London, June 11: Nicolas Mahut produced the first major surprise at Queen's as the Frenchman defeated fifth seed Marin Cilic 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round on Wednesday.
Cilic, regarded as one of the sport's rising stars, arrived at the pre-Wimbledon warm-up event as a decent bet to lift the trophy after winning two Tour titles already this season.
But he was unceremoniously dumped out in his first match by a player who has come to love the grass courts of west London.
Mahut came within a whisker of winning Queen's in 2007 before eventually losing to Andy Roddick in a dramatic three-set final.
Since then Mahut has struggled to fulfil his potential. But, playing his first ATP tournament this season after shoulder problems, he quickly found his ryhthm on a surface perfectly suited to his bold stroke-play.
After a 75-minute rain delay to the start of the day's play, Mahut took the first set on a tie-break and did the same in the second to clinch a famous victory.
Mikhail Youzhny, the Russian 14th seed knocked out former Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) victory in the second round.
Baghdatis has been hampered by wrist and back injuries for much of this season and the Cypriot was unable to match Youzhny's power-game.
Youzhny, making his first appearance at Queen's since 2001, won the first set with a break in the latter stages.
Baghdatis briefly showed signs of life when he broke twice to take charge in the second set, but Youzhny restored parity and comfortably won the tie-break.
Belgium's Steve Darcis set up a third round clash with Gael Monfils, the French fourth seed, after defeating Alberto Martin 6-2, 6-4.
Former world number one Marat Safin was forced to pull out with a back injury just hours before his second round match against Xavier Malisse.
Safin, a former Australian and US Open champion, was replaced in the draw by South Africa's Rik de Voest.
Top seed Andy Murray will play Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, a 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 winner over Gilles Muller, in the last 16 if the Scot can beat Andreas Seppi later Wednesday.
Australia's Lleyton Hewitt can set up a fascinating clash against fellow four-time Queen's champion Andy Roddick with a win over Frederico Gil, also later Wednesday.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, June 11, 2009, 08:51