Carlos Alcaraz will have had grand plans of defending both his Queen’s and Wimbledon titles going into the grass-court season, and yet that lofty ambition was scuppered in just the second round of the first of those events.
Having cruised past Francisco Cerundolo, a tricky encounter with Jack Draper awaited, who was fresh off his first ATP title in Stuttgart on this same surface.
He was expected to trouble the world number two, but not beat him as comfortably as he did.
It has likely completely ruined the Spaniard’s plans, and now fans will await to see whether his Wimbledon title defence will suffer a similar fate.
Clearly, with the changes he plans to make, he is worried about that possibility.
Carlos Alcaraz reveals his training plan ahead of Wimbledon
Speaking in his post-match press conference, having been dumped out of Queen’s by the hometown hero Draper, Alcaraz was calm and measured in his response.
In the face of such adversity, he admitted that it is never easy to take defeats, but was gracious enough to fully offer his opponent congratulations.
After all, he had deserved to win, despite Alcaraz’s complaints with the new Queen’s serving rule.
That alone did not result in his defeat though, and such a shock blow has seemingly sparked an increase in planned intensity for his preparation for Wimbledon.
He revealed: ‘I feel like I didn’t play well. I didn’t move well. Of course, I have to give credit to Jack, I think he played really good tennis.
‘But it doesn’t change too much for me. I wanted to keep playing matches but it doesn’t change anything. I am going to keep practising 100% to improve, just to be a bit better for Wimbledon. My focus right now is to the practice court and be at my 100%.’
Who are the favourites to win Wimbledon?
On the men’s side, there are a few outstanding players set to dominate the event, although not a plethora of options.
After all, with Novak Djokovic set to miss Wimbledon through injury, one of the greatest champions in the tournament’s history, it is set to be wide open.
Alcaraz will be the stand-in favourite, as the reigning champion, whilst his fellow young superstar Jannik Sinner will hope to build on last year’s semi-final appearance.
Alex de Minaur could also have a deep run after winning a grass-court title last week, as could Draper, who did the same.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
