Carlos Alcaraz is planning on kicking off his grass season at the Queen’s Club despite his French Open victory and having a very short time to prepare for his first scheduled grass tournament.
On Sunday, Alcaraz became a three-time Grand Slam champion after overcoming Alexander Zverev in a five-set French Open now.
Since Alcaraz dealt with a right forearm injury going into the French Open and he had two long weeks in Paris, some naturally wondered if that would have any impact on his grass season plans. But during an appearance on Spanish radio Onda Cero, Alcaraz confirmed that he is still aiming to defend his Queen’s title and then also play at Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics.
Last year, Alcaraz entered the grass season with question marks as even he was very openly talking about still needing to “figure out how to play on grass.” But after Alcaraz won five matches in Queen’s for his first grass title, everything changed and he spoke very confidently about his grass game.
“I see myself with a lot of weapons on grass,” Alcaraz said after winning his first title on grass.
“I try to hit big shots all the time, I’ve improved my serve really well. And with the forehand I try to dominate all the time. And yes, I consider myself a good player on grass with all the weapons that I have.”
After winning Queen’s, that’s when Alcaraz for the first time agreed to declare himself a Wimbledon finalist.
“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 favorites to win Wimbledon,” Alcaraz said at the time.