Defending Wimbledon champions Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova will begin the defence of their Grand Slam titles in confident mood next week after clinching repeat warm-up event wins on Sunday. Federer, the two-time Wimbledon champion, made it a hat-trick of Halle grasscourt wins beating Australian Open winner Marat Safin of Russia 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4 in the final.
It was the world number one's 29th consecutive win on grass.
In Birmingham, the 18-year-old Sharapova clinched a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 win over Serbia's Jelena Jankovic to retain her title and claim a 17th successive win on grass.
But Safin did enough to suggest that, despite his own reservations about playing on grass, he can still perform at a high enough level to worry Federer, the man he beat on his way to the Australian Open title in January.
Federer too has to consider the traditional threat from Andy Roddick, last year's Wimbledon runner-up, after the American cliched his third Queen's Club title on Sunday.
"I feel confident about Wimbledon, but there can always be a tough draw, there can always be a shock loss in the first round," said Federer.
"I don't really think about it, that's what I was more concerned about last year defending my first time Wimbledon title. Now it's easier for me to deal with the situation than last year."
On Sunday, Federer was given a stern workout by Safin.
"I played quite consistently," said the Russian. "I hope I have enough confidence going into Wimbledon in order to be able to continue on a high-level. But it's always tough for a tall guy like me to move on grass. "Most of the game now is played from the baseline, and that makes it so hard for tall players, because you have to move faster than on other surfaces."
Meanwhile, Roddick won the Queen's club title for a third consecutive year to put himself into a confident position heading into Wimbledon.
The American second seed, who enjoyed a 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/4) victory over Croatian Ivo Karlovic, joins Lleyton Hewitt (2000-2002) and John McEnroe (1978-81) in earning three straight titles at the prime Wimbledon tune-up event. "I'm happy, and I'm even happier that I got some good preparation going into Wimbledon," said Roddick who credited his Queen's experience with sharpening his game for Wimbledon, where his only two losses on grass over the past two years have been at the hands of Federer.
"When I won the first time here, I hadn't really had any really great results on grass and I hadn't played well on it before," he explained. "Now two or three years later, it's up there with my favourite surfaces. It's been a complete 180 (degree turn)."
Sharapova was also in impressive form ahead of her return to the All England Club with her 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 win over Serbia's Jelena Jankovic giving her a 17th win in a row on grass and her 10th career title.
"I haven't been playing my best tennis but I still managed to get through and I felt really comfortable as the matches went on," said the world number two. "I've played five good matches, where opponents have pushed me and I still came through. I'm going to take that experience and confidence into Wimbledon."
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