Monday, June 13, 2011

Rain delays Murray Queen's final

Venue: Queen's Tennis Club, LondonDate: 6-12 JuneCoverage: Live coverage on BBC One from 1305, online (UK only) and BBC HD and text commentary (#bbctennis) on BBC Sport website; and commentary on Radio 5 live and sports extraAndy Murray Magnificent Murray romps past Roddick

The Aegon Championship final between British number one Andy Murray and French fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Queen's has been held up by rain.

Mindful of a forecast of prolonged rain in W14 on Sunday afternoon, tournament directors brought the final start time forward from 1430 to 1200 BST.

Morning showers prevented an on-time start, but officials are still hopeful of play at some point on Sunday.

Should that not be possible, the final will be on Monday at 1230 BST.

"The good thing about the British is that we have a sense of humour when it comes to the weather," tournament director Chris Kermode told BBC One.

"We've been told that we have a window of opportunity to play later this afternoon and we will wait as long as we can. We intend to play today.

"We might not wait until a 1900 BST start, for example, out of respect for the players, but we'll delay it as long as we can. We're talking to the players at half-hourly intervals.

"If we don't get any play today, though, the final will be at 1230 BST on Monday and we're finalising contingency plans as we speak."

Murray is looking to regain the title he won two years ago and complete the perfect Wimbledon preparation when the final does get under way.

Tsonga, ranked 19th in the world, ended hopes of an unexpected all-British final with victory over James Ward on Saturday - but is likely to find Murray a far stiffer test.

The world number four was in scintillating form as he destroyed four-time champion Andy Roddick in the first of the semi-finals, and the Scot has won four of his five matches against Tsonga, among them a quarter-final victory at Wimbledon last year.

"I enjoy playing against him," said Murray. "He's a great athlete. He's similar in a few ways to Andy [Roddick].

"He's very flashy, a great shot-maker, can be a little bit erratic at times, but he's one of the best grass-court players in the world, for sure."

For his part, Tsonga is not worried about facing a Briton - and the home crowd - for the second day running.

Murray delighted with form

"I feel good because I know they like me," said the Frenchman. "They like my game. This is sports.

"Sometimes you play in a country, and you play against the countryman and the crowd is behind the other player. This is sports - I accept that. I will try to play my best tennis to win anyway."

Murray showed against Roddick that he is well and truly over the ankle injury that had troubled him since the middle of the French Open, and he now has the chance to win a first title since beating Roger Federer at the Shanghai Masters last October.

"It wasn't the priority coming into the tournament, it will be come Wimbledon," said Murray. "But winning in any sport is good, it gives you confidence. Winning titles is something that you look back on at the end of your career and remember."

Murray beat James Blake two years ago to become the first British winner at Queen's Club since 1938, and another success on Sunday will make him the first Briton since Arthur Lowe in 1914 to claim the tournament on two occasions.

Wimbledon, and a first Grand Slam title, remains the priority though, and his semi-final form was a timely boost.

"It gives me the message that I'm in a good place now," said Murray. "I'm playing well. I struggled at times this year, and I feel like now I'm playing really good tennis again. Physically I feel good, which is important.

"My game is where it needs to be right now. That's all you can ask for. Regardless of how the final goes, it's been the perfect week in many ways and I'll use the next five, six days to really work hard and get myself mentally and physically ready for Wimbledon."


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