LONDON: Carlos Alcaraz’s first grass-court match outside Wimbledon proved to be a tricky one. Playing for the first time at the Queen’s Club Championships, the top-seeded Alcaraz came from a set down Tuesday to win 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3) against lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech — a No.
83-ranked Frenchman who only found out he was playing following the withdrawal of Arthur Fils a couple of hours before the match. “It has been a really tough match,” Alcaraz said. “It was really difficult for me at the beginning to adapt my tennis, my game, to the grass.” Alcaraz faced difficulties in dealing with the tall Rinderknech’s big serve and net coverage in what was the No.
2-ranked Spaniard’s seventh career match on grass, and first away from the All England Club. Alcaraz rallied from going down a break early in the third set and dominated the tiebreaker, which started with an epic point that saw Alcaraz tumble to the ground after racing to the net to hit a cross-court winner.
The fourth point, which put Alcaraz 3-1 ahead, was also memorable because of his outrageous lob on the run that landed on Rinderknech’s baseline and set up another forehand winner.