Carlos Alcaraz wins Queen’s and declares himself a ‘favourite’ for Wimbledon

Watching Carlos Alcaraz on grass during these past six days has been a bit like having a front-row seat as a prodigy deciphers the tennis equivalent of the Enigma code. At first confusion, especially at the speed and slipperiness of the green stuff. Then, with every passing day, a sense of a puzzle being cracked, of pieces falling into place. Before, finally, the sounds of solution – and satisfaction – as the Queen’s Club trophy is hoisted over his head.

With this 6-4, 6-4 victory against the willing Australian Alex de Minaur, Alcaraz not only won his first grass-court title but returned to the tennis summit. The new men’s world No 1 is also guaranteed to be top seed at Wimbledon in a week’s time. What’s more, he believes he can win it.

“I see Wimbledon as the most beautiful tournament on the tour,” he said. “It’s a tournament that I really wanted to win someday. And I have a lot of confidence to make that dream possible this year.

“I just played 11 matches in my career on grass, so I have to get more experience, more hours. But obviously after beating amazing guys, and with the level that I played, I consider myself one of the favourites to win Wimbledon.”

Of course there were caveats. As Alcaraz pointed out, Novak Djokovic has not only won seven Wimbledon titles but also, staggeringly, has won more main-draw matches at the All England Club – 86 in total – than the rest of the world’s top 20 combined, who have won 85. The Serb, as Alcaraz acknowledged, remains the man to beat.

“Novak is the main favourite to win Wimbledon, that’s obvious,” the 20-year-old said. “But I will try to play at this level, to have chances to beat him. I will have chances, that’s for sure. But I see Novak as the main favourite. This is not