Tommy Paul added his name to a list of American tennis greats in winning the Queen’s Club tennis title after defeating Lorenzo Musetti 6-1, 7-6 (10/8) in yesterday’s final.
Victory gave the fifth-seeded American his third ATP tour title - and biggest success of his career - after he won in straight sets after 88 minutes on court in London.
Paul became the first United States player to win the prestigious Wimbledon warm-up tournament since Sam Querrey in 2010 as he joined a group of former American champions at Queen’s, including John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras - who all won Wimbledon as well.
“It means everything,” said Paul, who knocked out Britain’s Jack Draper in the quarter-finals.
“Going through the hallways here in the locker room and the names on the wall, it’s unbelievable. It was my goal always to put my name next to them.”
The world number 13 will also overtake compatriot Taylor Fritz to become the new American number one, with Wimbledon starting on July 1.
Paul raced through the first set before Italian opponent Musetti worked his way back into the match.
The 27-year-old Paul failed to serve out the match at 5-4 up in the second set before coming back from 1-4 down in the tie-break and saving a set-point at 6-7. Musetti saved two match points behind his own serve before Paul took the third to secure the title.
“This was definitely one of the nicest weeks of my career so far,” said Musetti.
“Congratulations to Tommy, he deserved to win. I was struggling to get to his level. I saved face a bit at the end with the break. I was fighting really hard to get to the third set.”
The 22-year-old, who became a father to his first child in March, added: “I want to dedicate this week to my little boy Ludovico. I just want to go back and hug him.”
Sinner edges Hurkacz to win first
grass-court title in HalleWorld number one Jannik Sinner won his first ever grass court tournament yesterday beating former champion Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/2) in the Wimbledon warm-up ATP Halle tournament. The 22-year-old Italian went to the top of the ATP rankings thanks to his semi-final run at the French Open this month. “It means a lot. It was a tough match against Hubi,” said Sinner after playing his doubles partner.
“I knew I had to serve really well and you play only a couple of really important points throughout the whole set.
“So I was happy and I tried to produce in the best possible way in the important moments.
“I’m very happy about this tournament because (winning for) the first time on a grass court, it’s a good feeling.”
The triumph means Sinner is the first player since Andy Murray in 2016 to win his first tournament after becoming world No 1.
The fifth-seeded Pole Hurkacz, 27, won Halle two years ago and was chasing a second title of the season after winning on clay at Estoril in April.
Pegula powers to first grass-court title in BerlinJessica Pegula saved five match points against Anna Kalinskaya to win her first title on grass in the Wimbledon warm-up WTA tournament in Berlin yesterday.
Fourth seed Pegula pulled through 6-7 (0/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) after earlier ousting top seed Coco Gauff in the semi-final which had been suspended overnight.
Pegula had been leading fellow American Gauff 7-5, 6-6 (3/1) when semi-final action was halted on Saturday night. She returned to court yesterday morning to win four of five points to oust doubles partner Gauff 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) and reach her first grass-court final.