Carlos Alcaraz will make his debut at the 2023 Cinch Championships at the Queen's Club, but not against the opponent he expected.
When the draw came out for the 2023 Cinch Championships, the 20-year-old Spaniard knew that he had to wait before he gets to know his first-round opponent. That was because it was supposed to be one of the qualifiers, and the qualifying was still underway.
Once the qualifying concluded and after the qualifiers were drawn, the World No. 2 on the ATP Tour found out that a talented 19-year-old Frenchman, Arthur Fils, will be his first-round opponent, after he defeated Hugo Grenier and Alexei Popyrin in the qualifying.
However, only a couple of hours before the match between the two talented players was set to start, the Frenchman announced that he won't be competing at the Queen's Club main draw, as he was forced to withdraw from the event.
Although it maybe disappointed many fans as they were looking forward to a match between two prodigies, French fans can still keep smile on their faces as Fils was replaced by a lucky loser, who is another Frenchman.
After beating Feliciano Lopez in the first round of the qualifying, Arthur Rinderknech lost in the final of the qualifying to the second-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, but thanks to his compatriot's withdrawal, he will make it to the main draw.
However, he will play against the top seed, but also Alcaraz will need to adjust to a new opponent. The Spaniard arrived at the Queen's Club without his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, and he'll need to do some problem solving against the 27-year-old Frenchman.
While Alcaraz believes he has fewer chances on grass than on other surfaces, he'll certainly be the top favourite for the 2023 Cinch Championships and it will be interesting to see how he adjusts to a new opponent.
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