‘The last thing that I expected’ - Matteo Berrettini beats Filip Krajinovic to retain Queen's Club title

Matteo Berrettini was crowned champion of the cinch Championships at Queen’s Club in London for the second year running after a 7-5 6-4 victory over Filip Krajinovic. The back-to-back winner served 14 aces during the match in an aggressive performance that Krajinovic — who raised eyebrows by making the final — found tricky to deal with, as the 26-year-old became the first player in the Open Era to win titles in his first two appearances in London.

Ad/> Breaks were exchanged in the middle of the first set as both players tried to find their feet in the match, and Berrettini had the set sewn up in just under an hour after stepping up the intensity and power in his groundstrokes. ATP LondonBerrettini on course to retain Queen's title after powering past Van de ZandschlupYESTERDAY AT 15:30 Berrettini went into the second set full of confidence, and continued to attack Krajinovic who is not used to grass courts, having only won his first tour-level game on the surface this week.

He won 86% of his first-serve points and gained the decisive break in the fifth game, holding his nerve to close the set with an ace to win his ninth match in a row. Speaking on court after retaining the title, he said: “there were too many emotions.

“I don’t even know (how it feels to defend the title), there are too many emotions. /> “The last thing that I expected was coming back from the surgery and winning two times in a row, defending my title here at one of the most prestigious tournaments that we have.

/> Berrettini returned to the Stuttgart Open earlier in June after three months off the tour with a hand injury, beating Andy Murray in the final to win his first of two ATP titles in as many weeks. “My team can tell you I arrived to Stuttgart