LONDON: Carlos Alcaraz reached his first quarterfinal on grass as the world No. 2 crushed Jiri Lehecka in the Wimbledon warmup event at Queen’s Club on Thursday.
Alcaraz is competing at Queen’s for the first time and the Spanish star is gradually finding his footing on the lawns of west London.
The 20-year-old routed Lehecka 6-2, 6-3 as he improved on a labored first round win over Arthur Rinderknech. Alcaraz won the US Open last year and reached the French Open semifinals earlier in June, losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic on the Paris clay.
Yet to go past the Wimbledon last 16, Alcaraz believes he is making strides at just the right time, with the All England Club tournament starting on July 3. “I’ll enjoy my first quarterfinal, it’s a beautiful place to play and I’m enjoying every second here,” Alcaraz said. “It’s more practice and I am happy getting experience on grass.