Italy's Matteo Berrettini served notice of his intention to mount another strong challenge at Wimbledon after joining an elite group of players by retaining his ATP Queen's Club title on Sunday.
Berrettini defeated Serbia's Filip Krajinovic 7-5, 6-4 in the final of the Wimbledon warm-up event.
He will now be aiming to go one better at Wimbledon, the only one of tennis's four majors still played on grass, after losing to Novak Djokovic in last year's final.
Berrettini's victory meant he joined John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Ivan Lendl, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray as the only players in the Open era to win back-to-back Queen's titles.
The world number 10 has been in superb grass-court form this season following a return from hand surgery.
Berrettini, 26, has now won two tournaments in a row, after beating Murray in Stuttgart last weekend, and Sunday's success was a further boost to his confidence just eight days before the start of Wimbledon.
Krajinovic, who prior to this week had never won a match on grass, was the first player in Sunday's final to lose serve.
"There are too many emotions," Berrettini said soon after his latest victory. "The last thing I expected after a surgery was two titles in a row and to defend my title here. I just cannot believe it.”