It’s time for more ATP Tour action on the lush, green courts of England. This week, we’ll be taken to historic Queen’s Club in West Kensington, London for another installment of the Aegon Championships.
Andy Murray is on a mission to deliver another fantastic showing in front of his countrymen. With Novak Djokovic nowhere in sight, who else could stop Murray from winning his record-breaking fifth title at Queen’s? Let’s find out more about this upcoming sizzling tournament below.
To know what’s about to go down in the other men’s singles tournament this week, head on over to our complete preview for the Gerry Weber Open featuring the likes of Roger Federer and Kei Nishikori right after this.
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2016 Aegon Championships Preview
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Andy Murray
Can’t we all just agree that Andy Murray will win the Aegon Championships? He’s a four-time champion at the tournament in each of the odd-numbered years from 1999 to 2015, he’s hot off a final-round appearance at Roland Garros, and he even has long-time coach and tennis legend Ivan Lendl back by his side to help him secure another win at Queen’s this weekend and at the All England Club in two weeks.
However, Mahut has got to be gassed from going the distance in the previous tournament, and this gives the World No. 2 a much easier time to make his backers at -850 happy for picking him over Mahut in the first round this Tuesday, as well as coast all the way through to his record fifth Queen’s title in eight years.
Stan Wawrinka
Stan Wawrinka’s 2016 season is rolling along just fine, having won three titles already and recently going as far as the semis at Roland Garros before falling to Murray in four sets. However, the Swiss sensation has not found plenty of success on grass, going just 26-22 lifetime on the turf.
Then again, Wawrinka has also reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in each of the past couple of seasons, so it’s not as if the World No. 5’s totally struggling on the lawns. He also won’t meet Murray possibly until the final round at Queen’s, giving him ample time to catch fire by defeating weaker competition along the way this week.
Sleepers
Milos Raonic
It’s been almost exactly a year since Milos Raonic returned from his foot surgery, which was also when he made his return to the ATP Tour in Queen’s and Wimbledon, going only as far as the third round of both tournaments.
Now at full-strength, Raonic is back with a vengeance in 2016. The 25-year-old Canadian secured his first title of the year in January at Brisbane, appeared in six quarter-final rounds, and has gone no less than four rounds deep in seven of eight tournaments played.
And when you consider that Raonic actually has a better record than Wawrinka before him thus far – same number of wins (27) but with one fewer loss (seven) than the latter – there’s really no better time to ride the Raonic bandwagon than now.
Sam Querrey
This tournament wouldn’t be as exciting without an American in the mix, right? Well, it just so happens that underrated San Francisco native Sam Querrey is a former Wimbledon champion (2010), and his previous success is no fluke at all. In fact, Querrey has a career record of 44-28 on grass, which is much better than either of his overall performances on hard and clay courts.
Not just that, but the World No. 32 had slowly racking up quality wins is lesser tournaments as well. Querrey won an ATP 250 title this February in Delray Beach and has four semi-final appearances this season to his credit.
Are you still in search of a player this week representing the Red, White and Blue? Look no further than Querrey himself.
Long Shot
Benoit Paire
There are a handful of Frenchmen at the Aegon Championships to keep their English rivals on their toes, but it doesn’t appear as though Benoit Paire will scare anybody this week at all.
For one, the 27-year-old Avignon native just has a lackluster record of 9-12 on grass. Another is that Paire has been maddeningly disappointing this season, having seven opening-round loses with five of those defeats coming after earning a bye in a particular tournament all the less.
The ATP’s clay-court stretch is over, and in turn, Paire’s form and campaign will likely experience a slow downward spiral from here on out.
Writer’s Prediction
Murray easily makes history by winning at Queen’s Club for the fifth time in his career.
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