Carlos Alcaraz had a really interesting summer, winning two grass trophies, which basically nobody really saw coming.
Alcaraz himself admitted that playing on grass was pretty tough for him before the grass season rolled around, but it didn't look like that. Well, it kind of did in the beginning because his Wimbledon preparation event was the Queen's Club tournament, which he would end up winning.
Before winning the event, Alcaraz faced qualifier Arthur Rinderknech, who pushed him really hard and almost beat him. Had he beaten him, Alcaraz wouldn't have had the Queen's run, which proved vital for his Wimbledon success.
Former number one Tracy Austin talked about that for tennis.com, wondering what would have happened with Alcaraz's Wimbledon chances had he crashed out early to Rinderknech.
In June, Alcaraz began his grass-court season with a career record of 4-2 on the surface. He’d also just suffered a frustrating loss to Novak Djokovic in the semis of Roland Garros, where his body cramped up due to nerves. In the first round of Queen’s Club, he beat 83rd-ranked Arthur Rinderknech in a third-set tiebreaker. What if he’d lost?
That's a brilliant question by Austin because, truly, what would have happened if he'd lost? He would have entered Wimbledon with only one match unless he signed up for another event.
After beating Rinderkench, Alcaraz won four more matches against pretty strong grass players, which gave him a lot of confidence.
Instead, Carlos won the tournament—his first grass court title. No question, what started at Queen’s gave him the confidence he needed to thrive at the All England Club.
The run in Queen's was vital for his Wimbledon. There is no question about it because by the time he faced Djokovic, he was already on an 11-match winning streak on the surface.
What seemed impossible before the grass season started became very realistic, and he ended up with the Wimbledon trophy. Quite a sequence of events.
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