Carlos Alcaraz reveals what he learned at Queen’s which helped him overcome Ugo Humbert at Wimbledon

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Carlos Alcaraz secured his place in the Wimbledon quarterfinals by defeating Ugo Humbert in four sets on Centre Court on Sunday.

The Spaniard delighted the Wimbledon faithful with his usual set of tricks as he beat the World No.16 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 to set up a clash with World No. 12 Tommy Paul on Tuesday, with a performance that stunned tennis legend Tim Henman.

The defending champion rode his luck at times against Humbert and was under pressure for much of the third and fourth sets, but ultimately found a way to keep his SW19 dream alive.

After the encounter, Alcaraz hinted that he might just have Britain’s No. 1 Jack Draper to thank for his success against the left-handed Humbert, after their clash at Queen’s in June.

Carlos Alcaraz learns from Draper defeat to help topple Humbert

Draper defeated Alcaraz in a round of 16 clash at last month’s Queen’s in the Brit’s most eye-catching win of his career and the World No. 3 highlighted that humbling experience as a learning curve that helped the Wimbledon champion to defeat the Frenchman on Sunday.  

Speaking to the BBC on Centre Court after his win, Alcaraz stated: “Playing lefties is always tricky, no matter the surface. I played my first leftie [Draper] at Queen’s so I learned a little bit from that. I felt great playing today, playing a high level and playing a leftie, I tried not to think about it, and just played my own game.” 

I’m sure it’ll be no consolation for Draper, who was dumped out of Wimbledon in the second road this year by fellow Brit Cameron Norrie, but it certainly shows the levels Draper can reach when three-time Grand Slam champ Alcaraz still has that defeat lingering in his mind.

Draper’s impressive grass court season has seen him join the elite

Draper won the 2024 BOSS Open in Stuttgart in June, which saw him topple Cameron Norrie as British No. 1. He defeated Matteo Berrettini, Brandon Nakashima, and Frances Tiafoe on his way to securing his first-ever ATP tour final, before heading to Queen’s and defeating Alcaraz.

The World No. 28 will be disappointed with his showing at Wimbledon, but he’s currently the highest ATP Tour ranking of his career and Draper will be heading to the Paris 2024 Olympics at the end of the month – which is something for him to look forward to.