Haas, Murray Capture Home Tournaments

With Rafael Nadal taking an extended break to take care of his embattled knees and with Roger Federer enjoying the fruits of his recent Grand Slam win, the two defending champions of the AEGON Championships (Queens) and the Gerry Weber Open (Halle) were absent this week letting the others pick up the scraps.


Third ranked Andy Murray led the lineup in Queens. Without dropping a set, Murray captured the title becoming the first Brit to win a grass court tournament in nearly 70 years. He faced off against American James Blake in the final beating him 7-5, 6-4. Murray now has four titles this year, second only to Rafael Nadal with five.

Novak Djokovic led the lineup in Halle, but he was defeated by a resurging Tommy Haas who followed up his great run at the French Open by defeating the fourth ranked Djokovic 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-1. In front of his home crowd, Haas was able to win his first tour title in more than two years.

Looking ahead, Wimbledon officially starts in two weeks June 22nd, but qualifying rounds actually begin this week. Lots of storylines brewing, but it's mostly on the men's side. More of this in a couple of days.