LONDON (AP)—Andy Murray claimed his first title of the season by beating fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 Monday in the final at Queen’s Club.
The match was played a day late because rain postponed play on Sunday.
Murray earned the only break in the third set, taking a 3-2 lead when Tsonga sent a forehand wide.
Murray, who also won the title in 2009, is the first Briton to win the Wimbledon warmup at least twice since Francis Gordon Lowe won in 1913-14 and ’25. Tsonga was the fifth Frenchman to reach the Queen’s final in the Open era. Guy Forget lost to Pete Sampras in 1995, Sebastien Grosjean lost to Andy Roddick in 2003 and 2004 and Nicolas Mahut was beaten by Murray in 2009.
Both players were evenly matched and showed great athleticism, with Murray’s speed matched by Tsonga’s greater willingness to come to the net.
Tsonga held off a break point at 1-1 when a dropshot clipped the net and fell in his favor. He then broke at love to lead 4-2 and fought off two more break points as he served out the set.
Both players held chances in the second set, as Tsonga survived four break points with Murray leading 4-3 and the second-seeded Murray held off two break points at 5-5, before the Scot swept the last five points of the tiebreaker.
It was Murray who earned the only break of the final set, taking a decisive 3-2 lead on his 10th break point of the match when Tsonga sent a forehand down the line and it fell wide.
“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 his next big challenge, 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.”