Rafael Nadal rubber-stamped his grasscourt credentials by winning his first Queen's Club trophy with a 7-6 7-5 victory over Serbia's Novak Djokovic on Sunday.
The top seed became the first Spanish man to win a title on green turf since Andres Gimeno walked away with the Eastbourne trophy in 1972.
With just over a week to go before Wimbledon begins on June 23, the victory will provide Nadal with a much needed boost as he aims to improve on his two runner-up finishes at the All England Club in 2006 and 2007.
In a battle of this year's grand slam winners, the French Open and Australian Open champions produced some fantastic tennis, with many rallies more suited to a clay court than grass.
Djokovic held one set point at 6-5 in the tie-break but Nadal took the next three points to win it 8-6 in 74 minutes, the Serbian throwing his racket to the turf in frustration.
Nadal seemed on course to race through the second set when he broke for a 2-0 lead, but Djokovic refused to concede and broke straight back.
The next six games went with serve but only after Djokovic saved two more break points to make it 4-4, Nadal almost producing one of the best shots of all time after slipping over and hitting a diving forehand volley from behind the baseline which flew just wide.
Djokovic looked to have made the most of his reprieve, breaking to love in the next game only then to lose his serve straight back while serving for the set.
And Nadal made the world number three pay the price for such profligacy, holding serve to lead 6-5 and then breaking Djokovic again to secure victory.
