After an excellent first contact on grass, with the achievement of the Queen’s title that as a consequence allowed him to recover the number one in the world, Carlos Alcaraz continues his preparation in London with his mind set on Wimbledon. The objective is none other than to go for the third Grand Slam of the year after Novak Djokovic has emerged triumphant in the first two (Australian Open and Roland Garros).
The good news for the Murcian is that, unlike what happened in Paris, he would not meet the Serbian tennis player until a hypothetical final. He also dodges Jannick Sinner, his executioner at the tournament last year. However, that does not mean that the draw for the draw held this Friday at the All England Club was far from benevolent. Although the first rounds should serve Alcaraz to gain rhythm and confidence, if he continues after the round of 16 the demand will increase.
The debut on center court next Tuesday as the top seed of the most emblematic tournament will be against Jeremy Chardy, an old rocker already in the twilight of his career (currently ranked 534). The 36-year-old Frenchman shouldn’t be an obstacle; He is not a specialist on this surface and takes advantage of his protected ranking to be able to be at Wimbledon, since he has only played four games so far this year (one win and three losses). It will be the first time that the faces are seen on the track.
In the second round, either the Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, whom Alcaraz knows from Queen’s for taking him to the extreme – the Spaniard won in the tie-break of the third set – or the Frenchman Alexandre Muller would await him. The Chilean Nicolás Jarry is emerging as the third opponent in the third round.
From then on, everything got complicated. In the round of 16 they would be a priori Alex de Miñaur -his rival in the Queen’s final- or the dangerous Alexander Zverev; the irreverent Holger Rune or Frances Tiafoe in the quarterfinals and Daniil Medvedev or Stéfanos Tsitsipás in the semifinals. If he meets the forecasts, Djokovic would wait for him in the grand final. As defending champion, ‘Nole’ opens on Monday against Argentine Pedro Cachín.
In Alcaraz’s performance, only his physical condition raises suspicions. In the Queen’s final he had to be treated after the first set when he felt pain in the groin. That physical mishap did not affect his performance, since he put the direct in the second quarter to sentence the tournament.
But after the problems suffered against Djokovic in the Roland Garros semifinals, neither Alcaraz nor his team wanted to take risks in this week of preparation. He canceled the two exhibition matches that he had scheduled in Hurlingham and decided to delay the start of training until this Friday, when he will train at the All England Club.
