Big Croatian Mario Ancic displayed his grasscourt credentials on Tuesday, dispatching ninth seed Fernando Verdasco 7-6, 6-4 in the second round of the Queen's Club ATP tournament.
The 1.96 metre-tall Ancic, unseeded after a bout of glandular fever laid him low for several months last year, looked perfectly at home on the swift green lawns of London's traditional Wimbledon warm-up tournament.
He served and volleyed his way past the pugnacious Verdasco, ranked 20th in the world but more comfortable on the slow clay of his homeland. The Spaniard reached the fourth round of the French Open last week, beaten by relentless four-times champion Rafael Nadal.
Ancic, ranked 44th and creeping back up the standings, will, like his celebrated compatriot and tour predecessor Goran Ivanisevic, be the player every Wimbledon pretender hopes to avoid in the first round.
As a qualifier in 2002 he was the last man to beat Roger Federer at the All England Club and he reached the quarter-finals in 2006 and semi-finals in 2004.
Ancic's even loftier compatriot and eighth seed Ivo Karlovic, who stands 2.08 metres tall, had no problem dispatching Australian qualifier Joseph Sirianni 6-3, 6-2 but fellow Croatian Marin Cilic succumbed to seventh seed Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Mathieu, who also reached the fourth round at his home grand slam in Paris, losing to Novak Djokovic, proved too strong all round for the big-serving 19-year-old.
An injury time-out for a back massage after a patchy second set, restored Mathieu's form for the third and he goes on to meet either four-times former champion Lleyton Hewitt or Belgian Xavier Malisse in the third round.
BIG ATTRACTION
Large crowds on a warm and sunny day in west London were disappointed when headline attraction Andy Murray enjoyed only two games before French opponent Sebastien Grosjean pulled out with a leg injury.
The sixth seed, who missed his home grasscourt season last year with a wrist injury, had hoped for sustained competition on the surface before the start of Wimbledon on June 23.
"Obviously I would have loved to have won the match normally...you get a bit more confidence from that," the Scot, who had a bye in the first round, said.
Murray has a tough road ahead with top seed Nadal and champion Andy Roddick, looking for a record fifth title here, in his side of the draw. They begin their grass campaigns on Wednesday.
Last year's runner-up to Roddick, Frenchman Nicolas Mahut laboured late to upset 14th seed Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 and Italian 12th seed Andreas Seppi beat Arnaud Clement 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in the first round.
Chilean 10th seed Fernando Gonzalez needed a tight first set to regain his grass legs, eventually beating British qualifier Richard Bloomfield 7-6, 6-3.
