Tuesday, June 14, 2011

NEWS:

(CNN) -- World No. 4 Andy Murray completed his grass-court preparations for Wimbledon with a battling 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 victory against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the rain-delayed final of the Queen's Club Championships in London on Monday.

Tsonga had won an impromptu table tennis match between the two on Sunday as Britain's wet weather kept the duo inside, and the French fifth seed made a strong start to the final proper as he took the first set.

But second seed Murray leveled the match with victory in a second-set tie-break, then went on to became only the second British player to win more than one title at Queen's as he took the decider in a match lasting almost two and a half hours.

"He (Tsonga) 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," Murray told reporters.

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"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."

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It was the 24-year-old Scot's first title this year and his 17th overall, adding to his 2009 success at Queen's as he overcame the ankle injury he suffered in reaching the semifinals of the French Open.

"My ankle has got much better each day. I still feel it from time to time though," he said ahead of the start of Wimbledon next Monday.

I have never seen anyone dive so much. He is so much fun to watch but not much fun to play against
--Andy Murray

French players have now lost four of the past nine finals at the tournament, following Sebastien Grosjean (2003-04) and Nicolas Mahut (2007).

Murray easily disposed of four-time Queen's champion Andy Roddick in Saturday's semis, but faced a tougher task against a player who eliminated world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the last eight.

In front of a capacity crowd of almost 7,000, Tsonga broke Murray's serve in the fifth game, and then again in the seventh, but the second set was a tighter affair until the tie-break.

Murray, who beat Tsonga in last year's Wimbledon quarterfinals, broke the 26-year-old in the fifth game of the third set and was able to entertain his fans with a drop-shot winner between his legs before serving out to love.

India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes failed in their bid for a first doubles title at Queen's, losing 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-4) 10-6 to American top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan.

The Bryan brothers repeated their Australian Open final success against a pairing who defeated French Open champions Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor in the semifinals at the weekend.

The U.S. duo have now won the Queen's title four times.

Meanwhile, Germany's Sabine Lisicki claimed her second WTA Tour title with a 6-3 6-2 victory over fourth seed Daniela Hantuchova in the final of the rain-delayed Birmingham Classic in England on Monday.

The 21-year-old, who beat Chinese third seed Shuai Peng in Saturday's semis, found out on Sunday that she had been given a wild-card entry to Wimbledon.

Lisicki reached the quarterfinals of the major in 2009 but fell out of the world top 200 due to injury last year, though she is now posed to break back into the top 100.

"I'm in disbelief -- I'm shaking. It's an amazing week. At the start of it I never thought I would be standing here today," she told reporters.

"The comeback from injury was so difficult, it means so much to me. There were so many doubters, and so much stuff coming from the sidelines that I wouldn't get there. So I had this tunnel vision about getting back. I always thought I would."

COMMENT:

THE BRITISH TENNIS PLAYER ANDY MURRAY MAKES HISTORY AFTER WINNING THE QUEENS FINAL AND BECAME FIRST BRITISH THAT WONS MORE THAN ONE TITLE ON QUEENS COMPETITION.

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