23rd WEEK

In the 44-year-old open history of the tournament at Queens Club, just for the third time the final was played on Monday due to bad weather (heavy rain); previously it happened in 1979 & 1987. A local favorite, Andy Murray [4] delighted the crowd with a strong performance throughout the week, capturing his 17th title, the second one in London. The Brit was unusually relaxed, smiling a lot and playing more offensive tennis than in the last couple of months. In the final he fought off a double mini-match point at 5:5 in the 2nd set against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (the first one with a drop-shot, at the second one, the net-cord stopped the ball on Tsonga’s side directly after return). A few days before, Tsonga stunned Rafael Nadal (6-7, 6-4, 6-1), winning seven games in a row against the Spaniard in the middle of the match! Unknown “wild card” James Ward [216], made arguably the biggest sensation of the season, advancing to the semifinals. Within the week, he won one match more than in the whole ATP-career before the tournament!
Halle. For the sixth time in the Open era, two German players met in a final of an ATP tournament #. Both guys (Kohlschreiber, Petzschner) were unseeded, both overcame the highest ranked players (Monfils, Berdych) which participated in the tournament. In the final, Philipp Kohlschreiber [49] was a beneficent of Petzschner’s injury (lower back). It’s the third title in Kohli’s career, each of them on a different surface. The five-time champion Roger Federer, stated that was too tired (groin problem) after the French Open to play in Halle and pulled out of the event. He said: “I am very disappointed as its one of my absolute favorite tournaments on the ATP Tour, but my body, especially my groin, really needs a rest“. The Swiss was supposed to play against Lleyton Hewitt in the first round, to whom lost the last years final. Hewitt played his first tournament since mid-March.

Finals

Queens Club (250)
S:  (2)Andy Murray d. (5)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-4
D:  (1)The Bryans d. (3)M.Bhupathi/L.Paes 6-7(2), 7-6(4), [10-6]

Halle (250)
S: Philipp Kohlschreiber d. Philipp Petzschner 7-6(5), 2-0 ret.
D: (1)R.Bopanna/A.Qureshi d. R.Haase/M.Raonic 7-6(8), 3-6, [11-9]

Choker of the week:

Ruben Bemelmans in Halle, the Belgian player had three match points in the tie-break against Tomas Berdych, one on his serve. The Czech won 5-7, 7-6(8), 6-4.

#  All-German finals:

Berlin, 1973: Hans-Jurgen Pohmann d. Karl Meiler 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
Brussels, 1990: Boris Becker d. Carl-Uwe Steeb 7-5, 6-2, 6-2
Wimbledon, 1991: Michael Stich d. Boris Becker 6-4, 7-6, 6-4
Sun City, 1994: Markus Zoecke d. Hendrik Dreekmann 6-4, 6-1
Los Angeles, 2004: Tommy Haas d. Nicolas Kiefer 7-6, 6-4
Halle, 2011: Philipp Kohlschreiber d. Philipp Petzschner 7-6, 2-0 ret.