LONDON (AFP) – Carlos Alcaraz believes he is capable of winning Wimbledon after claiming his first title on grass on Sunday by beating Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-4 in the final at Queen’s Club.
The Spaniard’s fifth title of the season also takes him back to the top of the world rankings, but he said Novak Djokovic remains the favourite to win Wimbledon for an eighth time next month.
Alcaraz was playing on the grass for just the third tournament in his career and showed an impressive development through the week at Queen’s after nearly falling to French lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech in the first round.
The US Open champion won his next four matches without dropping a set and is confident of going beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time.
“I have quite a lot of confidence heading into Wimbledon. I ended the week playing at a high level, so right now I feel one of the favourites to win Wimbledon, but I have to get more experience on grass,” said Alcaraz. “Novak is the main favourite to win Wimbledon, but I will try to play at this level to have chances to beat him or make the final.
“I saw a statistic that Novak has won more matches at Wimbledon than the other top 20 players (combined). What can you say about that you know? Novak is the main favourite to win Wimbledon. That’s obvious.
“But I will try to play at this level, to have chances to beat him or make the final at Wimbledon.”
Djokovic has reigned supreme in SW19 since 2018. He has not lost on Centre Court in 10 years since losing to Andy Murray in the final.
But Alcaraz is hoping to have the crowd on his side should the top two seeds meet in the final.
“I saw that Djokovic has never lost a match on Centre Court since 2013 when he lost against Andy so it’s 10 years without losing a match on centre court, it’s crazy. But I hope to have the crowd behind me to change that stat.”
