Andy Murray finds himself just two matches away from achieving his ambition of being seeded at Wimbledon following back-to-back titles.
A week after winning in Surbiton, he added another challenger title in Nottingham following a 6-4 6-4 win over Arthur Cazaux of France.
Murray will step up his bid to make the top 32 in the draw for Wimbledon on Tuesday in the opening round of Queen’s against No7 seed Alex de Minaur.
Victory against the highly-rated Australian and potential second-round opponent Diego Schwartzman would do the job. Should he beat that pair, he would likely face Taylor Fritz, whom Murray has not overcome in three previous career meetings.
Following his Nottingham title, Murray, who opted to miss the French Open to focus on the grasscourt season, said: “When I made the decision to come and play here rather than the 250s, I was at least going to have to win, and I have given myself a chance.
“I pretty much know what I had to do and, if I make the semis at Queen’s, I will definitely make seeding. The quarters may be enough.”
Murray has both served well and moved fluently throughout the grasscourt swing. He opted to compete at Nottingham as he said it replicated the Wimbledon grass, where he is hoping to have his first long run since limping out of the event with injury in 2017.
Surbiton proved his first title on grass since 2016 and, after title No2, he said: “All the trophies I have won since the operation mean a lot to me.”
Murray’s wife Kim had surprised him by arriving with the couple’s children in Surbiton, only for a lengthy rain delay to force them back home for bedtime.
Again, she pulled another surprise by travelling up to Nottingham with their four kids on what was Father’s Day, which Murray was unaware of until after the match.
Afterwards, he said: “I didn’t know they were here. I had no idea they were coming. They came last week for the final at Surbiton, they turned up and it started raining. Then they had to go home for the kids’ bedtime and they missed the end of the match so it’s great they could come today.”
