Alcaraz triumphs at Queen's

Carlos Alcaraz proved he'll be the man to beat at Wimbledon again after defeating Jiri Lehecka in the final at Queen's Club on Sunday.

The top-seeded Spaniard replicated his debut triumph on the grass courts of West London in 2023 with a 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2 victory.

It was Alcaraz's eighteenth consecutive victory—in his fifth consecutive final—following his successes at the Rome and French Open titles.

Lehecka had eliminated local hope Jack Draper on Saturday to become the first Czech finalist since Ivan Lendl won the title in 1990.

The 23-year-old Lehecka played her part in a high-quality final with some huge serves and powerful groundstrokes, forcing the match into a tiebreaker.

But Alcaraz, the defending Wimbledon champion, didn't face a single break point and fired 18 aces on his way to his 21st career title, and second at Queen's.

Wimbledon starts on June 30.

The Spaniard stated that, right now, he plays with the confidence that whoever wants to beat him has to "play at a very high level for two and a half or three hours."

The Murcian was crowned with his second title at Queen's after the one in 2023, continuing a streak that has seen him reach the final in the last five tournaments he has played, winning four of them.

"I'm so confident that everything seems to be going my way. Everything's going well for me, but obviously I'm confident that they have to play at a very high level for two and a half or three hours to beat me," the Murcian said in a press conference.

“Winning matches and titles always boosts your confidence. There's never a limit. Seeing how I'm progressing, and ultimately winning titles, gives you a lot of confidence for what's next. Being able to come to my first tournament, play several very good matches, and compete very well, looking ahead to Wimbledon, which is the most important thing and the goal, gives you a lot of confidence.”

“It's very difficult to go from clay to grass in such a short time. I came here with no expectations, just to get a couple of matches in and get into the rhythm to play on grass. I'm very proud of how I've adapted. What I'm most proud of this week is how I've improved,” he added.

The Spaniard confirmed that he will be staying in London for the next few days and stated that, despite his success there, grass is still not his favorite surface.

"I can't say no, but we only play two tournaments a year on this surface. I don't think it's my best surface; I think it's clay."

In Germany, Kazakh Alexander Bublik broke the jinx with Russian Daniil Medvedev, against whom he had lost all seven matches, and recaptured the Halle title he had won in 2023.

Bublik, who won six points in a row in the tiebreak to seal the victory by 6-3 and 7-6 (4), after one hour and 23 minutes, knelt in the center of the German tournament court and burst into tears of emotion.

And the Kazakh, who will climb to 30th in the ATP rankings, has rounded off a dream week. He was the executioner of world number one Jannik Sinner, the Italian, whom he defeated in the second round. He then advanced step by step to the title match.