By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Spanish tennis sensation Carlos Alcaraz bounced back from his unfortunate Roland Garros exit and reigned supreme in the Queen’s Club Championships tournament last June 25, 2023, held in West Kensington, London.
The 20-year-old superstar outdueled Alex de Minaur of Australia- 6.4,6.4- to reclaim the world no.1 rank and boost his confidence for the upcoming 2023 Wimbledon Grand Slam tournament.
Queen’s Club is also a grass surface major tennis tournament and served as a preview of how things will be rolling in the Grand Slam tourney set to kick off today.
It was all Alcaraz as the higher-seeded power hitter earned more baseline points than de Minaur, out-maneuvering him during the long rally exchanges while also staying sharp during his receiving strokes.
Despite the strong response from de Minaur after getting his service possession broken in the last three sets of the first, Alcaraz looked unfazed and steamrolled his way after scoring four-straight terrific down-the-line forehand bombs to go up 1-0.
The second set was a replica of how the first kicked off as Alcaraz’s speed and power proved to be too much for de Minaur during the baseline rally exchanges.
De Minaur opted to explore other options and stayed defensive with hopes of disrupting the Spanish’s hitting rhythm but Alcaraz even stepped on the gas pedal as he sensed blood when he notched a 5-4 lead.
Alcaraz closed the show with a couple of breathtaking points before scoring the match point to raise the Queen’s Club championship trophy.
Before setting up a grand final clash with de Minaur, Alcaraz had to go through Sebastian Korda, Grigor Dimitrov, Jiri Lehecka, and Arthur Rinderknech.
