Overcoming your own dreams and being an unexpected champion. Queen’s Club and Halle both know their winners

Both of last week’s elite grass tournaments are finished. At Queen’s Club and Halle, the champions are clear. Two respectable paths to triumph line the trails of defeated players who didn’t make it to the top, but are certainly worth knowing about. Who are they?

Alcaraz overcame his dream

Carlos Alcaraz is living his dream just by participating in prestigious ATP events and surpassing it by the way he presents himself at them. In London yesterday, he won his fifth title of the year with a great taste of the first grass court triumph of his career. Once again, he becomes the world number one.

He won the US Open last year and was the main challenger to Novak Djokovic at this year’s Roland Garros. He didn’t beat him in a direct duel in Paris due to health problems, but he is proving his potential with every tournament he plays.

The 20-year-old Spaniard got off to a slow start at the Cinch Open, but eventually got to grips with the local grass courts and defeated both Sebastian Korda and Alex De Minaur in the final rounds without any major problems.

“I’m trying to enjoy every second and also make sure that people enjoy watching tennis as well,” said the world number one. Tennis fans can’t wait for his clash with Djokovic for the Wimbledon triumph. Let’s see if it happens.

A name to remember

The name of the defeated finalist was not one of the most famous before the action in London. But that has certainly changed, and for several reasons. Australia’s De Minaur put a fierce stop to Andy Murray. That happened in the very first round.

Perhaps even that would have been enough to grow the awareness of the twenty-four year old, but he continued to sail through the tournament and was not stopped even by the Danish talent Holger Rune. In the final, he couldn’t take serve from Alcaraz, even though he got two break points. He lost his serve twice.

But from an objective point of view, he played an even match with the world number one. It is impossible not to look forward to De Minaur’s results at the upcoming Wimbledon.

Bublik’s week of his life

From the very first match, twenty-six-year-old Alexander Bublik’s tennis captivated the spectators in Halle, Germany. The Kazakh tennis player showed brutal power, especially on serve, as well as a refined feel for the ball on stopballs. With this combination, he dispatched several players from the favourites.

Against the first of the home favourites, Struff, he needed three sets. He beat Italian Sinner faster thanks to a scratch, while Bublik again took two sets against Alexander Zverev , a big contender for the title on German grass. In neither of these matches was the Kazakh tennis player the favourite.

In the final duel he overcame the tournament’s number three Russian Rublyov in three sets. Bublik served 21 aces in the match. When he hit his first serve into the court, he almost always won a game. He was hitting from everywhere, he made ten more unforced errors than the Russian, but the balance of winning shots ended up 42:23 in his favour.

The almost two-meter tall tennis player won his second and the most valuable title of his career so far. Like De Minaur, he is now among the players who will be very interesting to watch at the fast approaching Wimbledon.

Cordova’s journey up the rankings

The son of Peter Korda should see better results on faster surfaces after a break and clay tournaments. At Queen’s Club, he confirmed it. He beat two Brits and also the American Tiafoe. There aren’t too many better players than the latter on the ATP circuit, which is why Korda’s win over him is of great value.

At twenty-two, Korda has it all in front of him and could go far at this year’s Wimbledon. It’s been two years since he made the eighth round at the All England Club, and this year he plans to attack to improve on that performance.

Sources: ATP, Queen’s Club, Terrawortmann Open, TennisPortal