With Triumph at Queen’s, Murray Looks Forward to Wimbledon

London, England – World number 4 and UK’s top player Andy Murray won his second Aegon Championships title at Queen’s Club, defeating fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, 3-6 7-6(2) 6-4. This is Murray’s 17th title and his first since winning Shanghai in October 2010. The final match was moved from Sunday to Monday due to rain.
“It was an unbelievable week for me,” Murray said. “I started off not playing great but managed to find my way through, and the last two matches were so much fun.” As for the challenge of bagging his homesoil Grand Slam, Murray said: “I really look forward to Wimbledon. It’s been great preparation this week and I’ll work hard the next five or six days to get ready.”
With Wimbledon to begin on June 20, Murray was hoping to become the seventh player in the Open Era to win the Queen’s-Wimbledon double. World number 1 Rafael Nadal did it 2008 and Lleyton Hewitt in 2002. Murray, also the 2009 champion here, was the first British man to win this event since Francis Gordon Lowe won in 1913-1914 and 1925. Murray will now head to Wimbledon with increased confidence.
Murray has been a finalist in three Grand Slam finals, latest of which is at this year’s Australian Open where he lost to Novak Djokovic. He reached the semifinal of the French Open for the first time (losing to eventual champion Nadal). In this week’s semifinal, he showed a dominant performance in ousting four-time Queen’s champion Andy Roddick. However, he was tested in the final by Tsonga, who dismissed top seed Nadal in the quarterfinal.
Throughout the final, both players were evenly matched, with Murray’s speed countered by Tsonga’s net play. In the first set, Tsonga broke Murray to lead 4-2. Murray had two chances to break back when Tsonga was serving for the first set but he was eventually overpowered by the Frenchman.
The second set is still a close affair. Tsonga continued to play his best tennis, frustrating Murray by saving breakpoint opportunities against him. But in the tiebreak, Tsonga suddenly dropped his first-serve percentages which Murray took full advantage, leveling the match at one set apiece. In the third set, Murray earned his only break of the match, taking a decisive 3-2 lead in the deciding set when Tsonga fired wide a forehand down the line. Murray then held on along the way to close out victory.
Tsonga was aiming to become the first French player to win Queen’s Club and was hoping to earn his first title in nearly two years. His last title came at Tokyo in October 2009.