Britain’s Andy Murray swept into the final at Queen’s with an imperious 6-3, 6-1 victory over four-time champion Andy Roddick.
Murray, the second-seed, was in sublime form as he demolished one of the top grass-court players of the last decade to set up a final clash against France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who brushed aside wildcard James Ward 6-3, 7-6.
The victory was especially sweet for Murray as it went some way to avenging his 2009 Wimbledon semi-final defeat against Roddick. The 24-year-old will have taken extra delight from the way he totally overwhelmed the third-seeded Roddick and he will now be the favourite to win this Wimbledon warm-up event for the second time.
“Roddick is one of the toughest players to break on the Tour but it was just one of those days, I hardly missed a ball,” said the world number four. “Everything that touched my racquet came off. I felt great out there. It’s nice to get off the court quickly. I’m sure if we play in a couple of weeks at Wimbledon it’ll be a lot more competitive.”
Murray, who last won the title here in 2009, had an unexpected chance to rest his troublesome ankle injury on Friday when Marin Cilic was forced to pull out just before the start of their quarter-final with an ankle problem of his own. The Scot certainly seemed refreshed as he slammed down two aces in his first service game and then snatched the early momentum by breaking Roddick in the next game.
Roddick did not help his cause with a couple of loose slices that flopped tamely into the net, but Murray was mixing up his game nicely to keep the American from settling into his rhythm and eventually won in straight sets.
Tsonga’s road to the final
The Frenchman, who defeated world number one Rafael Nadal in the quarter-final, was ecstatic after beating the Britian player.
“I’m just happy to win in two sets because in the third set with the crowd with him it would have been difficult,” said Tsonga.
‘I’ll be back to my best at Wimbledon’
Meanwhile, Nadal insists he will be back to peak form and fitness in time for the defence of his Wimbledon title after the exhausted world number one crashed out of Queen’s against Tsonga.
Nadal looked a spent force in the final set of his 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-1 quarter-final defeat as the Spaniard’s remarkable run of success over the last five months finally took its toll.
“I’m very confident, I don’t know if I will play well, but I’m going to Wimbledon with high motivation and hopefully in perfect shape physically,” said Nadal. “The negative thing is I lost here, but the positive thing is I have few days off and can stop a little bit mentally.
“It’s important for me to be there with family and friends. I need a few days to be with them.”
Andy Murray
“Roddick is one of the toughest players to break on the Tour but it was just one of those days. Everything that touched my racquet came off. I’m sure if we play at Wimbledon it’ll be a lot more competitive.”
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
“I’m just happy to win in two sets because in the third set with the crowd with him it would have been difficult. As for the final, at the moment Andy Murray is a better player than me, but I hope I will be better than him.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 12th, 2011.
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