Novak Djokovic is the main favourite to win Wimbledon, says No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz
Carlos Alcaraz won his first title on grass in only his 3rd tournament on the surface, finishing at the top step of the podium in the prestigious Queen’s Club ATP 250 event on Sunday, June 25.
The title in the prestigious pre-Wimbledon warm-up event helped him regain the No. 1 ranking but he believes Novak Djokovic will be the ‘main favorite’ to win the grass-court Grand Slam this year.
Carlos Alcaraz fired a warning to the rest of the pack, showcasing that he is a good enough player on grass as well. The 20-year-old, who suffered a 4th-round exit at Wimbledon last year, breezed past his opponents, which included the likes of Grigor Dimitrov and Sebastian Korda after a tough opener Arthur Rinderknech. Alcaraz defeated World No. 18 Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-4 in Sunday’s final to end his wait for a title on the grass court.
Alcaraz, who won the US Open last year, is being seen as one of the favourites to go all the way at Wimbledon and he will begin the campaign next week in London as the No. 1 seed after dethroning Djokovic from the top spot. The Serb, who has won the first two Grand Slams of the year, is heading into Wimbledon without having played a competitive match on grass this year but the young Spaniard believes that Djokovic will be the man to beat at the All England club.
“I saw a statistic that Novak has won more matches in Wimbledon than the other top 20 players (put together). What can I say about that, you know? I mean, Novak is the main favorite to win Wimbledon. That’s obvious,” Alcaraz said.
“But I will try to play at this level, to have chances to beat him or make the final at Wimbledon.”
‘I HAVE TO GET MORE EXPERIENCE’
Alcaraz needed a third-set tie-breaker in the first round at Queen’s but the highly-rated Spaniard grew in confidence as he went deeper into the ATP 500 tournament. Alcaraz was at his dominant best in the last few matches as he signaled his intentions ahead of Wimbledon, starting July 3.
The Spaniard conceded that he needs to imrpove his game on grass but insisted that he is confident of a good run in Wimbledon this year.
Alcaraz lost to Jannik Sinner in the fourth-round of Wimbledon last year.
“Honestly, I have a lot of confidence right now coming into Wimbledon. I ended the week playing at the high level. So right now I feel one of the favorites to win Wimbledon,” he added.
“I have to get more experience on grass … But obviously after beating amazing guys, great players, and the level that I played, I consider myself one of the favorites or one of the players to be able to win Wimbledon.”