World No. 4 and home favourite Andy Murray captured his 17th ATP World Tour title on Monday as he defeated France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 in the final of the AEGON Championships at The Queen’s Club in London.
The Scot became the first British player to win multiple titles at The Queen’s Club since Francis Gordon Lowe triumphed in 1913-14 and 1925. Murray won his first ATP World Tour grass-court title at The Queen’s Club in 2009, with victory over James Blake. He is the eighth player in the Open Era to win at least two titles at the ATP World Tour 250 grass-court tennis tournament.
Murray received 250 South African Airways 2011 ATP Ranking points and €77,500. He won his first ATP World Tour title since
triumphing at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Shanghai (d. Federer) in October 2010.
“It’s been one of the most fun weeks for me because the tennis, the last two matches was very good,” said Murray. “It was relaxing. I said everyone thinks at this period of the year it’s so stressful, you can’t play, you can’t enjoy yourself, you can’t do anything. But I felt like I expressed myself on the court. I felt like I was hitting the ball really good. I enjoyed it.”
With Wimbledon just a week away, ‘Murray Mania’ is set to kick off at SW19 over the next week, with the Dunblane native hoping to become the seventh player in the Open Era to win the Queen’s-Wimbledon double. Rafael Nadal was the last man to do so in 2008; before him, Lleyton Hewitt in 2002.