Carlos Alcaraz Reacts To Matching Rafael Nadal's Extremely Rare Feat
NewsMonday, 23 June 2025 at 13:00
Carlos Alcaraz enjoyed a great week at the 2025 Queen's Club Championships, lifting the trophy in London.
Alcaraz arrived in London hoping to win not one, but two titles. The first target was the ATP 500 tournament at the Queen's Club, but his second, more important target, will be the Wimbledon Championships.
If the Spaniard manages to succeed at SW19, he will become only the second man in the history of the sport to complete the so-called Channel Slam in two consecutive seasons.
Winning a Channel Slam means winning the Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back, something many legendary players, including Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic, have managed to do.
But only one man managed to do it in consecutive seasons. Bjorn Borg won both the French Open and Wimbledon in 1978, 1979, and 1980, completing the rare Channel Slam three times in a row.
But there is an even more rare achievement, and that is winning a title only weeks after winning Roland Garros. The last person who managed to win the Queen's Club Championships after winning at the French Open was Rafael Nadal in 2008.
17 years later, Alcaraz managed to do the same. His win at the Queen's Club marked the 22-year-old's fourth grass-court title, and when told about both achievements, Alcaraz admitted that he doesn't really care about the statistics.
"Well, honestly, I don't pay so much attention on that statistics. Obviously once I know them, obviously it's pretty good, I'm not gonna lie, being the third Spanish player to achieve that. Achieve four tournaments on grass, I think it's great to be with Rafa, to be with Feli, such great players from our country, from tennis."
"I have done it in just 22. Sometimes you have to sit down and think a little bit about it and realize, okay, this is a great thing, and I appreciate that. Hopefully, now I will not stop here. Hopefully, keep going."
Alcaraz admitted that he arrived in London wanting to get only a couple of matches under his belt. Winning the title was above his expectations, and it certainly boosted his confidence heading into the Wimbledon Championships.
"I'm going to say it's really complicated, switch from clay to grass in just few days, because that's the time I had before the tournament began. Just two days of practicing and then I had to compete here. So I came here with no expectations at all."
"I just came here with a goal to play two, three matches, try to feel great on grass moving, and, you know, give myself the feedback of what I have to improve, what I have to do better."
"But, you know, I just got used to the grass really quick, and I'm just really proud about it. My goal was complete, and I'm not talking about lifting the trophy or making the final. It was just to feel great, to feel really comfortable on grass once again."
"So what I'm more proud about this week is the way that I have been improving every day. You know, since the first day until today, I think I'm a different player on grass. Just, as I said, got used to it really quick, and that's the thing that I'm most proud about."
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