The Brit, beat Canadian’s Milos Raonic in three sets – 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 – to head to Wimbledon full of confidence after a superb clay season ended in French Open final defeat by Novak Djokovic.
Back on grass, Murray was severely tested by Raonic, who had former player, John McEnroe in his corner for the week as one of his trainers.
Neither player threatened in the first set, which eventually went to a tie-break which Raonic settled with some wonderful groundstrokes.
It continued into the second set, as Murray – looking to become the first person to win the Queens’ title 5 times, faced defeat at 4-1 down. But resilient as ever, Murray broke the Raonic serve, one of his strong points, that had got him to the final, and got stronger as the second set went on to take the next 4 games.
The catalyst continued for Murray fans, as he went into the final set in buoyant mood, whilst Raonic seemed more subdued after having the title in his grasp. This was evident as the world no.2 broke the Canadian 4 times in the final set and sealed a record triumph when Raonic netted.
“Coming out here to try and win for the fifth time I was really motivated,” said Murray, who now goes above Lleyton Hewitt, McEnroe, Boris Becker, Andy Roddick and Roy Emerson. “It feels good. To do it means a lot. It’s a tournament that obviously means a lot to me. It’s been my most successful tournament, by far, clearly. “To be the first player to win five times, it’s not an easy tournament to win. It always has a great field and the players I have beaten in the finals; a lot of times have been top players. My best tennis is there. I’m happy with that and when I needed to this week, I stepped up and played my best tennis. That’s a good sign.”
It was also Murray’s first title success after being reunited with old coach Ivan Lendl, who took him to the Wimbledon title in 2013. “It was nice of him to stick around for the presentation,” Murray quipped after. “It was obviously a good first week back together.”
