Alcaraz reclaims No. 1 ranking after winning Queen’s Club Championships | CBC Sports

Carlos Alcaraz won the Queen’s Club Championships final on Sunday in London for his first ATP title on grass and reclaimed the top ranking, ensuring he will enter Wimbledon next month as the No. 1 seed.

Despite struggling at times in the first set, Alcaraz beat Alex De Minaur 6-4, 6-4 for his fifth title of the year and 11th overall.

That saw the 20-year-old Spaniard move above Novak Djokovic in the rankings and confirmed the U.S. Open champion as a serious challenger to the Serbian’s crown at Wimbledon. Alcaraz lost in the fourth round to Jannik Sinner last year.

“The chances don’t change so much. I mean, Novak is coming to Wimbledon,” Alcaraz said. “Right now I’m feeling better than the beginning of the week, that’s obvious.

“Of course, recovering the No. 1 before Wimbledon, it gives you extra motivation, it gives you extra confidence coming into Wimbledon. But it doesn’t change too much if I play Wimbledon as the No. 2 or the No. 1.”

Sunday’s final was Alcaraz’s first on grass, in only the third tournament of his young career on the surface.

He had to save two break points in the eighth game of the first set, broke in the next game and then served out for the set.

Alcaraz won the only break point of the second set, when De Minaur double-faulted, and sealed the title on his first match point when the Australian sent a return long.

“It means a lot to have my name on the trophy,” Alcaraz said. “It was special to play here where so many legends have won. To see my name surrounded by the great champions is amazing.”

Ostapenko tops Krejcíková in Birmingham

Jelena Ostapenko staved off a late comeback to beat top-seeded Barbora Krejcíková in the Birmingham Classic final to win her second title on grass.

In a battle of the top two seeds and former French Open champions, it was the second-seeded Latvian who came out on top, winning 7-6 (8), 6-4.

Krejcíková hadn’t dropped a set all week coming into the championship match. But it was Ostapenko who secured a tight opening set at her fourth opportunity in the tiebreaker.

Ostapenko then raced to a 5-1 lead to leave her on the brink of victory before Krejcíková responded by winning three games in a row.

“I was really close from 5-1 to 5-4 but then I managed somehow and I’m really, really happy about it,” said Ostapenko, who had four three-set matches before the final.

“I was fighting every match. I played five great matches, this was the only match in two sets. It’s a great preparation for Wimbledon and there’s still a couple of things I can do better.”

It was Ostapenko’s sixth singles title and her second on grass after triumphing at Eastbourne in 2021.

Bublik stuns Rublev in Halle Open

Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik upset Andrey Rublev 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the final of the Halle Open.

Bublik, who had won eight of 27 matches all year before this week, played a risky style that paid off with 42 winners — third-seeded Rublev had 23 — along with 21 aces.

“It really means the world to me,” Bublik said. “I’ve been struggling for half a year … I don’t take it for granted. It was hard work.”

It’s the second title of Bublik’s career after he won in Montpellier last year with the player improving to a 2-6 record in tour-level finals, and his first win on grass after twice being runner-up in Newport. He rises to a career-high 26th in the rankings after starting the week 48th.

Rublev drops to 13-8 in finals. The Russian is now a two-time Halle runner-up after losing to Ugo Humbert in the 2021 final.

The seventh-ranked Rublev is set to return to Wimbledon next month after missing last year’s edition of the grass-court Grand Slam event when Russian and Belarusian players were barred following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Kvitová edges Vekić in Berlin final

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová showed she’s ready to try for a third title by beating Donna Vekić 6-2, 7-6 (6) to win the Berlin Open for her 31st career victory.

Kvitová saved three of the four break points she faced and converted four of her five opportunities as she won the match in one hour 41 minutes for her sixth title on grass. She has won 12 of her last 13 matches on the surface going back to her title run in Eastbourne last season.

“Every time I play you, you seem to go on and win the title,” Vekić told her experienced opponent. “At least this time it was in the final.”

Vekić had knocked out two top-10 opponents in No. 3 Elena Rybakina and No. 8 Maria Sakkari on her way to the Berlin decider.

The 33-year-old Kvitová, who was playing in her 42nd final, wrapped up the first set in 33 minutes on her debut in Berlin, but the second wasn’t as straightforward. The Czech’s double-fault gave Vekić the chance to break for a 2-1 lead.

Kvitová managed to break Vekić’s serve at 5-4 as she won three games in a row, leaving Vekić serving at 6-5 down to stay in the match. She did, leading to the tiebreaker.

But Kvitová fought back again despite falling 3-1 behind in the tiebreaker.

“I love grass,” Kvitová said. “I hope I come back next year.”

Only Venus Williams with 49 titles has won more titles among active players.