London – Traditional British rain wrecked the opening day of the pre-Wimbledon tune-up season, with a washout at Queen's club on Monday.
Not one of the 16 scheduled singles matches had a chance of getting onto court with another poor forecast due for Tuesday at the event where home hero Andy Murray will be trying to win a fourth title in west London.
Murray, who lost in the French Open quarter-finals to Spain's David Ferrer, said that several days off helped to heal the back pain which bothered him during Roland Garros.
The Scot top seed heads a field with 2011 runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga seeded second and Serb Janko Tiposarevic third.
“I've had a couple of good practices on the grass and I feel fine,” said number four Murray, who has been supervised in London by coach Ivan Lendl.
“I didn't want to lose early in Paris but I managed to get a couple of days off, which I haven't had in three or four weeks. I really needed it for my back, it feels a lot better.”
Among postponed matches was one between Australian Lleyton Hewitt, the Wimbledon champion a decade ago, and Croatian 16th seed Ivo Karlovic.
Hewitt is making a return to grass after healing from February foot surgery and playing one match at Roland Garros. – Sapa-dpa