TENNIS
Alcaraz: “On grass, I have less chance of beating Djokovic”
The Spanish star will be looking to win his second major, but he’s aware that in Wimbledon, it will be tougher to defeat Djokovic.
Carlos Alcaraz will make his debut on grass this year at the Queen’s tournament, in London, which will get started on Monday.
The winner of 10 ATP titles will be the No. 1 seed at the ATP 500 Cinch Championship, a competition where he’s favored to go all the way given that Novak Djokovic won’t feature in the tournament.
Carlitos has had some days to recover from the efforts made at the French Open and the cramps he suffered in the semifinals against Nole that translated into a painful loss for the Murcia native.
Alcaraz has already trained at Queen’s, seen also as a warm-up competition to make the transition from clay to grass successfully before playing in Wimbledon.
Djokovic, the No. 1 favorite in Wimbledon
The 20-year-old player has only competed at Wimbledon in 2021 and 2022, as well as in the junior tournament in 2019 and some exhibitions at Hurlingham last year.
“On grass, it’s true that it’s more complicated. I haven’t had that experience and in the games I have played, it has cost me a little bit. Djokovic along with Federer are the best to ever set foot on a grass court so it will be tricky. Kyrgios has already made the Wimbledon final, he played very well here. I won’t say that I can’t beat Djokovic, but on this surface, I have less chance”, he said.
Alcaraz also admitted that he’s fit and ready to compete again after recovering from his cramps at Roland Garros:
“I know I’m at a good level physically. Some people believe that what happened to me against Novak was an injury and I don’t do that; they are cramps. This is very normal among players. Everyone has cramps at some point. After two days it was perfect”.
Besides Queen’s, Alcaraz is expected to feature in the Hurlingham exhibition tournament before competing in Wimbledon.