Top seed Andy Murray came from a set down to defeat defending champion Marin Cilic and seal his third AEGON Championships tennis title at Queen’s.
Light rain showers meant the final was delayed by three and a half hours and Murray looked a little ragged as he lost the opening set to the world number 12.
The Scot, playing his first tournament after time out with a back injury, also suffered a scare as he twisted awkwardly and hit the floor at one stage, but the 26-year-old gradually grew into the match and pulled away to seal a 5-7 7-5 6-3 win.
Murray, who now holds a 9-1 record against Cilic, had entered the tournament with little match-practice having sat out the French Open due to a back injury.
“I worked very hard in the time that I had off to try and get myself back in the best shape possible,” he said.
“My team helped me a lot, they were patient with me and it’s why I was able to come out and play so tough in last couple of matches.”
Murray added: “He (Cilic) is one of the best grass court players in the world. We’ve played each other since juniors. We had a lot of close matches and I was lucky to come through at the end because he was playing such good tennis. He played very well.”
Things started well enough for US Open and Olympic champion Murray as he raced in to a 4-1 lead in the first set.
Cilic fought back to 4-3 before Murray suffered a dramatic fall, seemingly pulling his groin as he twisted awkwardly.
Although he did not require any attention from the trainer, it seemed to have a knock-on affect on the Scot, who showed signs of frustration as Cilic went on to seal the first set.
The second set started with both players holding their serve before Murray steadily reached the levels which had seen him advance to the final.
Murray broke in the 12th game to level the match and set-up a deciding third set.
The Murray serve was improving all the time with Cilic looking increasingly unlikely to force a crucial break, while his own serve was starting to waiver.
Murray took full advantage to break for 3-1 and had another three break points to go 5-1 ahead but Cilic showed enough resolve to hold.
It was only a slight stay of execution for Cilic, as Murray held in the decisive game to wrap up his third Queen’s title in five years.