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Carlos Alcaraz was initially not quite ready for the moment when he moved within touching distance of another Queen’s title. In the final stages of a bruising second set tiebreak, the score level at 5-5, Alcaraz threw in a double fault against a soaring Jiri Lehecka. He soon found himself battling in a final set he would have rather not contested.
Alcaraz handled this moment of adversity with the same self-assurance and courage he has shown so many times before while demonstrating his growing maturity as he refocused to close out the in-form Czech Lehecka 7-5, 6-7 (5) 6-2 and triumph at Queen’s for the second time in his career.
With his third title in a row following victories at the Italian Open and Roland Garros, Alcaraz has now extended his career-best winning streak to 18 matches. A two-time defending champion at Wimbledon, Alcaraz’s march through the draw has provided him with the perfect preparation for greater challenges ahead. He will head to the All England Club as the clear favourite as he tries to become the fifth man in the Open Era to win three singles titles in a row.
Alcaraz has built such a supreme résumé at a faster rate than all but only a couple of male tennis players in the history of the sport but for the stratospheric heights his game has already reached, and the many occasions when it seems like he is capable of absolutely anything on the court, his form could also be temperamental.
Over the past few months, things have clearly shifted. In addition to his three consecutive titles, Alcaraz has now reached five consecutive finals, compiling a 27-1 record since the start of April. Not only is he playing with freedom, his serve has improved and he is executing the less spectacular facets of his game with greater consistency rather than overplaying.
This victory is even more impressive considering how life continues to move at warp speed for the 22-year-old. Only two weeks ago, he was in the process of pulling off one of the greatest comebacks of all time as he toppled his great rival Jannik Sinner in the French Open final. He had only three nights in Ibiza to disconnect and reckon with all that he had achieved before duty called once more. Alcaraz has spent the past eight days trying to work through the notorious, extreme transition from clay to grass.
Lehecka, one of the most devastating shotmakers in the game, has been serving and striking the ball at an incredibly high level throughout the week in London. In the biggest final of his career, Lehecka continued his excellent service form early on, effortlessly taking care of his own service games while putting pressure on Alcaraz to keep up. After serving brilliantly to escape a 4-5 0-30 deficit, the pressure rising, Alcaraz made his move with a solid return game to snatch the decisive break of the set.
However, as was the case in his bruising semi-final win against Jack Draper a day earlier, Lehecka immediately shrugged off the difficult set and kept on moving. He continued to work through his service games throughout the second set, putting an increasing amount of pressure on Alcaraz’s serve. By the final stages of the tiebreak, Lehecka was in control of the baseline. Under pressure for the first time, Alcaraz double faulted at 5-5 in the tiebreak as Lehecka took the set.
Kessler wins Nottingham Open
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American McCartney Kessler secured her third career title, defeating Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 7-5 in a rain-interrupted Nottingham Open final.
Kessler, who recorded her first main draw tour-level win on grass earlier this month at Queen's, dominated the match from the outset and sealed victory in one hour and 34 minutes.
"I'm super excited to have another title. I've gotten to another final, another great week of tennis for me. I want to start by congratulating Dayana on a good week as well," Kessler said. "She's a really tough competitor. We've had three really competitive matches, so congrats on a good week."
The 25-year-old American outperformed Yastremska on serve in the first set, winning 17 of her 25 service points compared to the Ukrainian's 19 from 35 first serves. The second set went to 3-3 before Kessler fought off a spirited challenge from Yastremska to close it 7-5.
Yastremska, the first Ukrainian player to reach a WTA Tour final on the surface in 17 years, was playing her second final of the year but fell short of clinching her first WTA title since 2019. Reuters
Photograph: Andrew Boyers/REUTERS
Instead of betraying his frustration, Alcaraz refocused immediately and separated himself in the final set. He produced a brilliant return game at 2-1 to snatch the first break and he never looked back as he rolled through the set to close out another successful week on the tour.
Elsewhere, Marketa Vondrousova closed out an impressive week by defeating Wang Xinyu of China to win the Berlin Open title, her first triumph since winning Wimbledon in 2023. Vondrousova’s career had already been derailed numerous times by significant injuries before her Wimbledon win and she has been continually sidelined since then. Having fallen from her career high ranking of No 6 a year ago, Vondrousova defeated the world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Madison Keys, the Australian Open champion, en-route to her third career title.
