Paul relishes etching name into tennis history at Queen’s

By Abi Curran at the Queen’s Club

USA’s Tommy Paul relished etching his name into tennis history after claiming his first ATP Tour 500 title at Queens.

The 27-year-old capped a superb week at the LTA’s cinch Championships by overcoming Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets, 6-1 7-6(8), and was made to work for his win by the Italian world No. 30.

Cheered on by girlfriend Paige Lorenze, Paul cruised through the first set, breaking Musetti at the first opportunity before a tighter tussle ensued in the second.

The Italian fired back to take the second set to a tie-break but Paul’s serve could not be broken as the American powered to a landmark maiden Tour title.

Paul, who beat Britain’s Jack Draper in the quarter-final, will become US No. 1 for the first time in his career on Monday.

Paul said: “Going through the hallways in here, the locker rooms, the names that are on the was, it’s unbelievable.

“It was my goal always to put my name next to them.

“To do it on the grass is special, especially at this club, special is the perfect word for this club.

“It was a good match, it definitely got a little crazier than I wanted it to in the end but I’m so happy with the result.

“I played a lot more aggressively from the baseline, I didn’t come to the net as much as I would’ve liked this whole week but when I had the opportunity to go after my shot, I thought I did a really good job of that.

“This is definitely the perfect way to go to Wimbledon.”

Meanwhile, Neal Skupski savoured his own first victory at Queens as he teamed up with university buddy Michael Venus to triumph in the men’s doubles.

The Liverpudlian and New Zealander Venus put on a determined performance to push past Taylor Fritz and Karen Khachanov through a scintillating match tie-break, coming out on top 4-6 7-6(5) [10-8].

Skupski is the first Brit to capture the Queen’s Club doubles title since Andy Murray and Feliciano Lopez in 2019 and the 34-year-old relished the occasion as the pair soared to a maiden title together.

He said: “It’s been very special, first time winning at Queen’s, first title with Mike.

“We went to university together so we go back a long way but we’ve never got to play on the Tour together that much. It was nice to play with him.

“It’s great, it hasn’t been the best of years for me so far, I’ve been chopping and changing partners.

“It’s nice to get some confidence on the grass and play in front of all these guys and girls.”

At the Rothesay Classic Birmingham, Yulia Putintseva revelled in unexpected delight after she captured singles title.

The Kazakhstani ace toppled Australian Ajla Tomjlanovic 6-1 7-6 (8) in Sunday’s final after ending Elisabetta Cocciaretto’s grass-court run the previous day.

In the doubles final, new partnership Miyu Kato and Shuai Zhang faced off with top seeds Su-Wei Hsieh and Elise Mertens.

The formidable latter pairing stormed through to take a 6-1 lead in the first set and quickly followed up in the second to win 6-1 6-3 overall under the Midlands sunshine.

For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website