February 20, (THEWILL) – Reigning Wimbledon champion, Carlos Alcaraz, has confirmed he will return to the scene of last season’s triumphant pre-Wimbledon Queen’s Club Championships campaign. The world number two clinched the Queen’s title in 2023 before going on to claim his maiden SW19 crown, defeating Novak Djokovic in the final.
The 20-year-old Spaniard is the first player to announce his entry into this year’s prestigious Queen’s event. Alcaraz admitted he was “excited to be heading back” to the competition and described his 2023 victory as “very special” and the “perfect preparation for Wimbledon”. He also professed he “really enjoyed” competing on the British grass last summer.
Having beaten Alex de Minaur in last year’s Queen’s final, Alcaraz will be hoping he can find similar form and fitness ahead of his Wimbledon title defence. The rising star burst onto the scene in 2022 with a remarkable breakthrough year and his Queen’s and Wimbledon triumphs last season marked him out as a force to be reckoned with on grass.
With his aggressive baseline game suited to quicker surfaces, Alcaraz will head to London in June as one of the favourites to lift the trophy. If he can match last year’s achievement at the Queen’s Club, he will also cement his tag as the man to beat when Wimbledon rolls around.
The Spaniard faces stiff competition, with the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev expected to vie for the Wimbledon crown. Still, if Alcaraz can replicate the formula which brought him so much success in 2023, he will take some stopping in his quest for back-to-back Grand Slam titles at the All England Club.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
