Andy Murray has ended 71 years of hurt at Queens Club for British players in winning the AEGON championships, the first Brit to do so since Bunny Austin in 1938.

Murray beat “half-Brit” James Blake in the final 7-5 6-4 in just over an hour.

His form today was perhaps not quite as good as its been the rest of the week, but it was enough to see him claim his first grass court title and more importantly his first on home soil, proving he can handle the weight of expectation.

He celebrated the win with his team, coach Miles Maclagen, fitness and conditioning coaches, Matt Little, Andy Ireland and Jez Greens, his partner Kim Sears and even managed a kiss for mum. Big Sap!

On winning his title Murray said,

I was playing well all week and took my chances when I had them. I was quite nervous today because no British player had won here for 70-odd years, so it got the nerves going, especially when I was serving for the match. James is a very tough player, we have only met once before so I didn’t know what to expect. He had a great week and beat a lot of big servers. The only thing left is to try and get a Grand Slam title in a couple of weeks. I’ve played well this week and now I have to focus on getting ready for Wimbledon.

Andy Murray was seeded no.1 for the 2009 Queens Club after Rafael Nadal withdrew due to injury. From his first match against Andreas Seppi few would have bet against Murray winning today. Murray did not drop a set all week and only lost his serve twice in 5 matches.

With Wimbledon only a week away, no one can doubt that Murray serious contender to break another long standing record. No British man has won Wimbledon since 1936 – 83 years of history to re-write!

Andy Murray cruised into the final of the 2009 Aegon Championships at Queens Club with a 6-2 6-4 win over Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero.

The British number 1 was in dominating form in the first set and broke Ferrero in the opening game of the match as he raced to the first set. Ferrero did up his game in the second set and Murray was not quite as dominant but he secured the decisive break in game seven after an unforced error from the former world number one.

Murray is the first British player to reach the final since Tim Henman in 2002. Henman reached the final three times in four years, losing the first to America’s Pete Sampras in 1999, before Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt defeated him in consecutive years. No British player has won the title in the open era and no British player has won at Queens since Bunny Austin in 1938.

Murray spoke to reporters after the match,

It was a good match, I served very well in the first set and I was happy to win it in two as it was hotter out there than on other days this week. I’ve not had the easiest draw, but I’m lucky I’ve played well from the start of the week. It’s been a good week so far and I hope that will continue on Sunday.

Murray will face the winner of the other semi final between James Blake and Andy Roddick.

Andy Murray entered the 2009 Queens Club (AEGON Championships) as the top ranked player and the bookmakers favorite to lift the London title.

We are down the semi-finals stage and Murray, along with 2nd seed Andy Roddick, 6th seed James Blake and Juan Carlos Ferrero are the 4 semi finalists.

No Brit has ever been the top ranked player at Queens club and no Brit has ever won the title. So Murray has history against him. Yet the bookmakers make him favorite by a considerable margin over second favorite, 4 time Queens Club winner Andy Roddick. Murray is on average 1/2 and Roddick 5/2.

Andy Roddick has beat the best players so far he took out 4 time champion Lleyton Hewitt and big serving Ivo Karlovic.

James Blake and Juan Carlos Ferrero are considered to be easy wins for the two Andy’s but if you want to make big money and you think the Bookmakers know nothing about tennis, then a bet here will see you net a tidy win.

If you are placing a bet on the Queens Club (AEGON Championships) winner this Summer make sure you try Betfair, they offer better odds and when you sign up you get a free £25 bet. If you are making any one except Andy Murray, definitely use Betfair as their odds are considerably higher when the odds ar slightly longer.

Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski have just lost their quarter final match against Lukasz Kubot & Oliver Marach. The match went to a third set championship tie breaker after the Brit duo had claimed the first set and missed three match points in the second set.

Kubot & Oliver Marach finally claimed the match 5-7 7-6(7-3) 10-7 in 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Fleming and Skupski took the first set 7-5, the crucial break of serve coming in the 11th game. The second set went a to a tie break, but not before the British team a secured a break of serve and Ken Skupski served for the match. At 40-15 the Brits had two match points but were not able to convert. Importantly there was no sign of a “choke”, simply out played by Kubot and Marach who leveled the match and forced the tie break.

Kubot and Marach secured an early mini-break in the tie break before a second mini-break secured the second set.

The Brits claimed an early mini break in the super tie break courtesy of a double fault but lost it and Kubot & Marach leveled at 5-5. After that Fleming and Skupski drop two service points to give Kubot & Marach 4 match points at 9-5. They managed to save two them before ultimately losing the final point on their own serve.

Their performance tonight and against the Bryan’s on Wednesday proved that these two Brits have a big future  in the men’s doubles game. They didn’t just put in a typical good effort tonight, Fleming and Skupski matched the 6th best team in the world point for point and the match was settled on the finest of margins.

Watch out for these two at Eastbourne next week and Wimbledon the week after. The pair have been granted wild cards for both these events. The typical Brit display would see these two go out in the first round, but Skupski and Fleming are used to winning this season (see below) and these two could well buck the trend of “0ther Brits” at Wimbledon.

Kubot & Marach will next face the team of Wesley Moodie and Mikhail Youzhny who won 7-5 6-3 this evening. It was Mikhail Youzhny second match of the day after losing to James Blake earlier in the day.

Andy Murray cruised past 8th seed Mardy Fish in very convincing fashion. The Scot is bidding to be the first British winner at Queens club in the open era and the first British champion at Queen’s since Bunny Austin in 1938.

The 22-year-old world number 3 took out his American opponent 7-5 6-3 in just over an hour in the quarter finals  of the Aegon Championships at Queen’s.

Murray will next face Juan Carlos Ferrero in the semi-finals. Ferrero beat Steve Darcis of Belgium 4-6 6-3 6-4 in his quarter final match.

Murray broke the Fish serve three times and wrapped up his win in one hour and 10 minutes. Murray and former world number 1 Ferrero have never met before.

In an near-faultless performance against Fish, Murray served 11 aces and made 69% of first serves and won all but one of those points.

The players exchanged service holds until the 11th game of the first set, Murray set the break up by racing to 0-40 with an outstanding cross-court backhand passing shot and then an even better one on the forehand side. Fish did pull it back to 30-40 before a woeful forehand smash from Fish gave Murray the break and ultimately the set as Murray served out.

The second set went to familiar pattern as the second though this time Murray made his move a little quicker, this time in the seventh, he took his second break point chance of the game with a powerful backhand return. Another near perfect service game put Murray 5-3 ahead and the Scot sealed the match breaking Fish for a third time.

After his win, Murray spoke courtside,

It was very good. He served very well at start of the match and I didn’t get too many opportunities, but I hit a few really good passing shots at 5-5 and broke him and then I started to feel more comfortable. Mardy’s a very, very good grass-court player. It was a good test for me.

In the other half of the draw, four-time champion Roddick is through to the semi-finals for the seventh successive year after seeing off fellow big server Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5), while James Blake takes on Mikhail Youzhny.