Feliciano Lopez is celebrating two titles on Sunday at the Fever-Tree Championships, as he became the first man to win both singles and doubles at the Queen’s Club since Mark Philippoussis in 1997.
The 2017 champion required a wild card for this year’s singles event, but made the most of his chance, defeating Gilles Simon in the final 6-2 6-7 7-6.
Simon, who had played over ten hours of tennis across his four previous matches at the Queen’s Club, struggled to find his rhythm early in the match.
“With the fatigue from the other match, it took very long to get any rhythm from the baseline,” Simon said. “I was first afraid to just miss it completely and just not playing the final I wanted to play.”
Simon rallied in the second set, however, breaking the Lopez serve the first time of asking. Lopez managed to break back, but it was the Frenchman who won the second set tiebreak with his solid, counterpunching game.
Despite ten combined break points, both players held serve throughout the third set. When the set reached a deciding tiebreak it was Feliciano Lopez who made the breakthrough, largely behind an incredible volley at 4-2. The Spaniard never lost another point, sealing the tiebreak 7-2.
“I thought the best moment of my career was when I held this trophy in 2017 but it's not,” Lopez said on court after the match. “It's right now.”
Upon completion of his singles match, Feliciano Lopez teamed up with five-time singles champion Andy Murray to win the doubles title over Joe Salisbury of Great Britain and American Rajeev Ram 7-6 5-7 10-5. Playing his fifth consecutive match on Centre Court, Lopez stayed standing during changeovers to avoid tightening up.
“My low back was a little bit sore, so I have the feeling that if I sit for that minute and a half and then I stand up again, it will be much tougher for me,” Lopez confirmed.
He found a second wind in the champions tiebreak, however.
From 4-4 in the decider, Lopez could not miss. He hit two return winners, won his two service points, and used his sharp reflexes at the net to secure victory.
Even Andy was impressed, saying in his on-court interview:“He [Lopez] was brilliant. Even at the end of the match there he came up with some brilliant returns and serves.”
Andy will head to Eastbourne next week to play doubles with Marcelo Melo before playing Wimbledon with Pierre-Hugues Herbert. He remains confident in his fitness after four tough matches at the Fever-Tree Championships.
“My hip felt great, no pain,” Murray announced after the match. “I'll try to keep progressing from here but I'm just happy being back on the court.”
The Fever-Tree Wheelchair Championships were also decided on Day 7 at the Queen’s Club. In an all-British final, Alfie Hewett won his fourth consecutive match against his doubles partner Gordon Reid, 6-2 7-5, but the first meeting between the pair on grass.
Both Hewett and Reid noted the significance of the Fever-Tree Wheelchair Championships.
“It’s really important for us to grow the sport and to have an opportunity to play some competitive matches before Wimbledon,” Hewett remarked.
In the doubles final, Hewett and Reid fell to the top-seeded team of Joachim Gerard and Stefan Olsson 6-1 6-0.
The 2019 Fever-Tree Championships has this week attracted a record breaking attendance of over 73,120 to The Queen's Club, London.
This year's sell-out event included 10,400 fans enjoying Andy Murray and Feliciano Lopez's first round against top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.