7 players who completed The Queen's Club-Wimbledon double in the same year ft. Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray
The Queen's Club Championships have worked as a springboard for success at the Wimbledon Championships for some of the biggest names in the sport.
The ATP 500 tournament, hosted at the eponymous club in London, is currently heading towards the business end of its 132nd edition. Former champion Andy Murray is looking to recapture his crown, which has twice set the stage for him to achieve greater things later in the grasscourt season.
Here is a list of seven players who have completed The Queen's Club-Wimbledon double in the same year:
John McEnroe (1981 and 1984)
Former World No. 1 John McEnroe was the first player to complete the Queen's Club-Wimnbledon, first achieving the feat in 1981. The American overcame countryman Brian Gottfried in the Queen's final, before beating Bjorn Borg for his first Wimbledon title.
McEnroe would go on to repeat the feat in 1984 by beating Leif Shiras and Jimmy Connors in the summit clashes at the Queen's Club and Wimbledon — his last at SW19 — respectively.
2) Jimmy Connors (1982)
Jimmy Connors scored twin victories over McEnroe at the Queen's Club Championships and Wimbledon finals in 1982, to record his double.
The Wimbledon title was Connors' first at the Championships since his maiden 1974 triumph.
3) Boris Becker (1985)
Boris Becker scored his first Tour and Grand Slam wins at the 1985 Queen's Club and Wimbledon Championships, beating the Yugoslavian duo of Johan Kriek and Kevin Curren in the finals of the two tournaments respectively.
The two victories set the the ball rolling for the German's dominance across British grasscourts that lasted for nearly a decade.
4) Pete Sampras (1995 and 1999)
Pete Sampras won the Queen's Club championships on only two occassions — in 1995, beating Guy Forget in the final and in 1999 overcoming home hope Tim Henman.
The tournament victories worked as a charm for Sampras and he would, on both occasions, go on to lift the Wimbledon gentlemen's singles trophy. He won against Boris Becker for a third and Andre Agassi for a seventh Championship in the two years respectively.
5) Lleyton Hewitt (2002)
Lleyton Hewitt is one of the most successful players in the 132-year-long history of the Queen's Club Championships. The Aussie has lifted the trophy on four separate occasions.
Following his 2002 triumph — when he beat Tim Henman in the final — the then World No. 1 went on to emerge as the Wimbledon champion.
6) Rafael Nadal (2008)
The 2008 grasscourt season saw Rafael Nadal beat two of his biggest rivals and fellow members of the 'Big 3' — Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
The Spaniard beat Djokovic in the final of the Queen's Club Championships before taking out Federer in one of the most memorable finals at the Wimbledon Championships.
7) Andy Murray (2013 and 2016)
Andy Murray is the last player to complete the Queen's Club-Wimbledon Championships double. The Briton accomplished the feat twice, in 2013 and 2016.
Murray bested Marin Cilic and Novak Djokovic in the two finals in 2013. Gunning for his second double, he went on to score back-to-back wins over Milos Raonic in both the Queen's and Wimbledon finals in 2016.