Tennis elite on the scene! World No. 2 and former champions to play at Queen’s Club

The first week of grass tennis is coming to an end. The legendary Wimbledon is slowly approaching and the date of the very prestigious tournament at Queen’s Club is coming up. It will feature some outstanding players, including the defending champion from last year. There are more than enough favourites to win this year’s title.

The opening week of the grass season is in full swing. The last players remain in contention for the triumph in Hertogenbosch and Stuttgart. The coming week will be all about the higher category ATP 500 tournaments. One of them is the traditional Queen’s Club. With the exception of Wimbledon, you won’t find a more prestigious grass-court tennis address in the world.

While Novak Djokovic will be making an appearance right up to Wimbledon, many of his biggest competitors will be vying for the title at the LTA’s Cinch Championships, the official name of the tournament at Queen’s Club. Let’s introduce them.

The main favourites

Of all the participants, Carlos Alcaraz holds the highest position on the leaderboard. The 20-year-old 2022 US Open champion hasn’t played much on grass yet. However, he has already convinced of his comprehensive qualities perfectly. The Spaniard is very much looking forward to the traditional event of the grass season and it is sure that tennis fans are also looking forward to his first appearance here.

World No. 8 Taylor Fritz already knows what he’s getting into. He is very positive about the tournament and everything around it, his participation last year when he dropped out in the first round was worse. But the grass suits his game, so why not enjoy the atmosphere at Queen’s Club until the last day?

Italian Matteo Berrettini will be in a special position. He’s dominated the last two editions on London grass at Queen’s Club. But he’s going to have a very difficult defence. Quality opponents will certainly be a challenge, but the problem may be the Italian’s current form.

The 27-year-old has not played for several months due to injury. He missed practically the entire clay court season and his return to the courts earlier this week was miserable. In Stuttgart, where he was also defending last year’s triumph, he was decimated by his compatriot Sonego 6: 1, 6: 2 and the former champion said goodbye with tears in his eyes.

Holger Rune can’t wait to make his debut in London. The 20-year-old Dane is waiting for his first win on grass court and with his form this year, it is realistic that he will enjoy it in the next few days. As the number six player in the ATP rankings, he doesn’t have to worry about an unsolvable problem in his first match at the tournament. Let’s see how many matches he plays at Queen’s Club.

The five-time winner

Best for last. Who else to end the list of favourites but the home champion? No one else in Queen’s Club history has as many triumphs as Andy Murray. He has won them in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016. He didn’t play here last year and the year before that he succumbed to the late winner Berrettini.

The Glasgow native is in form this year and has big goals for the tournament on grass. After a series of excellent results in Challengers, he now faces a confrontation with the world’s top players. How he handles it at Queen’s Club will go some way to indicating what we can expect from him at the third Grand Slam of the season at Wimbledon.

Source: ATP, Cinch Championships