Carlos Alcaraz reached his first ATP final on grass and moved one win away from reclaiming the world No 1 ranking by beating Sebastian Korda 6-3, 6-4 at the Queen’s Club Championships on Saturday.
Australian Alex de Minaur now stands between Alcaraz, the trophy and returning to a No 1 ranking.
Alcaraz and Korda were each playing their first career ATP semi-finals on grass.
Korda, the first American to reach the Queen’s semi-finals in 11 years, served nine aces but also double-faulted six times, with his slice regularly punished by Alcaraz’s heavy forehand shots.
Alcaraz won the only break point of the second set and held on to clinch a straight sets success.
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Victory would give the US Open champion his fifth title of the year, his 11th tour title overall and move the 20-year-old Spaniard above Novak Djokovic in the ATP rankings – meaning he would also enter Wimbledon next month as the No 1 seed.
“I’m playing great and feeling great,” Alcaraz said. “I’m really happy to play my first final on grass, and even more here at Queen’s.
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“I’m getting better. I’m feeling better every match I play. I feel like I’ve been playing for 10 years on grass. I didn’t expect that.
“Honestly at the beginning of the week I didn’t know that I could recover the number one,” he added.
“But when I won yesterday they told me and it is an extra motivation. It’s in my mind and I’m going to go for it. Being top seed and number one is a dream.”
The second-seeded Holger Rune also came to London never having won a tour-level match on grass, like Alcaraz.
De Minaur knocked out Rune 6-3, 7-6 (2), saving the three break points he faced and breaking the 20-year-old Dane’s serve twice.
De Minaur has pedigree on grass. The Australian won Eastbourne in 2021 and reached the Wimbledon last 16 in 2022.
“I have played decent on grass and I am having a good week, and this was my best performance of the week,” he said.
De Minaur won the biggest title of his career – and his seventh – in February at Acapulco.
Sourse: skysports.com
