So much for Carlos Alcaraz being a novice on the grass.
The new big thing in men’s tennis looked quite at home on the lush green surface at the Queen’s Club Championships in beating Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals Thursday.
Alcaraz, ranked No. 2 and the top-seeded player in west London, is playing the Wimbledon warmup event for the first time. These are his first professional matches on grass outside the All England Club, where he will head next month seeking his second Grand Slam title after winning the US Open last year.
He said his expectations on grass “are going to change” given the way he dispatched Lehecka, who came in at a career-high ranking of No. 36.
“After this match and this level, I think I’m ready to get good results on grass,” the Spaniard said.
Alcaraz said he has been taking inspiration from Roger Federer and Andy Murray as he makes the transition from clay to grass. Federer won eight titles at Wimbledon while Murray won two of his three Slams at the grass-court championships, and to ready himself for this year’s charge, Alcaraz has been studying the duo.
“I watch some videos about my opponents first, and then, you know, I have a lot of time to watch videos, to learn from the best players in the world, Andy, Roger, [Novak] Djokovic,” Alcaraz said. “You know, right now we are on grass, and I want to, you know, look up to the best players on grass and movers. You know, on grass, Roger and Andy for me are the best players that are moving great on grass. So I want to be the same.”
Alcaraz was sure-footed against Lehecka on Thursday, bar one first-set slip, as he prioritizes his focus on movement.
“Moving on grass, as I said a few times, for me, is the key of everything on grass. You know, is the key if you are playing good or not,” Alcaraz said. “You have to be more focused, you know, on the footwork here. Talking [for] me, I can’t slide as I do on clay or on hard court, so you have to know that and, you know, practicing from that part, you have to adapt your moves [and how you] hit on grass.”
After a first set in which Alcaraz didn’t face a break point, mistakes started to creep into both players’ games in the second set — there were 41 unforced errors between them overall in the match — but Alcaraz’s defense and coverage at the net impressed as he wrapped up victory in 1 hour, 25 minutes on his third match point when Lehecka hit a forehand long.
It took Alcaraz more than 2½ hours and three sets containing two tiebreakers to see off Arthur Rinderknech of France in the first round.
“I feel really comfortable here on grass,” Alcaraz said. “I’m happy getting experience on grass. Knowing I have this level, I’m really happy about it.”
Alcaraz will next play qualifier Grigor Dimitrov, the 2014 champion who beat eighth-seeded Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 7-5.
Adrian Mannarino of France got another big win on grass, and entertained along the way, by ousting third-seeded Taylor Fritz of the United States 6-4, 7-6 (7).
A week after beating Daniil Medvedev last week in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, Mannarino used his accurate first serve — a 74% match success rate — to set up a meeting with Alex de Minaur in the quarterfinals.
The 46th-ranked Mannarino drew gasps and applause with a no-look volley winner, as well as a tweener and a shot behind his back in the same point.
Fritz saved three match points in the tiebreaker but double-faulted on the fourth.
De Minaur of Australia defeated Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-2 in barely an hour.
ESPN’s Tom Hamilton and The Associated Press contributed to this report.