Wary of Djokovic’s staggering Wimbledon feat, Alcaraz fires warning to defending champion after Queen’s title

Carlos Alcaraz retained his World No. 1 position in the ATP rankings after defeating Alex de Minaur on Sunday in the final of Queen’s Club Championship. The Spaniard won 6-4 6-4, a positive sign for Wimbledon 2023. Alcaraz lost his pole position in the rankings to Novak Djokovic after the French Open final.

Djokovic defeated Alcaraz in the semi-final, sealing a 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-1. Then the Serbian ace beat Casper Ruud in the final to win a historic 23rd Grand Slam title in Roland Garros. He set a new men’s singles record and overtook Rafael Nadal’s haul of 22 Grand Slams. After winning the final, he also toppled Alcaraz to take over the World No. 1 spot.

With the Wimbledon qualifiers having begun on June 26, Djokovic will be aiming to match Roger Federer’s record of eight titles at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The victory against De Minaur was also Alcaraz’s first title won on grass.

After the victory, he said, “It felt great to lift this trophy and to win my first tournament on grass. It is an amazing run for me this week. I played at an amazing level at the end of the week but seeing my name on a trophy, it means a lot, so I am going to keep that memory for the rest of my life, for sure.”

Alcaraz also explained that he is ‘one of the favourites to win Wimbledon’ but doesn’t have any expectations. “No expectations. If I did not have expectations (here) and I won it. Honestly, I have a lot of confidence now coming into Wimbledon. I ended up the week playing at a high level, so right now I feel one of the favourites to win Wimbledon”, he said.

Pointing out Djokovic’s record in Wimbledon against players from top-20 in the ATP rankings, Alcaraz stated that the Serb is the ‘main favourite’ to win the title. “Well, I am coming now (to play) Wimbledon with a lot of confidence, that’s obvious, but I saw a statistic that Novak has won more matches at Wimbledon than any top-20 player”, he said.

“What can I say about that? Novak is the main favourite to win Wimbledon, that’s obvious, but I will try to play at this level to have chances to beat him or make the final at Wimbledon,” he further added.