Alcaraz breaks fresh ground on Queen’s grass

Carlos Alcaraz wrote another chapter in his tennis history on Saturday, with the Spaniard booking a career-first final on grass with victory at Queen’s Club.

The 20-year-old who lost the top ATP ranking to Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros a fortnight ago can seize it back with a Sunday title win over Alex de Minaur.

Alcaraz glided through his semi-final 6-3, 6-4 over Seb Korda while Aussie de Minaur beat Holger Rune 6-3, 7-6 (2).

Alcaraz can earn the Wimbledon top seeding if he claimed his first grass trophy on Sunday at the grass run-up event.

“I feel like I’m playing for 10 years on grass, it’s something crazy for me,”  Alcaraz said. 

“I didn’t expect to adapt my movement, my game so fast on grass. I’m really happy with that.”

The winner has played semi-final at eight of his nine tournaments this season and will be seeking his 11th trophy from his 14th career final.

Alcaraz earned three breaks of serve and was aided by six double-faults from American Korda.

“I’m playing great, I’m feeling great,” Alcaraz said after what he labelled the best grass match he’s ever played.

“Since the first match here, I feel the love from the crowd. I would say that it’s impossible to win these kinds of matches without them, without the energy they bring to me.”

Alcaraz has played de Minaur once, saving match points in a 2022 win on clay in Barcelona.

“I will try not to think about the opponent. Just enjoy the final, enjoy playing here and let’s see what happens,” Alcaraz said.

De Minaur also had no complaints about his semi-final defeat of Rune.

The Aussie who won Eastbourne on grass in 2021 will be playing his second final of the season.

He held his unforced errors to a mere nine against his Danish opponent.

“I’m very happy to get through. I’ve played decent on grass and I am having a good week and this was my best performance of the week.”