Carlos Alcaraz is one of the favorites to win his second Wimbledon following his triumph last year against Novak Djokovic in the final. The Spaniard has been practicing at the All England Club since his arrival at the SW19, leaving former WTA ace Laura Robson without much worry about his performance.
The 21-year-old shook off his forearm problem at the French Open to produce one of his best performances. He defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals without losing a set and went ahead to beat Jannik Sinner in five sets. The Spaniard’s relentlessness earned him his first Roland Garros after beating Alexander Zverev in the final.
Two consecutive five-set matches led him to go on a vacation to Ibiza. The three-time Grand Slam champion returned to court at the Queen’s Club Championship hoping to defend his title but failed to do so. He lost to British No.1 Jack Draper in the second round. That led him to drop from No.2 position to No.3, having failed to over 450 points at Queen’s.
However, Laura Robson admits she doesn’t worry about his performance at the tournament, following his early arrival at Wimbledon.
He was probably so shattered from Paris as there is such a quick turnaround from Paris and he managed to squeeze in a cheeky trip to Ibiza to celebrate, so he probably won’t worry too much about the defeat at Queen’s. Carlos will have got enough practice in at Wimbledon, so I don’t have any worries about him when the tournament starts. The extra week without matches might do him some good. Laura Robson said Tennis365
Alcaraz reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January and followed it up by winning the French Open. He will be hoping to continue his strong Grand Slam form into Wimbledon.
Carlos Alcaraz in the same Wimbledon half of the draw with Jannik Sinner
Carlos Alcaraz will begin his Wimbledon campaign against Estonia qualifier Mark Lajal in the first round. The 21-year-old is in the same half of the draw with World No.1 Jannik Sinner. They are likely to face each other in the semifinals if they cruise past through their respective rounds.
However, before that, Sinner will play German Yannick Hanfmann in the opening round of the tournament. He might face 2021 finalist and fellow Italian Matteo Berrettini in the second round before American Ben Shelton . While Alcaraz will likely meet Ugo Humbert in the fourth round.
Sinner and Alcaraz last met in the semifinals of the French Open with Alcaraz winning after five sets. The Spaniard leads 5-4 in head-to-head and will be hoping to beat the Italian again if they eventually meet.