Two of the “big four” have decided to forgo grass tennis prior to Wimbledon.  In particular, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have chose not to play any tournaments heading into Wimbledon.  However, the other two, Roger Federer and Andy Murray both decided to play.

Roger Federer managed to get his match first because he didn’t have to fight rain.  He needed 3 sets to beat Russian, Mikhail Youzhny, 67 63 64.  This was his first title of the year, and with it, he ties John McEnroe with 77 titles.  He is 17 titles short from Ivan Lendl’s 94 titles and many titles away from Jimmy Connots 109 titles.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray won his 27th title which puts him far away from the elites.  He beat Marin Cilic in three sets.  He needed a late break in the second set, then much like the Tsonga semifinal match, managed a break then another break, and won 57 75 63 to take his third Queen’s Club title.  He blew a kiss to Ross Hutchins, his best mate, a doubles specialist who discovered he had cancer last year.  Murray and a few others (Lendl, Henman) are doing a fundraiser to help the hospital that helped Ross Hutchins.

Ciic was the winner last year at Queen’s Club and Murray won the year before.  This was his third title at Queen’s.  This puts Murray and Federer as the hot players entering Wimbledon, but given Nadal’s two titles and Djokovic’s one title, there is competition a plenty for the top four.

There is one more week of tournaments.  David Ferrer and Stan Wawrinka will play in the Netherlands where Ferrer is defending champion.  Meanwhile Raonic and Simon headline Eastbourne.