Carlos Alcaraz to play Queen's tournament ahead of Wimbledon title defense
Carlos Alcaraz, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, is in the draw for the HSBC Championships at the Queen's Club in west London.
There had been doubts over his participation following last weekend's epic French Open final win, but Alcaraz confirmed his intention to play the event to the tournament Friday, and will give a news conference at Queen's Sunday afternoon. It is a boost for the event, which had already lost last year's finalists Tommy Paul and Lorenzo Musetti, as well as the 2022 champion Matteo Berrettini.
Advertisement
Paul and Musetti picked up abdominal and leg injuries at Roland Garros respectively, while Berrettini has not played since retiring from his match against Casper Ruud at last month's Italian Open in Rome because of an ongoing abdominal issue of his own.
Last Sunday, Alcaraz defeated Jannik Sinner to win his second French Open title, coming from two sets down for the first time to win a match that lasted five hours and 29 minutes — the second-longest final in Grand Slam history.
Alcaraz went on holiday to Ibiza, Spain following the final, as has become an annual post-Roland Garros tradition ahead of playing Queen's, which he won two years ago. Last year, he lost to Britain's Jack Draper in the second round. Alcaraz went on to claim the Wimbledon title in both of those years, and is sticking to that winning formula this year.
The men's event at Queen's begins on Monday June 16, and is one of the most high-profile Wimbledon warm-up events. As well as Alcaraz, former champions at the men's tournament include John McEnroe, Pete Sampras and Rafael Nadal.
It this year runs after the WTA Tour event, which is being held for the first time since 1973. Alcaraz will play compatriot Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina in the first round; Draper faces Jenson Brooksby of the U.S.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Coco Gauff defeats top-ranked Sabalenka in 3 sets to win first French Open title
Coco Gauff defeats top-ranked Sabalenka in 3 sets to win first French Open title originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston Drawing on the painful memory of her defeat three years ago in the French Open final gave Coco Gauff just the motivation she needed to win the clay-court major for the first time. Advertisement The 21-year-old American defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday for her second Grand Slam title, two years after winning the U.S. Open. 'I think (the U.S. Open victory) was more emotional but this one was harder,' said Gauff, who managed to handle the elements and the momentum swings better than Sabalenka. 'I knew it was going to be about will power and mental (strength).' The victory put to rest the bad memories of her 2022 French Open final loss to Iga Swiatek when, as an 18-year-old, Gauff felt overwhelmed even before stepping onto Court Philippe-Chatrier. 'It was a tough time, I was doubting myself,' Gauff recalled. 'I was crying before the match, and so nervous, literally couldn't breathe and stuff.' Advertisement Gauff said that the lopsided loss rocked her confidence to such an extent that she was left 'in a dark place' and feared she was not cut out for winning major titles. 'I thought if I can't handle this how am I going to handle it again?' she said. She handled it just fine on Saturday. The second-ranked Gauff made fewer mistakes and kept her emotions in check to get the better of Sabalenka again at major final, having come from a set down to beat the Belarusian in the 2023 U.S. Open final. Gauff raised the winners' trophy aloft, then kissed it several times. She held her hand over her heart when the U.S. national anthem played. Advertisement 'This one is heavy,' Gauff said. 'It feels great to lift it.' She is the first American woman to win at Roland-Garros since Serena Williams in 2015. It was the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 final in Paris since 2013, when Williams defeated Maria Sharapova, and just the second in the last 30 years. After Sabalenka sent a backhand wide on Gauff's second match point, the 21-year-old American fell onto her back, covering her face with both hands as she started to sob, then got up and held her hand over her mouth. She continued to sob as she patted the clay with her left hand. Gauff greeted Sabalenka at the net with a warm hug and thanking the umpire, Gauff screamed out with joy and relief, then got to her knees and crouched forward, continuing to cry as she savored the win. Advertisement She hugged later film director Spike Lee and celebrated with her entourage in her box before thanking the fans. 'You guys were cheering for me so hard,' she said. 'I don't know what I did to deserve so much love from the French crowd.' One thing Gauff could not manage — yet — was a victory speech in French. 'I completely tanked on that,' she said, adding that she will try in the future. 'I don't think I could do a whole speech but maybe a good something to say to the French crowd.' Sabalenka praised Gauff for being a 'fighter' and said she deserved the win, but added that the windy conditions made for an error-strewn contest. Advertisement 'This will hurt so much,' Sabalenka said. 'Coco, congrats, in the tough conditions you were a better player than me.' Both players were sloppy in the first set, conceding 21 break-point chances and making 48 unforced errors between them, with Sabalenka making 32 yet still winning the set. She made 70 altogether in the match, compared to 30 overall for Gauff. Sabalenka was often frustrated, remonstrating and shouting at herself and frequently turning around to look at her team with an exasperated look on her face. She put her head on her hands a couple of times, and at one point raised her shoulders as if to say 'What's going on?' Gauff said she paid no attention, knowing full well that Sabalenka could find her best game at any moment. Advertisement The first set looked to be heading Gauff's way when she led 3-0 in the tiebreaker, but Sabalenka steadied herself and clinched it with a forehand volley at the net. Gauff leveled the match with a smash at the net. But Sabalenka stuck to her high-risk approach in the deciding set. One superb rally in the third game drew loud cheers. After an intense exchange of drop shots, Gauff hit a lob that Sabalenka chased down before attempting a shot between her legs — only for Gauff to intercept it at the net. It was a rare highlight on a day when swirling wind troubled both players with the roof open. 'It was tough to plant your feet, the ball was moving so much,' Gauff said. 'It was not a day for great tennis, honestly.'
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Taylor vs Essuman: Live updates and results, 2 pm ET
Josh Taylor looks to get his career rolling again, now as a welterweight, as he moves up to the 147 lb division to face Ekow Essuman in a main event from Glasgow. Live coverage on DAZN starts at 2 pm ET, as will our live updates. Advertisement Taylor, 34, is coming in off of two straight losses to Teofimo Lopez and Jack Catterall, while the 36-year-old Essuman has won back-to-back fights following a 2023 loss to Harry Scarff. The undercard will feature the return of top heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma, plus more. Main Card (DAZN, 2:00 pm ET) Josh Taylor (19-2, 13 KO) vs Ekow Essuman (21-1, 8 KO), welterweights, 12 rounds Moses Itauma (11-0, 9 KO) vs Mike Balogun (21-1, 16 KO), heavyweights, 10 rounds Nathaniel Collins (16-0, 7 KO) vs Lee McGregor (15-1-1, 11 KO), featherweights, 12 rounds Aloys Junior (9-1, 8 KO) vs David Jamieson (13-3, 10 KO), cruiserweights, 12 rounds Aston Brown (7-0, 2 KO) vs Reece Porter (5-0, 3 KO), middleweights, 10 rounds More from
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
'Sky the limit' for treble winners Bath
Captain Ben Spencer says the "sky is the limit" for Bath after they ended a 29-year wait for a Premiership trophy and clinched a historic treble. Spencer lifted the trophy at Allianz Stadium Twickenham on Saturday after a tense, closely-fought 23-21 final victory against Leicester Tigers. Advertisement Bath added their first league title since 1996 to Premiership Rugby Cup and European Challenge Cup silverware won earlier this campaign. "The future of this club is unbelievably bright, no matter who pulls on the shirt it's next man in," Spencer said. "The work ethic is second to none. As long as we keep our feet on the floor and keep on wanting to get better, the sky is the limit for this team." Spencer joined Bath in 2020 after nine years with Saracens where he won seven major trophies - including four Premiership titles - through the London club's era of dominance. The 32-year-old was made captain in 2022-23 as head of rugby Johann van Graan's tenure at Bath began, just months after the club had finished bottom of the league the season before. Advertisement "The amount of hard work this has taken to turn the ship around... we were bottom three years ago," added Spencer. "I can't credit [Van Graan] enough, he's been absolutely brilliant. If we [understand] there's always an opportunity to get better then I'm really excited for the next couple of years." Bath narrowly lost to Northampton in the Twickenham showpiece last June but were overwhelming favourites this time around. They ended the regular league campaign 11 points clear at the top of the table and wrapped up top spot and a home semi-final in the play-offs with three rounds of games still to play. Advertisement Scrum-half Spencer said he mainly felt "relief" at the final whistle because of the prolonged build-up. "To get the mindset right when you qualify early as we did is quite tough," he said. "I played that semi-final in my head hundreds of times. Day in, day out it was, 'who are we going to get?' It's a hard place to be mentally. "It's relief for me, the players, staff and fans." 'Champion teams win things multiple times' Van Graan said his side had done the "unthinkable" in winning the league title three years after he took over. The squad will now go their separate ways over the summer, with international commitments, including the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia. Advertisement They will not reconvene until a pre-season camp in September but Van Graan said the ambition to keep getting better will not diminish. "I'll set the vision we'll align as a group and we'll take whatever's next - champion teams are teams that win things multiple times," he added. "The day you stand still is the day somebody catches you. "I learned in my time at [South African club] Bulls when I was part of a team that won a lot, you must always train like number two because the other guys are coming. "We'll look at ourselves and we'll go again. It's a journey, there's no end point." Advertisement Additional reporting by Alex Hoad
