The grass court season got underway this week with small tournaments at Queen’s Club and Halle. Here is a look at some early headlines from the action.

Early-round match of the week: Queen’s Club R2: Tomas Berdych d. James Duckworth 7-6(3) 5-7 6-4

Tomas Berdych did not play well in this match, and the Aussie qualifier Duckworth very nearly capitalized but fell just short. Duckworth came back from the letdown of dropping the first-set tiebreak to take the second set, and he hung in all the way in the third set, but Berdych just had a slight extra edge. It was an entertaining match to watch, and it is unfortunate for Duckworth that he could not get the upset done while being so close to victory.  

Early-round upset of the week: Queen’s Club R3: Radek Stepanek d. Andy Murray 7-6(10) 6-2

The defending champion was ousted by the veteran Czech net specialist in the third round of London. Some say Murray was tired from Roland Garros, but Stepanek played impressive tennis with a clutch first-set tiebreak and a strong finish. The veteran has given Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer trouble this season, and he finally beat a top player in Murray on his best surface. Stepanek could be a dangerous lurker at Wimbledon if he can put up performances like this.

Marinko Matosevic finds form

Matosevic has perhaps made more headlines for some of his controversial comments about female coaching than for his on-court performance. But those comments were only in the headlines because he’s been in the press room more because of his strong run of play recently. Since getting over the hump of winning his first Grand Slam main-draw match at the French Open, Matosevic reached the final of the Nottingham Challenger on grass and is now into the Queen’s Club quarterfinals after wins over Marin Cilic, Lukas Lacko, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Cilic was a defending finalist here, and Tsonga is an accomplished grass-court player, so those were two tough quality upsets. Stan Wawrinka awaits Matosevic in the next round. He has gotten his ATP record above .500 on the season now, which is a big deal.

Dmitry Tursunov and Victor Estrella break grass-court glass ceiling

Tursunov won an ATP grass-court match for the first time since 2011 when he beat Igor Sijsling at Queen’s Club. Meanwhile, the late bloomer Victor Estrella of the Dominican Republic won his first Tour or Challenger grass-court match over the accomplished Julien Benneteau in a final-set tiebreak. Estrella, at 33, has now reached No. 95 in the world and is still climbing.

Milos Raonic, Richard Gasquet, Jerzy Janowicz, and Mikhail Youzhny crash out of Halle

In addition to a weary Rafael Nadal, two top-10 players, a 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist, and last year’s Halle finalist exited the German event early this week. Milos Raonic continues to struggle to play well on grass as he fell victim to Peter Gojowczyk in his first match in Halle. Richard Gasquet appears to be suffering from a shoulder ailment in an injury-plagued season. He fell to Robin Haase in straight sets.

Jerzy Janowicz continued his rough season, losing again this year in his first match in Halle to Pierre-Hugues Herbert in straight sets. Defending finalist Mikhail Youzhny, who has also been poor this season, lost to Ivo Karlovic in straight sets. That result was not much of an upset, considering recent trends for both players.