CNN
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French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz successfully defended his Queen’s Club title with an enthralling 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2 win over Jiří Lehečka, cementing his status as the favorite for Wimbledon.
The victory extends the Spaniard’s winning streak to a career-best 18 matches and secures his fifth title of 2025.
But Alcaraz didn’t have it all his own way against a player that has already beaten him this season. After clinching the second-set tie break with a booming ace, Lehečka must have been feeling confident of a repeat of their meeting at the Qatar Open in February.
However, Alcaraz soon showed why he is the defending Queen’s and Wimbledon champion, finding another gear to break Lehečka early en route to a dominant third-set performance.
It’s that mental resilience that makes Alcaraz such a daunting opponent, as Jannik Sinner found out in the French Open final when the Spaniard came back from two sets down to clinch the title in the longest Roland Garros final in history.
“I came here with no expectations at all,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. “I just came to play good tennis and try to get used to the grass as soon as possible.”
The five-time grand slam champion is now 27-1 since a surprise defeat to David Goffin in the first round of the Miami Open in March, a run that has seen him claim four titles in three months. His only defeat in that time came to Holger Rune in the final of the Barcelona Open.
While Alcaraz is rightly considered a clay-court specialist, he is proving to be just as adept on the faster grass and now boasts a 25-1 record on the surface since 2023, including the Queen’s title last year and back-to-back Wimbledon triumphs.
Alcaraz’s attention now turns to Wimbledon, which begins on June 30. While Sinner and Novak Djokovic will likely be the biggest threat to the 22-year-old’s crown, Alcaraz will be unquestionably the man to beat in SW19.
