Alcaraz wins grass-field championship earlier than 'Big 3'

Carlos Alcaraz needed just 11 matches to win his first title on grass at the age of 20, earlier than Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Before winning five straight matches to win the Queen's Club Championships last week, Alcaraz had played just six matches on grass. The Spaniard needed just 11 matches over two years on the surface to win the title. Federer needed 32 matches over four years, Nadal needed 38 matches over five years and Djokovic needed six years and 48 matches to win his first grass title.

Alcaraz won his first title on grass at the age of 20 years and 1 month, ahead of Federer (21 years and 10 months), Nadal (22 years) and Djokovic (24 years and 2 months). Alcaraz is also only the sixth Spaniard in history to win the title at Queen's Club.

Alcaraz won nine and lost two of his first 11 grass-court matches. Photo: AP

"It's amazing," Alcaraz told EFE on June 27 about his achievement. "In the past, playing on grass was more difficult because the surface was much faster. But I'm still very happy to play well on grass in such a short time."

Alcaraz has won five titles this year, including one on hard courts at the Miami Masters, three on clay in Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Madrid and one on grass. He is the 17th player in history to win titles on three different surfaces in the same year. Before Alcaraz, only two Spaniards had done so: Nadal (2008, 2010) and David Ferrer (2012). Only one player younger than Alcaraz has won titles on three different surfaces in the same year: Mats Wilander, who was just 19 in 1983.

Alcaraz won the Queen's Club without coach Juan Carlos Ferrero, who has been on family leave. Ferrero returned to the Spaniard's team this week to prepare for Wimbledon, along with fitness expert Juanjo Moreno.

"I was surprised myself," said coach Ferrero. "I didn't expect him to win. I just thought Alcaraz went there to gain more experience and have more time on this court, to play his best at Wimbledon."

Alcaraz was registered for the Hurlingham exhibition but withdrew at the last minute against Holger Rune after suffering a right thigh problem in last week's London final against Alex De Minaur. The Spaniard will play an exhibition against Dominic Thiem on Friday, before heading to Wimbledon as the top seed.

Vy Anh

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