Alcaraz Claims First Grass Title In Queen’s, Defeats De Minaur, Gets Wimbledon Top Seed

Sean, it was another 500 grass court tournament in which one another Russian won, tournament with much better field than Queens, you are allowed to mention that one too?!

June 25th, 2023 at 8:49 pm

Congrats to Carlos on his win and reclaiming #1.
Remember when Roiger played a clay court specialist who was too good to just remain a clay court specialist. He was the 4-time “Maestro of Grass” And the young inexperienced Rafa almost beat him. Talent and speed can beat experience. Then Rafa got him in 2008, and Fed never beat Rafa to win Wimbledon again.
Legends give way to new young greats, it is the nature of sport.
Similar awaited Federer at the USO. He was the 5 time champion, coming off the Del Potro blip at the 2009 USO, the GOAT, going for his coronation in front of NYC admirers. And in 2010 the impudent Djokovic ruined everything in the semis. Then in 2011 another “shock upset” happened as Djokovic pulled out another great win.
Federer never won another title in NYC after 2008, and his legions of fans in NYC hated Djokovic for that. The rest of the two guy’s careers.
Be nicer to Alcaraz fans, than Roger fans were to Djokovic, Novak fans, as the last of the big 3 no longer thinks being #1 vs. chasing Slams, is where his focus needs to be. Also, even if he wanted to, he no longer has the speed and recovery time to chase Carlos over a whole season. Changing of the guard in men’s tennis is happening. The last of the Big 3 will be suffering a higher frequency of defeats, then retire out in honor.

June 25th, 2023 at 10:17 pm

“Be nicer to Alcaraz fans, than Roger fans were to Djokovic”

We can’t be remotely as bad towards Alcaraz fans as Mr 40:15 fans were towards Nole fans, particularly since I don’t see real Alcaraz fans here (on TX), they are all disgruntled Rafa and Mr 40:15 fans who cheer Alcaraz for only one reason and you know the reason.

Every Nole fan that I know have respect for Alcaraz even not being his fan (like myself), the thing that I don’t like is his grunting that are prolonged and come after he hits the ball, including serving, but that’s not illegal so it’s ok.

I agree about changing of guard and if you ask me Nole is underdog whenever he plays Alcaraz, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to Alcaraz win as seen on FO court. He is the last man standing, for a reason, widely accepted and acknowledged by majority as the best ever, he ran marathon (not a sprint) with the other two and won at the end, that is going to be written in the history books.

June 25th, 2023 at 10:46 pm

Since TX doesn’t want to acknowledge the other tournament and winner I’ll post his celebration with family after win, his wife is stunning.
I love watching him, great entertainer and skilled tennis player who doesn’t really take tennis that seriously, reminds me little bit of his countryman who was one of my favourites, though he reached #1 and won GSs for difference of this one:

https://youtube.com/shorts/tWxqbVwRtWQ?feature=share

June 25th, 2023 at 11:17 pm

“Changing of the guard in men’s tennis is happening. The last of the Big 3 will be suffering a higher frequency of defeats, then retire out in honor.”

Yes, the transition period is underway. How long will the transition period be? Some say until end of 2024, others say that Novak may decide to stay on into 2025. Whichever he chooses he will be gracious and gentlemanly, accepting of his own mortality.

As has been discussed over and over again, even though he is supremely fit and probably biologically 3 or 4 years younger than his years would suggest, I think he will grow tired of it once he has all the records he could reasonably be expected to hold.

In 2024 he’ll likely win his 11th Aus Open and 9th Wimbeldon. By the end of 2024, his 8th ATP Finals title. I think at that time he’ll have little reason to keep going.

I hope I’m wrong, I hope he does play longer.

In any case, even today it’s the greatest tennis career of all time. How much more does any sane person need to acknowledge that fact?

June 26th, 2023 at 2:15 am

I wouldn’t credit Novak with records he hasn’t won yet. You might jinx him.
Speaking of that, don’t forget about the Olympics Gold medal in 2024. A definite, but unlikely, bucket list item.

Anyways, June 30 Draw Wimbledon. Novak’s ‘tuneup’ will be at the superposh Hurlington Club this week with Djokovic v. Tiafoe and Alcaraz v. Ruud. Rune & Norrie. Tiafoe just won the Stuttgart Open. Fast, strong hitter.

June 26th, 2023 at 4:27 am

Good lad, who knew he could play so well on grass, Rafa won Queens and Wimbledon in the same year, a hero of Carlos… 💪

June 26th, 2023 at 8:13 am

While some(we know who they are) want to distract and minimize Alcarez big win here by mentioning others here it won’t change things. Alcarez @20 won his first Grass title, THE tune up for Wimbledon, and took back the #1 ranking in the world. An admirable feat and congrats to the kid.

June 26th, 2023 at 8:48 am

Hmmmm…seedings look interesting this year! ;-)

Check it ou (before ATP site corrects it).

https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/current/wimbledon/540/top-seeds

June 27th, 2023 at 10:13 am

Alcaraz is clearly ahead of all his young rivals but I have to admit that I don’t like him downplaying his chances because of Novak. Many players who lost to the Big 3 walked onto the court already mentally defeated.

If Alcaraz is going to take down Novak, he will have to find a way to get past some of his own awe where the Big 3 are concerned. Alcaraz is a great player. He needs to remember that when he plays Novak.

For the moment, I would say that Novak is the clear favorite over anyone (including Alcaraz) at Wimbledone. It took time for Nadal to figure out Roger on grass. It took some time for Mac to get past Borg. Sampras run of dominance at Wimbledon was preceded by some struggles too. It wouldn’t surprise me if Alcaraz didn’t make it to the finals…but he will eventually…and he will win it. Wimbledon just seems like a place where you have to pay your dues.

June 27th, 2023 at 12:23 pm

“Alcaraz now has titles on all three surfaces becoming the 17th active player to do so.”

I had no idea…good on those 17 active players (whoever they all are). Not all titles are created equal of course but this got me wondering…who among the big 3 has the most titles on…carpet?

Since it was banned over 10 years ago on the main tour the numbers can’t be that high, but it could be an interesting stat.

June 27th, 2023 at 1:22 pm

SG1,
Totally agree. He needs to think he is Krygios(hehe)

June 27th, 2023 at 6:07 pm

I have three Indian Wells matches recorded from 2022. I watched The semifinal Rafa/Carlos match and it was awesome. Some great shot making between the two. I also watched the Nick/Rafa match over again. Some beautiful tennis! Nick is an awesome athlete…. but his own worst enemy. He just goes off the rails…. sometimes he wins and sometimes not. He’s a colorful player! You never know what he will do in the way of entertaining the fans. They absolutely love him…..

June 28th, 2023 at 12:08 am

Alcaraz is coached by Juan Carlos Ferrero, who is old school about respect and honor. He is trying to make that core with Alcaraz, who wants to be that way. So part of it is Alcaraz saying he is the underdog to the 4 time champion, that Novak is the greatest grass player on Tour. But also saying he can’t wait to play Novak again and be another player with a close, special rivalry with him. And of course sending a message winning Queens.

June 28th, 2023 at 2:51 am

Who cares about the rivalry, just win the title that’s the main thing 🙄

June 29th, 2023 at 3:13 am

“Alcaraz is coached by Juan Carlos Ferrero, who is old school about respect and honor. He is trying to make that core with Alcaraz, who wants to be that way.”

Perhaps, but too much respect can be a bad thing for a professional athlete. One of the reasons the Next Gen failed to get by Fed, Rafa and Novak was their excessive respect for them. They saw them on TV growing up winning all these tournaments and subsequently built up this aura around them (…like we do as fans). But professional tennis players are not fans like us.

Professional tennis is a job (…a damned good one if you have the talent and the drive), but it’s still a job. Your job is to beat the guy in front of you and that’s hard when you idolize your opponent.

One of the reasons Novak and Rafa were able to beat Federer was because they didn’t idolize him. They respected his talent. I mean who doesn’t right? But, they stepped on the court and saw a guy they wanted to beat so his aura didn’t get into their heads.

June 29th, 2023 at 12:41 pm

Hello Alison! Hope you are doing OK and also your hubby. I still watch tennis, but not as exciting as it used to be. 😢😢 My new main guy will be Carlos. He’s fun to watch. Have an awesome weekend! 🥰🥰

June 30th, 2023 at 11:22 am

Hi Okie lovely to hear from you, my tennis watching has been a bit sporadic lately, Rafa injured has left it all a bit cold for me, I hope Carlos can be the one to challenge at Wimbledon, hubby is on the mend but it’s all gradual stuff, nice to see you my friend XX 😊

June 30th, 2023 at 2:18 pm

SG1 age difference between nextgen and big four is 15 years. You think Carlito was being deferential to Novak in FO2023? He showboated Tsitsipas and hoped to beat Novak silly, like Nadal did in FO2022 6-0 6-2 7-5. It backfired.
ATP, Wimby have been glorifying him as Prince to garner more enthusiasm and $. There is bias against Zverev too when he said grow a pair (ball), he was criticized. When Carlito repeats his grandfather’s motto “cabeza, corazón, cojones.” That translates to “head, heart, balls,” but has never garnered the same level of outrage. Zverev also shows how he was treated in FO2022. https://www.republicworld.com/sports-news/tennis-news/alexander-zverev-lambasts-french-open-organisers-over-alleged-bias-towards-carlos-alcaraz-articleshow.html

July 2nd, 2023 at 7:51 pm

Correction: Nadal defeats Novak 6-0 6-2 7-5 FO2020

July 2nd, 2023 at 9:23 pm

Bond – If you hear what the others have said about Alcaraz, it’s he is a phenomenal player of fine character. He is emotional and celebrates, but is coached not tp overdo it. They are glorifying Carlo as the brightest and shiniest of the post Big 3, possibly. Whereas Sasha, who was once the brightest heir apparent – is not quite surpassed but no longer included in too many “who could win this” talks with fans and media. Perhaps that bothers him. Part of it being he is coming back from injury after that 2022 article.

As for Djokovic –
“Carlos is a very nice guy who is carrying himself very I think maturely for a 20-year-old. He already has plenty of accolades to his name, making history of the game so young.

“He is great for the game as a player who brings a lot of intensity, energy on the court, and also being very humble and having a nice personality off the courts.

July 3rd, 2023 at 4:37 am

That last quote sums Carlos up best to this point…while he may not equal Rafa’s on-court achievements anytime soon, he may very well out-humble him before his 21st birthday! ;-)

July 5th, 2023 at 4:59 pm