Tommy Paul added his name to the list of American tennis greats, winning the Queen’s Club Championships title after defeating Lorenzo Musetti 6-1, 7-6 (10/8) in Sunday’s final.
The victory gave the fifth-seeded American his third ATP Tour title – and the biggest win of his career – after he won in straight sets in London after 88 minutes on court.
Paul became the first U.S. player to win the prestigious Wimbledon warm-up tournament since Sam Querrey in 2010, joining a group of former American champions at Queen’s including John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras – all of whom also won Wimbledon.
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“It means everything,” said Paul, who knocked out Briton Jack Draper in the quarterfinals.
“When you walk down the aisles here in the locker room and see the names on the wall, it’s incredible. It was always my goal to write my name next to them.”
The world number 13 will also overtake fellow countryman Taylor Fritz to become the new American number one, with Wimbledon starting on July 1.
Paul raced through the first set before his Italian opponent Musetti fought his way back into the match.
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Paul, 27, failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set before recovering from a 1-4 deficit in the tiebreak and fending off a set point at 6-7.
Musetti saved two match points on his own serve before Paul won the third to secure the title.
“This was definitely one of the best weeks of my career so far,” said Musetti.
“Congratulations to Tommy, he deserved the win. I struggled to reach his level. In the end I was able to save a little bit of face with the break. I fought really hard to get to the third set.”
The 22-year-old, who became a father to his first child in March, added: “I want to dedicate this week to my little boy Ludovico. I just want to go back and hug him.”
