Tommy Paul has won his maiden grass court title at Queen’s Club after defeating Lorenzo Musetti 6-1 7-6(8).
The fifth seed was too good for the Italian who never really got going as Paul claimed his first title at ATP 500 level.
It was Paul’s third ATP title of his career and moves to world number 12 after an impressive week.
Heading into the final, Paul had beaten Jack Draper and Sebastian Korda and the American continued his red-hot form in the opening set.
Incredible movement on the grass as Paul played efficient counter-attacking tennis as he frustrated Musetti early on.
The American secured the early break for a 3-0 lead as the world number 13 dictated with power and touch.
Looking for a response, Musetti aimed to dictate play on the backhand and the Italian’s serve was firing in the next game as he secured his only hold of the match.
However, Paul was too consistent and solid as the American broke again and would soon win the opening set 6-1.
In the second set, Musetti started more positively as he was more proactive and aggressive as he looked to control his power more.
Paul managed to outlast Musetti’s early power to keep moving the Italian about and creating angles to hit winners into.
After a controlled start, Musetti produced a reckless seventh game as erratic unforced errors saw Paul break for a 4-3 lead.
The American was calm and collected for the majority of the match but when serving for the match Paul faltered under pressure.
Too many missed first serves saw Musetti with an opportunity to break back and the Italian didn’t need a second invitation as a crisp backhand return winner sealed the break back to level the set at 5-5.
An inspired Musetti applied pressure on Paul with some phenomenal hitting from the baseline as he secured consistent winners.
The American held his nerve to force a second set tiebreak as the American looked to overcome some jitters.
It looked like Musetti was going to cruise to the tiebreak but the Italian squandered a 4-1 lead in what was a highly entertaining tiebreak.
In the end Paul would win the tiebreak 10-8 and secure his first ATP 500 title as well as becoming the new American number one.
