LONDON: Marin Cilic of Croatia and Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland had a good start in the Queen's Club Championships, defeating Spain's Fernando Verdasco and the UK's Cameron Norrie respectively.
Cilic, first seed of the tournament and champion in 2012, had no problems on Monday defeating Verdasco, who had little chance and had a hard time adapting to the tactics of the Croatian, whose two breaks were enough to close his pass to the second round by 6-3 and 6-4, reports Efe.
The 2014 US Open champion will face Luxembourg's Gilles Muller, who eliminated Canadian Denis Shapovalov 7-6 (7) and 7-6 (6).
This duel will be a repeat of the last quarterfinals of Wimbledon, when Cilic defeated Muller and qualified for the semi-finals, to eventually fall to the Swiss Roger Federer in the final.
Wawrinka was not far behind and passed over Norrie in less than an hour, 6-2 and 6-3, to get his first win in three years at the Queen's Club Championships.
No longer having knee problems, Wawrinka -- currently ranked at No. 261 in the world -- will face the American Sam Querrey in the second round.
Querrey, champion in 2010, beat Jay Clarke by a double 6-3 and sealed his first win of the season.
Frances Tiafoe from th US and Daniil Medvedev of Russia also won their first round matches with two wins against compatriot Jared Donaldson and the American Jack Sock, respectively.