Marin Cilic begins Queen’s Club title defence with win

Marin Cilic of Croatia returns the ball to Cristian Garin of Chile during their singles match at the Queens Club tennis tournment in London, Monday, June 17, 2019. (Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP)

LONDON — Marin Cilic began defence of his title at the Queen’s Club grass-court event with a 6-1, 7-6 (5) win over Christian Garin in the first round on Monday.

Cilic, a Wimbledon finalist in 2017, raced through the first set in just 20 minutes before encountering more resistance from his Chilean opponent.

Cilic is the fifth seed at the main warm-up tournament for Wimbledon, which begins July 1.

Kevin Andersen, who lost to Novak Djokovic in last year’s Wimbledon final, was given a tough test by Britain’s Cameron Norrie before winning 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Also advancing to the second round was fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia, who dispatched Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and 10 minutes.

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