After a week of ups and downs, shocks and surprises we are down to the final of the Fever-Tree Championshiips where Feliciano Lopez will go in search of a second Queens Club title when he faces Gilles Simon on Sunday afternoon.
Both men had to go three sets in their semi-final on what was a great day of tennis on Saturday and it would be a surprise if this is not a lengthy clash too as we get set to crown the champion in the west of London.
Feliciano Lopez
They always say when you are given a wildcard in a tournament there is a little extra pressure on a player to try and justify it but Feliciano Lopez has done that and some so far this week. Not only is he in the singles final but once this has been decided he’ll be back on court for the doubles final so this could be a special day for the veteran Spaniard who won the title here back in 2015.
The former champion is a wonderful grass court player. He uses his serve to great effect but both in the singles court and the doubles one his return game has been immense this week. He has seen off the likes of Milos Raonic and Felix Auger-Aliassime to make it to this final so he has played a good variation of styles to make it to this final and will be confident of winning how.
Gilles Simon
You could be forgiven for calling Gilles Simon the marathon man this week as he has had some epic encounters to make it through to this final. The Frenchman has certainly shown all of his battling qualities but he has also shown a nice array of touch and skill which has kept him in matches and he’ll be confident of landing this title for the first time from here on in.
Simon has had to do it the tough way this week beating one big server in the quarter final in Nicolas Mahut and another in the semi-final in the shape of Daniil Medvedev and it would be completely understandable were he not to have much left in his legs for this contest although I suspect experience and adrenalin will get him through the clash.
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Head-to-Head
These two men have met on seven occasions in the past, four of which have been on grass. Lopez leads their career battle 5-2 with four of his five wins coming on the turf. This will be the second time these two will have battled it out in a grass tournament final having met to decide the title at Eastbourne back in 2013. Generally their matches on grass are fairly tight. Two of them went to a deciding set while another one had a tiebreak in it so history suggests we are going to get a lengthy encounter here.
Betting
That is exactly how I am playing this final. I believe over 24.5 games is a more than live runner here. This final has a history of going to three sets and I think one of the reasons for that is because the draw is so strong at Queens that the two best players make it through an they are obviously going to be of the highest quality which makes for good matches.
Six of the last seven completed Queens finals have gone to three sets and two of the three prior to the start of that run had 25 games in straight sets victories. Both of Lopez’s finals at this tournament went to a third set tiebreak and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that is how this one ends up going. Tiebreaks may well be a feature here so two sets or three I fancy the over to land in this one.
Tips
WON – Back Over 24.5 games for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with Betway
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