The Queen’s Club Championships provided its own dose of sporting theatre on Saturday. Argentina’s Francisco Cerúndolo fought back from a set down to defeat American Tommy Paul 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3 in a gruelling final lasting three hours and two minutes — the longest in the tournament’s storied history.
All week, Cerúndolo had kept an unlikely talisman in his player’s box: the No. 10 Argentina shirt of Diego Maradona. And on the eve of the 40th anniversary of Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” goal against England, Cerúndolo summoned what The Guardian described as “tennis from the heavens.” Afterward, the emotional champion dedicated the biggest title of his career not to Maradona but to his father, Alejandro, who had flown to London to watch him win.
