Charitable Andy Murray takes his time to put Marian Cilic in the shade 

Twelve months ago, the Queen's Club final ended in uproar when David Nalbandian launched an unprovoked assault on a linesman - and was promptly defaulted from the tournament.

But this year's story was more love than war as Andy Murray celebrated his capture of the Aegon Championships trophy by blowing a kiss at a man in the crowd. It is a little-known fact that Murray is actually a highly emotional character, despite the monotone voice that makes him sound like a Scottish Dalek.

His thoughts yesterday were with the leading British doubles player Ross Hutchins, a close friend since childhood, who has been undergoing chemotherapy at the Royal Marsden Hospital. "I mean, he's dealt with it incredibly well," said Murray, who is understood to have donated his 75,000 pounds prize money to the hospital. "He's been so brave and he just finished his last treatment on Thursday."

After blowing that kiss, Murray threw one of his wristbands up on to the balcony where Hutchins was standing in his new role as a commentator for Eurosport. For Murray, on Sunday was the culmination of a great deal of hard work, both on the court and off it. Of course there was the final to play. Of course there was his ambition to lift that giant pepper-pot of a trophy over his head for the third time.

However, Centre Court was also supposed to be hosting the Rally Against Cancer, a charity exhibition that Murray himself had played a lead role in organising. The rain delay that held everything back until 3.30pm, and threatened to kybosh the whole event, must have been hugely frustrating. In the end, though, it all went off swimmingly, with help from such disparate celebrities as London mayor Boris Johnson, comedian Michael McIntyre and actor Eddie Redmayne.

When this fund-raising project was first discussed in February, tournament director Chris Kermode asked Murray whether he would really be prepared to come back on court and lark around if he should happen to lose the final. Murray promised that he would, and that scenario appeared likely when he conceded the first set to Marin Cilic, the 6ft 6in Croatian who was his opponent in the formal part of proceedings.

The final seemed to tilt in Cilic's direction at 4-4 in that first set, when Murray slipped on a wet patch of grass. In hindsight, the ground staff should probably have asked a few of the Sloane rangers in the crowd to commit their pashminas to the mopping-up operation. For one frightening moment, it appeared that Britain's great white hope for the Wimbledon championship starting next week might be genuinely hurt.

As his right foot skidded out from under him, Murray fell to the ground, emitting a loud yelp of pain, and then curled up into the foetal position for a few seconds. After he had got up and stretched himself out, there did not seem to be any serious damage - though he did later tell BBC interviewer Sue Barker: "It's a bit sore in the groin area." But his focus was another matter.

For the rest of the set, the Scot sprayed unforced errors at a rate of more than two per game, which must count as a deluge from a player who is normally so consistent. At the change of ends after that set, Murray sat in his chair shaking his head disgustedly. You wondered if he was considering Kermode's awkward runner-up scenario - although he later insisted that any lingering disappointment would not have affected his enjoyment of the exhibition. "Ross is one of my best friends, so whether I won or lost, it wasn't going to change the fact that we were still doing something really good."

Happily, though, a major mental reboot was not necessary. As the -players came out again, the sun broke through for almost the first time in what has been an autumnal tournament. On a pleasant summer's afternoon, Murray began to turn the heat up on his outclassed opponent. Cilic is the world No?12, as well as the defending champion at this tournament.

But he has now won only once against Murray in ten attempts, and the reason is not too difficult to discern. Cilic is a trader - meaning that he likes to trade shots and rally for long periods. He strikes the ball hard, as you would expect for a man with a basketballer's physique, but not so ferociously that he can knock Murray backwards.

And once Murray had locked on to the match in earnest, he had no response to the bewildering variety of strokes that were coming back at him: tantalising lobs, knifing slices and scorching passes. By this stage, the only way that Cilic was going to win the match was if Murray had a Nalbandian-style mental meltdown, and suddenly kicked a linesman in the shin. Instead, Murray hit 12 clean winners in a superb deciding set, and so took the title by a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 margin.

After the month that he has just spent resting his dicky back, and the agony of missing the French Open, this was a resounding way to confirm his readiness for grand-slam battle. There was still another highlight to come, however. In a doubles exhibition alongside Tim Henman, Murray played against his coach and mentor Ivan Lendl, a man with a reputation for "tagging" his opponents with the ball.

The pair of them have spent the last month bantering about who would win, and - more importantly - who would land a physical blow. Murray finished the argument with a ferocious drive volley that smacked Lendl right in the gut. "It was a great shot, as well," he crowed afterwards. "I hit it so clean."