Weed also had no secret for Alcaraz: it was his devastating data

“I surprised myself,” he admitted. Carlos Alcaraz when he won last year at Queen’s ATP his first grass title. The Murcian scored at just 20 years old, with 11 matches and three tournaments to reign on the green surface, another proof of his chameleon-like ability to adapt quickly and perform at a very high level on any court.

To put Carlos’s success in perspective, it is only appropriate to recall what the three tenors of ‘Big Three’ lift his first trophy on the grass: Rafael Nadal He needs 31 games and eight contests (he is 22 years old), Roger Federer He played 32 games and 12 championships (21 years old) and Novak Djokovic He has played 49 games and 12 tournaments (24 years).

That Queen title was the prelude to the next bombshell of her career, the title of Wimbledonthe second grand slam of his career after the 2022 US Open Thanks to 12 consecutive wins in 2023, Alcaraz raised his current record to 16 victories and only two defeats in 18 grass matches, an 88.88% success rate, a higher percent than it has. on dirt and hard courts.

Alcaraz has 76 wins and 17 losses in 93 fights on the ground (81.72%), and has 88 wins and 29 losses on hard (75.21%). His total balance now shows 180 wins and 48 losses in 228 ATP matches (78.94%). On grass, Carlos only lost against the Russian Daniel Medvedev (2nd round of 2021) and the Italian Jannik Sinner (2022 eighth), both at Wimbledon.

By conquering the ‘Cathedral’ of tennis in 2023, Alcaraz added his second title on grass in just 20 years and two months, also ahead of the ‘monsters’ of the ‘Big Three’, who at that age were still zero and showed careful which balance of victories and defeats relative to Alcaraz’s 16-2: Nadal (11-5), Federer (11-8) and Djokovic (12-5).

The Murcian, who in 2022 became the youngest No. 1 in history at the age of 19, broke another precocity record in Paris as he was also the youngest tennis player (21 years old) to dominate three Grand Slam surfaces, the hard court (US Open’2022)Grass (Wimbledon’2023) and the clay (Roland Garros’ 2024).

After a few short days of rest, Alcaraz is back in action to defend her Queen’s title next week and then prepare to attack her second Wimbledon (July 1-14). “I had a few days of vacation, with a group of friends. I had a good time, celebrating Roland Garros. I need these things too,” said Carlos in his press conference at Queen’s.

“Every player is different, but for me, to have my best level, I need to separate my personal life from tennis. Have my days off, be able to rest my mind, be with my family and friends. Leave the racket aside. “It’s a time that suits me well,” said the world No. 2.

“The thing is, we tennis players have little time. We have finished three or four days and we have to prepare elsewhere. We have to make the most of the time we have. On Sunday I lifted the title in ParisI have to do things on Monday morning and then I go to Ibiza to disconnect from friends for three days. After four days, you change the surface, the tournament, the conditions. I went home to prepare before coming here. Finish a tournament, celebrate, because you have to celebrate, but not for more than two days,” explained Alcaraz.

Carlos will have a difficult debut against the Argentine Francisco Cerundolo (27º) and its painting is full of thorns: Draper either Navone (eighth), Paul (quarters) or Dimitrov (semifinals) may be other rivals later. De Minaur, Fritz, Shelton and runes They are the bones on the other side of the table.

“Now that I know how to play, I understand this game better on grass. I am more mature on this surface. In the first training session, the movement is not so good, but the process is slower. I know that I will be 100% before last year,” commented Carlos, who already said in Paris that it cost him quite a bit to reach his feared level of competition.

Alcaraz confirmed that he will not wear the protection on his right arm that he wore last April due to his arm injury that affected him during the European dirt tour. Now he will try to extend his happy streak of 12 straight wins on grass.