Jordan Thompson and Rinky Hijikata have made impressive starts to the pre-Wimbledon Queen's Club Championships, defeating Holger Rune and Frances Tiafoe respectively.

Thompson shocked seventh-seed world number 15 Rune 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 while Hijikata led Tiafoe early in the third set when the American retired.

It was Hijikata's first tour win since defeating 478-ranked Bor Artnak in Acapulco in mid-April, snapping a streak of six successive losses — not including his two qualifying matches at Queens.

The result was also a fillip for Thompson who had lost his past five matches and not experienced victory since the opening round in Barcelona in mid-April.

It looked as if his poor run would continue when Rune, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon last year, took the opening set after it had been all square at 4-4.

But the resilient Thompson stepped up a gear to level the contest by taking a tight second set to a tiebreak where he put on a clinical display to force a decider.

The Australian, ranked 43rd in the world, then raced to a 3-0 lead and held firm to seal his third top-20 grass-court win of his career.

While the British capital enjoyed a rare day of sunshine on Monday, poor recent weather appeared to affect the courts as Rune kept slipping on the grass.

"This court is so slippy," the young Dane moaned to umpire James Keothavong.

"Terrible court, what is this? I can't stand on the court. It's too wet. Call the supervisor. I fell three times. It's too wet. You think I'm falling on purpose?"