London ATP Champion Alcaraz Ready for Wimbledon

LONDON, SUNDAY — Carlos Alcaraz has proven himself worthy of being labeled as the favorite to win Wimbledon 2025. With his ability to quickly adapt from clay court tournaments to grass, the Spanish tennis player won the ATP 500 tournament in London.

Alcaraz is the champion at the Queen’s Club, London, England, for the second time, after 2023, following his victory over Jiri Lehecka in the final match on Sunday (22/6/2025). Alcaraz won with a score of 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2. This victory marks his 18th consecutive win after he claimed the ATP Masters 1000 title in Rome and the Grand Slam title at the French Open.

The Roma Masters and the French Open take place on clay courts, which have characteristics that are in stark contrast to the grass courts of Queen's Club. Clay courts reflect the ball slowly and high, often resulting in long rallies in the pursuit of points. It is difficult for players to score points quickly, even if they have powerful shots.

In contrast, grass courts make the ball bounce very fast and low. Often, tennis players have to return their opponent's shots by kneeling. The different surface of the court makes the footwork that must be mastered different.

Alcaraz's speed in adapting to various factors is what enabled him to win the ATP London title. He accomplished this less than two weeks after defending his title at the French Open on the clay courts of Roland Garros.

"It is actually very complicated to adapt quickly from clay courts to grass in just a few days. I only have two days to practice here," said Alcaraz.

Based on this, the 22-year-old tennis player has not set high targets at the ATP in London. His goal is to participate in two to three matches to adapt to the grass, and then improve his playing style from those matches for Wimbledon.

"Apparently, I can adapt very quickly, but not in the context of being a champion, rather in competing. I can play comfortably in a short amount of time, and I am happy to be able to do that," said the tennis player who has five Grand Slam titles.

The developments over the past week in London have made Alcaraz a worthy contender for the Wimbledon championship. The Grand Slam, as the pinnacle of competition on the grass courts, will take place from June 30 to July 13.

If he can win all seven rounds in the best-of-five sets format over two weeks, Alcaraz will have a hat-trick of titles. He follows in the footsteps of Novak Djokovic, the last player to win Wimbledon before Alcaraz, in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. Wimbledon 2020 was not held due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Alcaraz has a week to refine his shortcomings before returning to the All England Club. He will remain in London instead of returning to Villena, Spain, or Ibiza, where he had a short vacation with his friends after winning the French Open.

"If I could go back to Ibiza, ha-ha-ha... I am a tennis player who needs moments with friends and family to temporarily forget about tennis in order to refresh my mind. However, this is not the time to go back there or to return home. I will stay in London, enjoy some time, and then return to preparing for Wimbledon," he stated.

Alcaraz became the only top-ranked tennis player to win the Wimbledon warm-up tournament held in England and Germany from July 16 to 22. In another tournament for male players in Halle, Germany, the championship title was claimed by Alexander Bublik, who defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the final. This marks Bublik's second title in Halle after 2023.

Except for the first round when facing Alexandre Muller, Bublik defeated seeded players in the following four rounds. He eliminated the world number one, Jannik Sinner, in the second round, followed by Tomas Machac (seventh seed) in the quarterfinals, then Karen Khachanov (eighth seed/semi-finals), and Medvedev (third seed) in the final.

Bublik's journey in 2025 was like a roller coaster. After losing in the first round in three consecutive tournaments, namely the ATP 500 Doha, Dubai, and the ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells, Bublik chose a small-level tournament, the ATP Challenger, as his next agenda. The consecutive bad results made his ranking plummet, from 33rd at the beginning of the year to 82nd, in March.

The silver medalist in men's doubles at the 2018 Jakarta Palembang Asian Games (together with Denis Yevseyev) from Kazakhstan chose a smaller tournament to improve his performance in lower-level competitions. He hopes that a good result can boost his confidence. Bublik reached the final of the ATP Challenger in Phoenix, although he lost to Joao Fonseca, an 18-year-old Brazilian tennis player.

That moment became a turning point for the Russian-born tennis player. After Phoenix, he achieved several notable accomplishments, although not yet at a consistent level. Bublik reached the fourth round of the Madrid Masters, advanced to the quarter-finals of the French Open (defeating Alex de Minaur and Jack Draper), and then won the ATP Halle.

"I have been going through a tough time since Wimbledon 2024 and even considered retirement because I found it difficult to enjoy tennis. Then, I promised my coach to persevere and continue training. We discussed the next steps. Now, after the quarter-finals of the French Open, I am the champion here. It is hard to express my feelings," said Bublik on the official ATP website.

Another tournament in Germany for female tennis players, the WTA 500 Berlin, was won by Marketa Vondrousova. The athlete who eliminated the world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, in the semifinals defeated Wang Xin Yu in the championship match. Vondrousova won with a score of 7-6 (10), 4-6, 6-2.

After the tournaments in Berlin, Halle, and London, some tennis players will continue their preparations for Wimbledon in the remaining week at another tournament, from June 22 to 28. Iga Swiatek, who missed the Berlin tournament, will compete in the WTA 500 Bad Homburg in Germany, alongside other top ten ranked players, such as Jessica Pegula, Jasmine Paolini, and Mirra Andreeva.

Meanwhile, most of the top male tennis players have chosen to train in London. Only Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton continue to compete in different tournaments in England. (AP/AFP)