After winning his first title on grass, Carlos Alcaraz (Spain-20) reclaimed the top spot in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings and sees himself as one of the favorites for the Wimbledon Championships, which begin next month.
Alcaraz defeated Alex de 토토사이트 Minor (No. 16-Australia-24) 2-0 (6-4, 6-4) in the final of the ATP Tour’s Cincinnati Championships (€2,195,175) at The Queen’s Club in London, England, on Friday.
Alcaraz, who crashed out in the second (2021) and fourth (2022) rounds at his previous two Wimbledons, reached the top of the draw for the first time in only his third attempt at the grass-court event and proved to be a formidable competitor for Novak Djokovic (Serbia) this year.
“Honestly, I feel very confident going into Wimbledon,” said Alcaraz. “I ended the week playing at a high level, so I think I’m one of the favorites to win Wimbledon now,” he said.
“I need to get more experience on grass, but obviously I’ve beaten some great players, and with the level of play I’ve been playing, I think I’m one of the favorites to win Wimbledon, one of the players who can win Wimbledon,” he added.
In the first round of the tournament, Alcaraz narrowly lost in a third-set tiebreaker to the relative underdog Arthur Lindbergh of France (85th-27th). But with each match, he grew more confident as he adapted to the grass courts, and he never dropped a set from the second round to the final.
But he knows he needs to improve on grass if he wants to stop Djokovic from winning the title.
“I saw a statistic that Novak has won more matches at Wimbledon than all the other top 20 players combined, so what can I say about that? Novak is the favorite to win Wimbledon, that’s for sure.”
“But I will try to play at this level so that I have a chance to beat him or reach the Wimbledon final.”
Wimbledon, the third major of the season played on grass courts, begins on July 3. Alcaraz, ranked No. 1 in the June 26 rankings, is the No. 1 seed, while Djokovic, who slipped to No. 2, is the No. 2 seed, meaning the two will only meet in the final. Djokovic will be looking to win his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title.