Andy Murray was one of the favourites for the Queen’s Club Championships title heading into the 2009 event.
Murray was the top seed in London and seeking to win his first grass-court title in front of an adoring British crowd.
The British star well and truly delivered, beating American James Blake to secure the first of his record-breaking five titles on the Queen’s Club grass.
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Murray, who defeated Blake 7-5, 6-4 in the final, stated that he had played some of his ‘best tennis’ during the championship showpiece, while also admitting that he was ‘quite nervous’ beforehand.
Andy Murray wanted to end Great Britain’s barren run at the Queen’s Club Championships
“I’m a long way from winning Wimbledon,” the British superstar admitted after clinching victory over Blake.
“I feel confident but I try not to get too far ahead of myself before I’ve played my first match there.
“If I play my best like I have this week I’ve got a chance, but two of the greatest players of all time are going to be there and it will be tough to get past them.
“I played some of the best tennis I’ve ever played in my life,” he added. “I was playing well all week and took my chances when I had them.
“I was quite nervous today because no British player had won here for 70-odd years, so it got the nerves going, especially when I was serving for the match.”
Before Murray’s triumph in 2009, no British man had won the Queen’s Club title since Henry Austin in 1938.
That year, Austin defeated China’s Kho Sin-Kie to win his first and only singles title at the event.
Andy Murray Queen’s Club Men’s Singles titles
- 2009: Murray defeated James Blake 7-5, 6-4
- 2011: Murray defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3–6, 7–6, 6–4
- 2013: Murray defeated Marin Cilic 5–7, 7–5, 6–3
- 2015: Murray defeated Kevin Anderson 6–3, 6–4
- 2016: Murray defeated Milos Raonic 6–7, 6–4, 6–3
“James is a very tough player, we have only met once before so I didn’t know what to expect,” Murray continued.
“He had a great week and beat a lot of big servers.
“The only thing left is to try and get a Grand Slam title in a couple of weeks. I’ve played well this week and now I have to focus on getting ready for Wimbledon.”
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How did Murray perform at Wimbledon in 2009?
Murray, seeded third, began his campaign by beating Robert Kendrick, Ernests Gulbis and Viktor Troicki.
The Briton then survived a five-set thriller against Stan Wawrinka, winning 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
In the quarter-finals, Murray’s good form continued. The third seed defeated wildcard Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-3, 6-2.
Murray’s run came to an end in the semi-finals with defeat to American US Open champion Andy Roddick.
Roddick, the sixth seed, defeated Murray 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6.
“You always expect your opponents to play well, especially at this stage of the tournament. And he served great,” Murray said during his post-match press conference.
“Served really, really well in the tiebreaks. I think he maybe missed two first serves.
“The second one wasn’t until 6-4 in the tiebreak. He was serving really well at the start. And I had a few chances, you know, in the first tiebreak. I had chances early in the third set. I didn’t take them.
“I thought I played well,” Murray added. “I mean, you know, if you look at the stats, I hit more winners, less unforced errors, more aces. I’m sure the points that we won were very, very similar.
“It just came down to a few points here or there on his serve.
“And he served really, really well. You know, very close to the lines. Hitting at that pace, at such a high percentage, I think he was high 70s for a lot of the match.
“You know, sometimes there’s not a whole lot you can do with that. But definitely didn’t play a bad match.”
Roddick went on to lose an historic Wimbledon final to Roger Federer. The Swiss star beat Roddick 5–7, 7–6, 7–6, 3–6, 16–14, making it the longest Wimbledon singles final in terms of games played.