Alcaraz Cruises Past Lehecka In Queen’s To Reach First Grass QF, Dimitrov Next, Fritz Upset
Carlos Alcaraz cruised into his first grass qaurterfinal blasting past the big-hitting 21-year-old Jiri Lehecka 6-2, 6-3 in Queen’s on Thursday.
The top-seeded Alcaraz lost just seven points on first serve and broke the Czech three times in this first-time meeting.
“I’m really happy with the level that I played today. Jiri is a great opponent, great shots,” Alcaraz told the crowd. “He has a great game on grass. I’m really happy with the level. I think I had a really solid match. I played my game, I enjoyed playing here and I’m really happy with my first quarter-final here in Queen’s.
“After this match, after this level, the expectations change,” he added. “I think I’m ready to do a good result here on grass. Playing my first quarter-final here, I’m going to enjoy it of course. It’s a really beautiful place to play, so I’m enjoying every single second here and of course I will go into the next round with a lot of confidence and I will go for it.”
Next for Alcaraz will be former champion Grigor Dimitrov who eased past 8th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 7-5.
A week after shocking Daniil Medvedev, France’s Adrian Mannarino did it again on the grass surprising No. 3 seed Taylor Fritz 6-4, 7-6(9-7).
Mannarino wins his 10th against a Top 10 player and he now leads Fritz 3-2 in their series.
The lefty will now face seventh-seeded Alex De Minaur who steamrolled Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-2.
Also in the quarters tomorrow, No. 2 Holger Rune tests No. 6 Lorenzo Musetti in a first-time tour-level battle. No. 5 Cameron Norrie will challenge Sebastian Korda. Korda leads Norrie 2-1 in their tour-level collisions but Norrie won their last battle in Delray Beach last year.
TAGS: Carlos Alcaraz, Jiri Lehecka, Adrian Mannarino, Taylor Fritz, Alex De Minaur, Diego Schwartzman, Grigor Dimitrov, Francisco Cerundolo,
You Might Like:
Rune, Musetti Set QF Date At Queen’s, Korda Stops Tiafoe; Alcaraz Back Thursday v Lehecka
Alcaraz, Rune Return On The Grass At Queen’s; Murray 5-Time Champion
Alcaraz Rallies Past Rinderknech In Queen’s Debut, Murray Out; Shelton v Musetti Wed.
Alcaraz Into First Grass SF In Queen’s, Gets Korda; Rune v De Minaur
Alcaraz Overpowers Korda To Reach Queen’s Final; De Minaur Downs Rune