Although the field at the Aegon Championships had four top ten players, none of them survived to Sunday.  In the final, two unexpected Americans fought it out for the venerable trophy. Sam Querrey, the sole surviving seed, beat Mardy Fish 7-6, 7-5 to pocket his third ATP title of the year.

In the first all American final at Queen’s Club since 1994, the serve was king.  After Fish had no trouble holding serve, Querrey double faulted and made two errors to go down love-40.  However, with three aces in the game, Querrey held in his first game.  The points were fast and rallies few, neither player got a look at another break point. Subsequent to Querrey maintaining serve despite two double faults, the set went to a tiebreaker.  Fish gave Querrey a mini-break to open the breaker by committing an error.  Later though, Querrey gifted his opponent a double fault erasing his advantage leading to 3 all.  Down the road, Fish netted a neutral backhand to hand Querrey another mini-break for 5-3.  With a compendium of mistakes by Fish, Querrey capture the next two points and the set.

Following a love hold to commence the second set, Querrey flubbed two forehands to face 0-30 his second time.  Yet, by calling on his strong serve, Querrey bagged the game for 2-1.  Fish finally found an entrance.  With two mistakes by Querrey and a backhand crosscourt pass for a winner, Fish was rewarded with two break points. This time as Querrey’s forehand down the line sailed long, Fish captured a 3-2 edge.  Later, Fish wrapped up his game with an ace to consolidate for 4-2.  But, serving for the set, Fish produced a series of unforced errors which cost him the game and leveled the set at 5 all. After Querrey guarded serve to inch ahead 6-5, Fish failed to put the ball in the field of play leading to triple break point. When Fish dumped his volley into the net on the second championship point, Querrey claimed the title.

In the post match interview, Querrey admitted that it’s difficult to battle “a buddy” especially since the two share the same coach.  After surrendering his serve two times in a row after serving spectacularly most of the match, Fish conceded “I am not sure what just happened”.  Fish stated that knowing the history of the tournament, it was one he had dreamed of winning. Nevertheless, Fish congratulated his friend on the victory.  In terms of Wimbledon, Querrey stated “I [will] go out there and do my best”.

Now, Querrey has three title this year on three different surfaces.  Querrey’s ranking of 23rd  will improve modestly.  After this great run, Fish’s ranking, which had dropped to 90, will get a much needed boost.

It was a strange week at the first grass court tune ups.  Defending champion Andy Murray was ousted in the third round by Fish.  That same day, world number one Rafael Nadal was booted in quarterfinals by Feliciano Lopez.  In the third round, four time champion Andy Roddick was stunned by Dudi Sela and Novak Djokovic was bounced by Xavier Malisse. Seeds Gael Monfils and Marin Cilic also lost early on.

In Halle at the Gerry Weber Open, the other grass court event, Lleyton Hewitt halted Roger Federer from obtaining his sixth title.  Hewitt defeated Federer 3-6,7-6,6-4 his first victory after 15 consecutive knock downs.  With so much disarray, hopefully, it’s not a snap shot of  what is to come at Wimbledon.

After the fiasco in the finals of the French Open last week, Roger Federer was probably relieved to be back on grass. The world number one extended his winning streak on that surface to 59 by beating hometown boy, Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3, 6-4 at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany.

With the crowd in his corner, Kohlschreiber was inspired and played well. In the first set, the German kept up with Federer and actually had the opportunity to go up a break in the third game. Unfortunately for him, Federer served his way out of trouble. Federer’s variety, his most potent asset, proved overwhelming for Kohlschreiber. Eventually, Roger got the upper hand in the first set with a break 5-3. With a strong service game, Roger closed out the set.

Early on in the second set, Federer had a few chances to break. Yet, the German found a way to pull through. While serving at 3-3, Kohlschreiber once again lost his way which allowed Federer to take the lead 4-3. Nevertheless, with the spectators urging him on after a double fault, the German extended the match to 4-5. In the end, with a powerful service game, Federer closed out the match to secure the championship.

With his atrocious record against top ten competitors 8-18, Kohlschreiber beating James Blake, the second seed, in the semifinals was a surprise. Federer appeared in tip-top shape throughout the tournament with straight sets victories over every opponent he faced. Hopefully, this title will heal some of Federer’s latest wounds and help him regain the confidence he has been lacking the last few months. With Nadal’s first title on grass in Artois coming also today, the gauntlet has been thrown. Should these two meet in the finals at Wimbledon, Nadal may have the psychological edge and that may be the deciding factor in the match.

On the doubles side, after Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, the number one seed, lost in the second round, the draw opened up. The finals came down to the number four seeds, Leander Paes /Lukas Dhouly and the unseeded team of Mikhail Youzhny /Mischa Zverev. The latter prevailed in the three sets.