Carlos Alcaraz jokingly said he needed the extensive practice on grass after enduring a three-hour marathon in his opening round at Queen’s.
In comparison, he defeated Jiri Lehecka 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday and breezed into the quarterfinals of the Cinch Championships in less than half that time.
The Spaniard is open about his lack of experience on grass, just like his national hero and idol Rafael Nadal was when he was just starting out.
Yet, like Nadal, the No. 1 seed showed signs that he might still win a title on the grass given how easily he defeated a player who was ranked inside the top 40.
Alcaraz stated that he had no expectations for the grass after the first round, but that had changed after Lehecka’s victory and in advance of his first-ever quarterfinal on the grass.
Carlitos is getting confident now that he can challenge the likes of Novak Djokovic on grass to say: “Probably I’m going to change it. After this match, this level the expectations changed. I think I’m ready to do a good result on grass. This a really beautiful place to play. I’m enjoying every single second. I’ll go in with a lot of confidence and I’ll go for it.”
Alcaraz in London, ranking, and results in 2023
WWWWWWWWWW Now ranked no.2, the Spaniard has a 37-4 win-loss record in 2023. Carlos is now playing in London where he defeated the world no.83 Arthur Rinderknech 4-6 7-5 7-63 and the world no.36 Jiri Lehecka 6-2 6-3.
Carlos Alcaraz will fight against the world no.26 Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter. Their head to head is 2-0 for Alcaraz.
The Spaniard has won 4 titles in 2023 in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona and Madrid. The Spaniard was the finalist in Rio de Janeiro (Rio Open).
The Spaniard won 10 titles in his career: 3 on hard courts and 7 on clay courts. (See the list of his titles)
Alcaraz is scheduled to play next at the Wimbledon (Wimbledon). He will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 3rd of July.
Novak Djokovic in 2023
WWWLWWWWWW Currently ranked no.1, the Serbian played his last match on the 11th of June when he beat world no.4 Casper Ruud 7-6(1) 6-3 7-5 in the final of the French Open to win his 94th career title.
Currently, during this year Djokovic achieved an overall 27-4 record. Djokovic conquered 3 titles in 2023 in Adelaide, Australian Open and French Open.
Djokovic has scheduled to compete next at the Wimbledon (Wimbledon). He will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 3rd of July.
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic fought against each other only 2 times. Their record is 1-1. Before, the last time they squared off, Novak Djokovic won 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-1 in the semifinal in Paris (French Open) on the 9th of June 2023.
Here are the highlights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjbWqtnAbxY
Carlos Alcaraz |
| Embed from Getty Images |
