Carlos Alcaraz secured his first grass-court title with victory over Alex de Minaur in the final at Queen’s Club on Sunday.
The 20-year-old Spaniard will now overtake Novak Djokovic as world No 1 on Monday, and confirmed he will be a major contender to take the Serb’s crown at Wimbledon next month, with a commanding 6-4 6-4 win.
Alcaraz said: “It means a lot to have my name on the trophy. It was special to play here where so many legends have won. To see my name surrounded by the great champions is amazing.
“I started the tournament not very well, especially my movement on the grass, but it’s been an amazing week.”
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In baking temperatures, it was only Alcaraz’s third tournament on grass, but the way he marched through the draw augurs well for his prospects at Wimbledon where he will be top seed.
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A break of serve in each set proved enough to overcome Australian No 1 De Minaur, who competed well but had no answer to the pace and power of the favourite.
For example when De Minaur, 24, created the match’s first break point, at 4-3 in the opener, Alcaraz simply rolled out a 137mph ace.
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A high-quality first set swung the way of the top seed when De Minaur sent a backhand wide, and then a forehand long, to gift Alcaraz the break.
The youngster from Murcia wrapped up the 49-minute set with an ace before taking a medical time-out for treatment on his right thigh.
Whatever the issue was, it did not seem to bother Alcaraz too much as he forced another break point at 2-2 in the second – and De Minaur picked the worst possible time to throw in a first double fault.
Victory was confirmed when De Minaur’s return floated long and Alcaraz celebrated an 11th career title, and surely the first of many on the lawns of London.
“The chances don’t change so much. I mean, Novak is coming to Wimbledon,” Alcaraz said. “Right now I’m feeling better than the beginning of the week, that’s obvious.
“Of course, recovering the number one before Wimbledon, it gives you extra motivation, it gives you extra confidence coming into Wimbledon. But it doesn’t change too much if I play Wimbledon as the number two or the number one.”
De Minaur had been hoping to match his British girlfriend Katie Boulter, who won a first career title in Nottingham last weekend, but he just came up short.
He said: “It’s been a great week for me. We were close but I wasn’t quite able to get it done. Too good from Carlos.”
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Bublik powers past Rublev to win first grass title in Halle
Alexander Bublik battled his way past third seed Andrey Rublev 6-3 3-6 6-3 thanks to two service breaks to win the Halle Open title.
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It was also the 26-year-old’s second tour title after his win in Montpellier in 2022.
Sourse: skysports.com
