Carlos Alcaraz outclasses Alex de Minaur to win Queen’s title and claim No. 1 ranking ahead of Wimbledon
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Updated 25/06/2023 at 17:29 GMT
Carlos Alcaraz outclassed Alex De Minaur 6-4 6-4 to claim his first Queen’s Club Championships title, a week before Wimbledon gets underway. The Spaniard started strong before he needed a medical timeout to nurse a thigh problem, but that didn’t hinder him as he returned to court to rally to victory in two sets. Alcaraz has leapfrogged Novak Djokovic to No. 1 in the ATP rankings.
Watch highlights as Alcaraz wins Queen's to reclaim world No. 1 ranking ahead of Wimbledon
Carlos Alcaraz outclassed Alex De Minaur to beat the Australian 6-4 6-4 in the Queen’s final to win his first grass-court title and reclaim the world No. 1 ranking.
The Spaniard rallied to victory in one hour and 38 minutes as he continued his blistering form ahead of the Wimbledon Championships next week.
He will return to the world No. 1 spot, leapfrogging Novak Djokovic, to go into the third Grand Slam of the year as the top seed.
“It means a lot to have my name on the trophy,” Alcaraz said after the match.
“I’ve fought in this tournament since I started playing tennis. It’s special for me to play here, so many legends have won here.
“Seeing my name on the trophy, surrounded by the great champions, it’s amazing for me.”
On the support of the British crowd ahead of Wimbledon, Alcaraz said: “It helps a lot.
“Coming to London, being number one, the top seed. For me, it’s amazing.”
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'A beautiful fight' - Alcaraz savouring world No. 1 battle with Djokovic
De Minaur proved tricky at times and if it wasn’t for the excellence of Alcaraz, it might have been his name on the trophy.
“It’s been a great week for me,” De Minaur said after the match. “We were close but I wasn’t able to get it done today. Carlos was too good.
“We’ve had a good week, but we’ll get better, we’ll come back and hopefully get one more.”
Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev lead with five ATP tour titles each this season.
Elsewhere, Alexander Bublik beat Andrey Rublev 6-3 3-6 6-3 to win the Halle Open.
The ATP 500 title is the biggest of the 26-year-old’s career, as he safely put his past grass-court heartache behind him.
He had never previously won a tour-level final on grass, having lost in both finals reached, falling just short of the title in Newport in both 2019 and 2022.
“It really means the world to me,” Bublik said following the victory. “I’ve been struggling for half a year and now having this a reward, I don’t take it for granted.
“It was hard work. I was walking through the little hall of fame here before entering the court for the very first time against [Jan-Lennard] Struff [in the second round], and I was like ‘Wow, the different names, a lot of guys I’m familiar with. That would be nice maybe to have it one day’.
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Highlights: Bublik stuns Rublev to win Halle Open
“But I could not even imagine that I would win this tournament, and I’m really, really happy.”
Bublik continued his dominant service game which helped him overcome fourth seed Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev in the semi-final.
He broke the Russian in the second game of the first set and despite Rublev fighting back to claim the second set, went on to break again at the same stage in the decider.
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