2 in the second before the third rain interruption of the day caused the match to be postponed.
When they finally resumed 24 hours later, Murray found himself under pressure and he had to save three break points in the early exchanges.
But, in chilly conditions, he turned up the heat on Mahut in the tie-break, producing two sublime passing shots to finish off the match after 43 minutes.
Lleyton Hewitt continued his giant-killing run as the Australian moved into the quarter-finals with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory over American sixth seed Sam Querrey.
Hewitt next faces former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, who took just 57 minutes to beat British wildcard Daniel Evans 6-0, 6-3.
“I sort of pick and choose the tournaments I want to play nowadays,” Hewitt said. “So for me, going into a Grand Slam, this is perfect preparation.
“It’s good to come through a close three setter against a quality player.”
Czech second seed Tomas Berdych progressed to the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Slovenian 16th seed Grega Zemlja.
World number six Berdych now faces defending champion Marin Cilic, who battled back from 5-2 down in the final set to beat Spanish qualifier Feliciano Lopez 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the French fourth seed, survived a pair of gruelling three-set matches in the space of just a few hours to earn a last eight meeting with America’s Denis Kudla.
Tsonga defeated compatriot Eduoard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3 early on Thursday in a tie rescheduled from Wednesday due to rain.
The world number seven was forced to play again later in the day, defeating Holland’s Igor Sijsling, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.
