So much for Carlos Alcaraz being a novice on the grass. (More Tennis News)
The new big thing in men’s tennis looked quite at home on theꦚ lush green surface at the Queen’s Club Championships in beating Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals on Thurs💫day.
Alcaraz, ranked No. 2 and th𒉰e top-seeded player in west London, is playing the Wimbledon warmup event for the first time. Indeed, these are his first professional games on gr♔ass outside the All England Club, where he’ll head next month seeking his second Grand Slam title after the U.S. Open last year.
Alcaraz said his expectation levels on grass “are going to change” given the w✅ay he dispatched Lehecka, who came in at a career-high ranking of No. 3ꦅ6.
“After this match and this level, I think I’m ready to get good rꦺesults on grass,”🐷 the Spaniard said.
A cross-court backhand beat the 36th-ranked Lehecka on th⛎e stretch to take the first set, during which Alcaraz didn’t face a break point.
Mistakes started to creep into both players’ games in the second set — there were 41 unforced errors between them overall in the match — but Alcaraz’s defense and coverage at the net impressed as he wrapped up victory in 1 hour, 25 minutes on his third match point when Lehecka🔜 hit a forehand long.
It🀅 took Alcaraz more than 2 1/2 hours — and three sets containing two tiebreakers — to see off Arthur Rinderknech of France in the first round.
“I feel really comfortable here on grass,” Alcaraz said. “I’m happy getting experience on grass. Knowing I have this level, I’m really happy abo💟ut it.”
Alcaraz will next play qualifier Grigor Dimitrov, the 2014 champion. He beat eigh⛎th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 7-5.
Adrian Mannarino ofไ France got another big win on grass, and entertained along the way, by ousting third-seeded Taylor Fritz of ♏the United States 6-4, 7-6 (7).
A week after beating Daniil Medvedev last week in’s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, Mannarino used his accurate first serve — he had a 74% match success rate — to set up a meeting with Alex de Minaur in the 𝔉quarterfinals.
The 46th-ranked Mannarino drew gasps and applause with a no-look volleyed winner, as well as a ’tweener and a shot behind hi🐈s back in the same point.
Fritz saved t𓄧hree match points in the tiebreaker but double-faulted on the fourth.
De Miꦕnaur of Australia defeated Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-2 in barely an hour.
