Carlos Alcaraz King of Queen's as he claims maiden grass court title
Carlos Alcaraz won his first grass court title after a straight-set win over Alex de Minaur at the Cinch Championships at Queen's Club on Sunday.
Another day, another title for rising superstar Carlos Alcaraz...
The Spaniard fired a warning shot to rivals ahead of Wimbledon, winning 6-4 6-4 against de Minaur who did little wrong under the glorious London sun.
Alcaraz showed that he has been working on his serve, crushing seven aces, some being in the 220kph region. At the other, end de Minaur was relentless on defence, proving that he really is one of the quickest players on the circuit.
Midway through the opening set, Alcaraz and de Minaur produced some thrilling tennis in key what was a key moment for Alcaraz, who saved two break points to make it four games all.
It was then de Minaur's turn to falter and Alcaraz was quick to pounce, grabbing the break and backing it up with his serve to steal the set from nowhere.
Alcaraz's searing forehand was a feature of the second set, proving too hot for even the racy de Minaur to handle. The Australian then handed Alcaraz the break after a double fault, resulting in big momentum swing. After Alcaraz consolidated, he was 4-2 and well on his way.
WOW 🤯
— cinch Championships (@QueensTennis) June 25, 2023
Sensational from @alexdeminaur
🎥 @TennisTV pic.twitter.com/4jBfJPqwHc
There was a late fightback from de Minaur, who held well to make Alcaraz serve out the match, then went 0-30 up. But Alcaraz continued to prove that he is often the better man in the big moments, winning three points on the trot to claim his 11th ATP Tour title and a return to the world number one spot.
"It means a lot to me, it's the first time that I've played here," said the 20-year-old on court afterwards.
"The chances [at Wimbledon] doesn't change too much… Novak [Djokovic] is coming to Wimbledon. Becoming the world number one does give you confidence and motivates you… but the chances are the same."
In Sunday's other grass court final in Halle, Germany, world number 48 Alexander Bublik upset Andrey Rublev 6-3 3-6 6-3 to win his second ATP Tour title in eight attempts.