Murray ends Britain's title drought at Queens

London - Top seed Andy Murray defeated James Blake 7-5 6-4 in the Queen's final on Sunday to become the first British winner of the pre-Wimbledon warm-up event for 71 years.

Murray was the fifth British man to reach the final since Bunny Austin's triumph in 1938.

The Scot's first grass-court title took his career haul of tournament victories to 12 and was also his fourth Tour triumph in 2009.

After several years spent climbing towards the sport's upper echelons Murray is now firmly established as a big-game player and will be regarded as one of the main challengers for the Wimbledon title when the All-England Club tournament begins on June 22.

"It has been a great week. This is some of the best tennis I've played," Murray said.

"I was quite nervous because people were telling me no Briton had won here for quite a while but when I had my chances I managed to take them.

"The only thing left is to get a grand slam - I hope I can do that at Wimbledon in a couple of weeks."

The world No.3 has become accustomed to the extra tension that comes with a final appearance - this was his ninth in the past 12 months and he made a typically fast start.

A flashing backhand down the line earned Murray his first break point in Blake's second service game before an error from the American secured a 2-1 lead.

Murray had faced only one break point on his serve all week but his concentration wavered, allowing Blake to claim two break points in the next game.

The sixth seed took the second of them with a perfect forehand to draw level.

For the first time in a week Murray wasn't having it all his own way as Blake, cleverly mixing aggression with more subtle shots, showed he was not going to be easily pushed around.

Murray was still capable of moments of brilliance though. Chasing down a Blake drop-shot just inches from the net, he produced a sublime drop-shot of his own to hold serve for 5-5.

Suddenly Murray upped his tempo and this time Blake was unable to respond.

A pair of booming groundstrokes pushed Blake deep behind the baseline and his attempted return drifted into the net to give Murray the break.

To his credit, Blake responded well and the second set quickly became a tense struggle for supremacy.

However, Murray scented victory and Blake was powerless to prevent him crossing the finish line.

- Tommy Haas won his first title in more than two years when he beat world No.4 Novak Djokovic 6-3 6-7 6-1 in the Halle tournament final in Germany on Sunday.

Haas was the more consistent in a baseline encounter that lasted two hours and 12 minutes.

- Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova defeated China's Li Na 6-0 7-6 (7/2) to capture the WTA Birmingham grasscourt tournament, her first career title.

The 20-year-old, ranked 58th in the world, eased to victory in 73 minutes over the fourth-seeded Li, who had defeated former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova in the semi-final. - Sapa-AFP-Reuters