Feliciano Lopez broke his own record as the oldest champion in the Open Era at Queen’s, dowing
Gilles Simon in a tense final.
In a battle of the ATP Tour veterans, Lopez maintained his 100% record against the 34-year-old Frenchman on grass to pick up a second title at the Fever-Tree Championships. It was the seventh title of 37-year-old Lopez’s career and the second time he had downed Simon in a final, having taken the world No. 38 out at Eastbourne in 2013. More than half of the Spaniard’s titles have come on British soil. Lopez – who will climb to just outside the top-50 on Monday – boasts two titles in Eastbourne as well as at Queen’s, with four of his triumphs coming on his favoured grass.
Lopez defeated the world No. 38 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-2) in two hours and 49 minutes – a particularly impressive effort considering he has played four matches in two days. A fifth is to come later on Sunday afternoon as Lopez – the second 37-year-old champion of the day after Roger Federer’s win in Halle – teams up with home favourite
Andy Murray in the doubles final. Victory over Murray’s compatriot Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram would see him become the first man to win the singles and doubles titles at Queen’s in the same year since Mark Philippoussis in 1997.
He is the first wildcard winner at this event since Pete Sampras in 1999, although it’s a more impressive feat for the Spaniard considering he is ranked 112 places lower than the then world No. 1. All five of Simon’s matches at the Fever-Tree Championships this year have required a third set, with three of them – including Sunday’s defeat – needing a deciding set tiebreak to settle the contests. Lopez said: ‘I think the whole match was very exciting. He was getting better and better and it was difficult for me to find a way to win the points, he was so solid from the baseline. ‘The tiebreak at the end can go either way really. It went my way now and I’m really happy. I thought the best moment of my career was in 2017 when I won here but it is not, it is right now.’
Ashleigh Barty, meanwhile, will top the rankings for the first time on Monday after downing Julia Goerges in straight sets in Birmingham. The Australian beat the German 6-3 7-5 to win her third title of the year and rise above Naomi Osaka in the rankings to become the top seed at Wimbledon. It’s her second title in a matter of weeks after picking up the French Open – her first Grand Slam title – some two weeks ago and she is now the 27th woman to reach No. 1 in the rankings. She is the first Australian since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1976 to top the women’s leaderboard.
Barty will be one of the favourites to capture the title at Wimbledon next month and she turned down Murray’s request to team up in mixed doubles in order to focus on singles success. ‘It’s been the most incredible journey for me and my team,’ Barty said on court. ‘You always dream about (being No. 1) as a little kid but for it to become a reality it’s incredible and not something that was even in my realm, we were aiming for top 10 this year. ‘We started from scratch three and a half years ago without a ranking and now to be where we are is a massive achievement for me and my team.’ Johanna Konta, meanwhile, got off to a winning start in Eastbourne, beating Dayana Yastremska 6-2 6-4.