Tennis: Carlos Alcaraz wins Queen’s Club final

LONDON –

After taking his first grass title on Sunday and regaining the top spot, an increasingly confident Carlos Alcaraz says he sees himself as one of the favorites to win Wimbledon next month.

Despite struggling at times in the first set, Alcaraz defeated Alex De Minaur 6–4, 6–4 in the final of the Queen’s Club Championships.

It was only the third tournament of Alcaraz’s young career on grass after two disappointing appearances at Wimbledon.

However, this year at Wimbledon could be different.

The victory lifted the 20-year-old Spaniard above Novak Djokovic in the rankings and cemented the US Open champion as a serious challenger for the Serbian crown at Wimbledon. Alcaraz lost to Jannik Sinner in the fourth round last year.

“Honestly, I’m very confident going to Wimbledon,” said Alcaraz. “I finished the week playing at the highest level. So at the moment I feel like one of the favorites to win Wimbledon.

“I need to get more experience on grass… But after beating great guys, great players and the level I played, I consider myself one of the favorites or one of the players to win Wimbledon.”

In his first match at Queen’s, Alcaraz needed a tiebreak in the third set to pass French journeyman Arthur Rinderknech, but as the week wore on his confidence grew on the surface.

However, Alcaraz knows that he will have to improve even further to dethrone Djokovic.

“I saw a statistic that Novak has won more matches at Wimbledon than the other top 20 players (combined),” Alcaraz said. “What can I say about that, you know? I mean, Novak is the main favorite to win Wimbledon. That’s clear.

“But I will try to play at this level, to have chances to beat him or reach the Wimbledon final.”

Alcaraz played his first final on grass and had to save two break points against De Minaur in the eighth game of the first set, broke in the next game and then served for the set.

Alcaraz won the only break point of the second set, when De Minaur made a double fault, and sealed the title on his first match point when the Australian sent in a long return.

“It means a lot to have my name on the trophy,” said Alcaraz. “It was special to play here where so many legends have won. It’s great to see my name surrounded by the great champions.”

Wimbledon starts on July 3.