Former champion Marin Cilic crashed out of the Aegon Championship, while the fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov and second seed Tomas Berdych cruised into the third round at the Queen's Club on Tuesday.
In the preparatory tournament before Wimbledon, Cilic faced a 6-4, 6-4 defeat at the hands of Marinko Matosevic of Australia in one hour and 17 minutes. Matosevic, who reached the final of the Nottingham Challenger last week, broke the Croatian's serve twice to wrap up the encounter in straight sets.
The Croat, after going down in the opener, said it was just a one-off defeat. Cilic has had a good year so far and he is hopeful of a strong performance at Wimbledon.
"This season has been good so far for me, and now, I mean, it is an open road," Cilic said. "I don't have anything to defend until the end of the year so it's going to be a good part for me to focus and to try to break into the top 20 first and then later it would be nice to come closer to the top 10."
The fourth seeded Dimitrov eased into the third round by defeating British wildcard James Ward 7-5, 6-3. The Bulgarian, who was playing his first match since facing a first round exit at the French Open, wrapped up the encounter in just 68 minutes.
The 23-year-old, who has won two titles this year, said his Roland Garros defeat against Ivo Karlovic was a tough moment, but he has recovered from it and is set to play well on grass, which is more suitable for his free-flowing playing style.
"No more dust on your bag and no more clay court shoes," said Dimitrov. "It's a completely different ball game. I've been dwelling a little bit on it, but at the same time I have it as a positive thing. The French Open was a tough moment for me. It happens but it gave me extra days out here."
Meanwhile, the second seeded Berdych faced stiff competition from Australian qualifier James Duckworth. The Czech lost his service twice on his way to a 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-4 victory in just over two hours.
South African Kevin Anderson moved into the third round by registering a straight set victory over home-hope Daniel Evans. Anderson, who reached the fourth round in the French Open, fired 10 aces and wrapped up the encounter 6-2, 6-3 in just 65 minutes.
American Sam Querrey advanced to the third round with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over fellow countryman Denis Kudla. The tenth seeded Feliciano Lopez prevailed over Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1. He will next play former champion Lleyton Hewitt in the third round.
