Carlos Alcaraz Crowned King Of Queen's For Second Time
Carlos Alcaraz clinched his second Queen's Club title as the world number two warmed up for Wimbledon with a 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 win against Jiri Lehecka in Sunday's final. Alcaraz blasted 33 winners and 18 aces to subdue the gritty Czech world number 30 in two hours and 10 minutes in west London. Having won titles on clay at the French Open, Rome and Monte Carlo, as well as the hard courts of Rotterdam, Alcaraz has now collected five trophies in 2025. The 22-year-old has not lost since the Barcelona final against Holger Rune on April 20 and is enjoying the longest winning streak of his career with 18 successive victories.
Top seeded Alcaraz is just the second Spanish man to win Queen's twice after Feliciano Lopez, who lifted the trophy in 2017 and 2019.
For a player raised on the clay courts of Spain, Alcaraz has developed into a formidable force on grass.
The former world number one signalled his emergence on the surface by winning Queen's in 2023.
He clinched the Wimbledon title for the first time just weeks later and defended his All England Club crown last year.
Alcaraz, who has an 11-1 career record at Queen's, will start his bid for a third successive Wimbledon title on June 30.
After his semi-final win over Roberto Bautista Agut on Saturday, Alcaraz fired an ominous message to his Wimbledon rivals, warning that his "grass-court mode" had been activated.
And on the evidence of his relentless display against the obdurate Lehecka, he is in no mood to surrender his All England Club crown.
Ruthless Alcaraz
Playing his first tournament since his epic French Open victory against Jannik Sinner two weeks ago, Alcaraz's march to the Queen's showpiece made it five consecutive finals for the Spaniard.
In contrast, Lehecka was playing in his first grass-court final after a shock win against British star Jack Draper in the last four.
The 23-year-old was the first Czech in the Queen's final since Ivan Lendl in 1990.
Lehecka had come from a set down to stun Alcaraz in the Qatar Open quarter-finals in February.
But there would be no repeat of that upset on the lawns of Barons Court.
In his second Queen's final, Alcaraz had an early chance to break in the fifth game of the first set.
Lehecka thundered down an ace to get out of trouble of that occasion.
But the five-time Grand Slam champion matched Lehecka's serve blow for blow, dropping just one point in his first four service games.
Alcaraz's piercing ground-strokes increased the pressure and Lehecka finally cracked in the the 11th game when an badly-timed double-fault gifted the first break to the Spaniard.
Alcaraz served out the set in typically ruthless fashion, but Lehecka refused to surrender without a fight.
A tight second set stayed on serve all the way through to the tie-break and, for once, Alcaraz stumbled with a key double-fault, allowing Lehecka to level the match.
Alcaraz was unfazed, breaking for a 3-1 lead in the deciding set when Lehecka netted an off-balance forehand.
Alcaraz had the finish line in sight and he wrapped up his latest title triumph with a flurry of searing winners.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Palou wins at Road America to boost IndyCar season lead
Alex Palou won his sixth IndyCar race in nine season starts, the Spaniard holding off Sweden's Felix Rosenqvist to capture Sunday's Grand Prix at Road America on low fuel. HT Image Palou boosted his season points lead by taking his first victory since last month's Indianapolis 500, enduring after 55 laps over the 4.014-mile, 14-turn road course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. "It was a crazy race," Palou said. "Losing a ton of positions and then making them, it was a tough race for everybody." Palou became the first IndyCar driver since A.J. Foyt in 1975 to win six of the first nine races in a campaign. Rosenqvist was second, two seconds back, and American Santino Ferrucci was third, running out of fuel one turn after the checkered flag. Four caution flags in the first 23 laps prompted teams to adopt differing fuel strategies, and by lap 28 it was New Zealand's Scott Dixon leading. American Josef Newgarden was second before crashing on turn 14, leaving Dixon ahead with Palou and Rossi just behind after a lap-31 restart. The race came down to those three trying to conserve fuel over the final laps to reach the end while Rosenqvist, on full fuel in fourth, tried to overtake them. Rossi went to the pits with four laps remaining and Dixon pitted for fuel a lap later, leaving Palou to outlast Rosenqvist with his fuel tank nearly dry. "Kudos to the team for the amazing strategy and Honda for giving us the fuel mileage we needed to make it at the end," Palou said. "Couldn't be happier." Palou, seeking his fourth season title in five years, leads the points chase with 386 with American Kyle Kirkwood, a three-time winner this season, 93 points adrift in second. Palou matched the IndyCar record of three wins at Road America, also held by Mario and Michael Andretti and Emerson Fittipaldi. Rosenqvist settled for second on the track where his only IndyCar triumph came in 2020. js/bb
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Gout Gout says 100m 'too short' for him
Australian teenage sprint sensation Gout Gout said Sunday he preferred 200 metres to 100 metres which is "too short" as he was bracing for his first-ever start in Europe. HT Image The 17-year-old won the Australian Athletic Championships in April clocking 19.84 seconds on 200 metres and 9.99 seconds on 100 metres, though both with a tailwind above the limit. He is getting ready to run 200 metres at the Golden Spike meet in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava on Tuesday in his European premiere. "I definitely like 200 more than 100 because 100 is a bit too short for me," Gout told reporters. "You get the start and then you're already at the finish line." "I really like getting out and getting to my top speed and keep holding it to the finish line. So 200 is great and I love it," said Gout, who was born in Australia after his parents migrated from South Sudan. He rose to prominence last December when he clocked the quickest 200m time ever by a 16-year-old of 20.04 sec, bettering Usain Bolt's personal best at the same age. The lanky Gout relished being likened to Bolt whom he called "the epitome of sprinting". "If I could be on that level and just put my little bit of style onto it. So try to be like him but also bring my little personality with me." "Just to know that I may be on the same trajectory and just being compared to the best sprinter of all time is... definitely something I appreciate," he added. After the Australian championships, Gout focused on training rather than competing. "We did a lot of work... on my starts and just to get stronger overall for the Europe season," he said. "I'm just building up my strength and just really trying to get in the gym and get to the next level for sure," Gout added. "I'm excited to run again after a long time." After Ostrava, Gout will compete at the Diamond League in Monaco on July 11 with eyes on the world championships in Tokyo in September. "Obviously the world championships is the main goal and I just want to see what I can do on the world stage against professional athletes," Gout said. "I just want to get out there and kind of prove myself." frj/pb
Economic Times
2 hours ago
- Economic Times
Kazakhstan's Bublik beats Medvedev in straight sets to claim second title on grass in Halle ahead of Wimbledon
AP Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik reacts after defeating Russia's Daniil Medvedev in their men's single final of the Halle tennis tournament, Germany, Sunday, June 22, 2025. (David Inderlied/dpa via AP) Kazakh Alexander Bublik defeated Daniil Medvedev in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (4), on Sunday, June 22, 2025, to win the Halle Open for the second time. He also won the grass-court tournament in 2023. He is just the third player to claim the title more than once after three-time winner Yevgeny Kafelnikov and 10-time champion Roger achieved his first win in seven meetings with Russian Daniil Medvedev. He defeated top-ranked Jannik Sinner in the second round. Bublik, ranked 45, maintained his streak with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) victory in one hour and 22 minutes in his first clash on grass with third seed Medvedev. The Halle Open win for Bublik came a week before Wimbledon. Medvedev, who saw off home favourite Alexander Zverev in the semifinals, was playing his first final since losing to Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells in March 2024. Thanks to his second Halle trophy after 2023 and fifth ATP title overall, Bublik will move to 30th in Monday's ATP rankings, while Medvedev, who was playing in his first final in 15 months, will move to number nine. "I was cursed against you, Daniil. But today, I'm happy to have won. Beating you here is a great honour for me," Bublik said during the trophy presentation. In the first set, Bublik broke his opponent's serve to lead 5-3 and won the set on his serve. The Kazakh saved Medvedev's only break point, also a set point, at 4-5 in the second set with a perfectly hit drop shot. He wrapped up the match in the tiebreak with a service winner. "From the mental point of view, that's the toughest match I ever played in my life," said Bublik. "I have never beaten Daniil. He's a super tough player to play, especially with my gamestyle, and today everything clicked in mentally and physically. That's one of the wins of my career.""I had such tough months since last Wimbledon to probably this summer," said Bublik, who had dropped out of the top 75 until last month and conceded he was "close to calling it quits after Wimbledon (last year), because I was not enjoying it anymore." Bublik has also won titles in Montpellier in 2022 and 2024 and Antwerp and Halle in 2023."Alexander Bublik played some great grass court play today. My heart always beats a little faster when you play like that on grass," said 57-year-old German Boris Becker, a three-time Wimbledon champion (1985, 1986, 1989), before presenting the trophy.A former world number one in 2022, Medvedev lost his sixth consecutive final; his 20th and last title was the Masters 1000 on clay in Rome in May 2023. "Keep playing like that, and please, Carlos (Alcaraz) or Jannik in your draw at Wimbledon," joked former US Open winner Medvedev, a two-time Wimbledon semi-finalist.
