Tennis News - Andy Murray optimistic for Wimbledon after winning Queen's title
Last updated 6/20/2011 1:52:46 PM
Andy Murray optimistic for Wimbledon after winning Queen's title
The wait proved worthwhile as Andy Murray overcame the outstanding Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in front of a capacity crowd at Queen's Club in London.
Just a week away from the All England Club at Wimbledon Murray thrilled the crowd who paid a tenner each after queuing for most of the night in the delayed Aegon Championships.
It was the perfect Wimbledon preparation as the bold Frenchman, who beat Rafael Nadal in the quarter finals, pushed the Scot to the limit after taking the first set and forcing a tie break in the second.
The Briton followed up his 2009 win at Queen's Club by coming through 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 in front of the Centre Court crowd, with all 6,858 tickets sold after Sunday's play was washed out.
It was only the third Monday final in the tournament's history and more than 4,000 tickets were sold overnight, while 2,000 went for £10 to those who queued on Monday morning, some arriving as early 2am.
A further 1,000 hopefuls who missed out on Centre Court tickets came into Queen's Club to watch the final on a big screen, but despite obvious excitement around the grounds, the early atmosphere on court was surprisingly low-key.
But as the officials allowed the unlucky punters to trickle through to fill the untaken sponsor's seats, so the atmosphere built as did Murray's form and confidence, gradually building towards the outstanding form he displayed in beating Andy Roddick in the semis.
The 26-year-old from Le Mans had shown in beating Nadal on Saturday that he can threaten anyone with his huge serving and powerful forehand but he struggles to maintain the form and Murray patiently waited for the cracks to appear and the 140 miles per hour service to calm down.
Murray thrilled the crowd by wrapping up a service game with an outrageous between-the-legs winner at the net for 5-3, it was pretty clear that he too felt the match was won - and a few minutes later it was, when the world number four thumped away a smash.
Murray was criticised for showboating but he explained he got his feet in the wrong position and was forced into a shot he had only ever used on the practice courts. Was it any worse than his opponent's flamboyant dives around the net? I think not and it entertained the crowd just as Tsonga's acrobatics had done.
Murray became the first Briton to win the tournament more than once since Francis Gordon Lowe, who was champion in 1913, 1914 and 1925.
And the fact that the only two other men to win Monday finals at Queen's - Boris Becker in 1987 and John McEnroe in 1979 - went on to lose early at Wimbledon should not concern Murray too much after an excellent week in west London.
After the match, Murray was full of praise for his athletic opponent saying: "He was playing a different sport to me in the first two sets, I have never seen anyone dive so much.
"He is so much fun to watch but not much fun to play against. I had a few chances in the second set but none in the first. He was serving great.
"He was using variation on his serve, and a lot of aggression. But I managed to break him eventually. This has been one of the most fun weeks I've had on the tour. I've loved it."
On his through-the-legs winner Murray added: "I got my feet messed up. I do it a lot in practice but I've never tried it in a match before."
Murray is worth a flutter on the form he has shown in winning the title but the Frenchman is more likely to score a magnificent one off victory rather than last a fortnight of possible five setters with his game which blows very, very hot and then cold.