tennis

Hewitt blown away at Queen's Club

Published Jun. 12, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Former champion Lleyton Hewitt was brushed aside 6-3, 6-2 by towering Ivo Karlovic in opening-round play at Queen's Club on Tuesday.

Hewitt, a four time winner at the pre-Wimbledon event, failed to earn a break point in just his eighth match of the season. The Australian former world No. 1 has slumped to 205th in the rankings following injuries, and needed a wild card to compete.

Karlovic stamped his authority on the match right from the start, smashing seven aces in his first two service games and earning an early break of serve. The Croat went on to close out the match with his 22nd ace.

''Yeah, it was frustrating, to say the least,'' Hewitt said of the barrage of aces he faced. ''It doesn't give you a chance to do a lot of things. You can't assess where you're at at the moment. You know, I can't assess my movement. Yeah, so it's just a frustrating day, all up.''

Nicolas Mahut of France earned a second-round meeting with top seed and defending champion Andy Murray by beating Guillermo Garcia Lopez of Spain 6-4, 6-2.

Second-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will play Jamie Baker, who defeated fellow Briton Oliver Golding 7-6 (1), 6-3 to set up his clash with the 2011 finalist.

Former four-time champ Andy Roddick will face Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the second round after the Frenchman defeated Kazakh qualifier Evgeny Korolev 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4.

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