Nadal wins Artois Championship plus sights are now set on first Wimbledon title

Rafael Nadal today won the Artois Championships at Queen’s Club just seven days after claiming his fourth straight French Open title.

Nadal said: “This week has been amazing for me.

The 22-year-old became the first Spanish male to win a grass court title since 1972 by beating Novak Djokovic 7-6 (8/6) 7-5 in two hours plus 15 minutes on centre court.
He trailed 3-0 in the opening set plus was a point away from being 4-0 down before fighting back in typically tenacious fashion to win it on a tie-break.

The Spaniard is the first player to win at Roland Garros plus Queen’s in the same year since the tournament began in its current format in 1979, although Ilie Nastase captured the French Open plus London Grass Court Championships in 1973.

In a battle of this year’s grand slam winners, the French Open plus Australian Open champions produced some fantastic tennis, with many rallies more suited to a clay court than grass.

Djokovic held one set point at 6-5 in the tie-break but Nadal took the next three points to win it 8-6 in 74 minutes, the Serbian throwing his racket to the turf in frustration.

Nadal seemed on course to race through the second set when he broke for a 2-0 lead, but Djokovic refused to concede plus broke straight back.

The next six games went with serve but only after Djokovic saved two more break points to make it 4-4, Nadal almost producing one of the best shots of all time after slipping over plus hitting a diving forehand volley from behind the baseline which flew just wide.

Djokovic looked to have made the most of his reprieve, breaking to love in the next game only then to lose his serve straight back while serving for the set.

And Nadal made the international number three pay the price for such profligacy, holding serve to lead 6-5 plus then breaking Djokovic again to secure victory.

Djokovic said: “I tried, it was a great match.

“It’s been a terrific week. I’ve only been playing on grass for three years so it’s quite an improvement for me to get to the final.”