Carlos Alcaraz has continued his stunning season at Queen’s, lifting the trophy after his final win over Jiri Lehecka.
Lehecka has congratulated Alcaraz on his Queen’s success, which arrived via a 7-5, 6-7(5-7), 6-2 victory.
Alcaraz really cared about winning Queen’s, a tournament he also won in 2023 before going on to lift the trophy at Wimbledon.
The Spanish superstar now has five ATP Tour titles to his name so far this season, with 21 in total at the age of just 22.
Alcaraz will shortly turn his focus to Wimbledon, a Grand Slam he has triumphed at in each of the last two years.
Carlos Alcaraz ‘really proud’ of one big improvement during Queen’s final
After his latest win, however, he took time to analyse one aspect of his game, having been told his serve was his best weapon against Lehecka after it had caused him frustration earlier in the week.
Asked how satisfying the progression was for him after plenty of practice, Alcaraz replied: “Well, yeah, I’m really proud. It’s something that I’m working on every day, not only on grass.
“When I play on clay, when I play on hard court, during the whole year I put so much attention on the serve just to improve it, just to be better. I make changes in the movement. I have been making changes on the serve just to be better on that.
“Yeah, after [Jaume] Munar’s match, yeah, I was disappointed with my serve, and I try to make something different on the practices, just to make a little bit better on the matches, and then after that, yeah, I have been serving really, really well.
“Honestly, now I know how John Isner and Reilly Opelka feel when they’re playing. Yeah, it was a great improvement today.
“Great effort, because when you’re playing against such a great player with a great serve, I mean, your serve should be great, as well. I’m just pleased about it, and hopefully keep it going and keep it even better for Wimbledon.”
How does Carlos Alcaraz compare to the ATP Tour all-time serve leaders?
American duo Isner and Opelka have certainly gone down as some of the best serves the ATP Tour has ever seen, with their tall figures undoubtedly helping in that regard.
Alcaraz is not of that stature but remains a lethal server on the court, when it comes to both first and second serves.
And the Spaniard certainly knows his top servers, with Isner occupying top spot in the ATP’s all-time serve leader list.
Retiring after the 2023 US Open, Isner boasts a serve rating of 312.0, with his compatriot Opelka in fourth on 301.3.
Alcaraz is currently all the way down in 48th place with a figure of 277.7, with world number one Jannik Sinner sitting 39th on 279.0.
And a similar story involving Isner and Opelka has played out on the average aces per match front, occupying second and third places in the list respectively.
| Rank | Player | Serve rating | % 1st serve | % 1st serve points won | % 2nd serve points won | % service games won | Avg. aces/ match |
| 1 | John Isner | 312.0 | 69.0% | 78.8% | 56.0% | 91.8% | 18.7 |
| 2 | Ivo Karlovic | 309.8 | 65.5% | 82.7% | 53.3% | 92.0% | 19.8 |
| 3 | Milos Raonic | 302.6 | 62.8% | 81.5% | 55.0% | 91.1% | 15.5 |
| 4 | Reilly Opelka | 301.3 | 63.8% | 79.0% | 54.3% | 89.5% | 17.7 |
| 5 | Andy Roddick | 299.9 | 64.8% | 79.3% | 56.0% | 90.1% | 11.7 |
| 48 | Carlos Alcaraz | 277.7 | 65.1% | 71.5% | 55.8% | 83.6% | 4.1 |
The iconic Ivo Karlovic tops the pile with a total of 19.8, followed by the 18.7 of Isner and the 17.7 of Opelka.
Alcaraz’s superb serving is set to be a key weapon as he takes on Wimbledon once more, with qualifying at the grass court Grand Slam now underway.
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