Andy Murray has become the first British player in 71 years to win the AEGON Championships title at Queen’s Club.
Murray, the top seed and world No.3, lifted the trophy after yet another straight sets victory, beating American James Blake 7-5 6-4.
Having broke serve early in the first set, Murray was immediately pegged back by Blake but decisively broke again at 5-5, raising his game at the crucial time.
In the second set, the British No.1 always looked in control, breaking serve at 3-3 before producing a flawless serving display to seal victory.
“James is a tough player, we’ve only played once before so I didn’t know quite what to expect,” said Murray, who dropped just two service games all week.
“I thought it was a good match, not so many long rallies. This was some of the best tennis I’ve ever played in my life – I just had a good week.”
The 22 year-old is the first British champion at Queen’s Club since Bunny Austin in 1938 and will now go to The Championships, which gets under way at Wimbledon on Monday 22nd June, full of confidence.
“I feel good this year and I’ve played well this week,” added Murray. “Now I’ll just try and focus on getting ready for Wimbledon and preparing as best as possible.”
Moodie & Youzhny win doubles title
South African Wesley Moodie and Russian Mikhail Youzhny won the AEGON Championships doubles title in the last match of the tournament on Queen’s Club’s Centre Court.
Moodie and Youzhny, an unseeded pair, defeated Brazilian No.6 seeds Marcelo Melo and Andre Sa 6-4 4-6 [10-6] in Sunday's final.
This was Youzhny’s sixth career doubles title while Moodie, who finished runner-up at last month’s French Open with Belgian Dick Norman, has now won five titles including victory at Wimbledon with Australian Stephen Huss in 2005.
- Andy Murray talks about beating James Blake in the final and looks ahead to Wimbledon