Carlos Alcaraz wins Queen's Club title; Jelena Ostapenko wins Birmingham Classic

Carlos Alcaraz will return to world number one after beating Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday to win his first title on grass at Queen’s Club. The Spaniard’s fifth title of the season moves him back ahead of 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic at the top of the rankings. “It means a lot to have my name on the trophy,” said Alcaraz after joining the likes of Rafael Nadal, Pete Sampras and John McEnroe as former winners at Queen’s. “It’s special for me to play here. So many legends have won here so to see my name on the trophy surrounded by the great champions for me is amazing.” Alcaraz was playing on the grass for just the third tournament of his career. The 20-year-old has failed to get past the fourth round in two previous attempts at Wimbledon, but his impressive showing suggests he will be the biggest threat to Djokovic securing an eighth title at the All England Club next month. Despite Djokovic’s Wimbledon record, Alcaraz will now be the top seed for the third Grand Slam of the season. “It helps a lot to come into Wimbledon as number one, the top seed. It’s amazing but once again it wouldn’t be possible without the support of all the people through the whole week,” added Alcaraz. After battling past French lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech in the first round, the US Open champion did not drop a set in his final four matches at Queen’s. De Minaur had dumped out Andy Murray and world number six Holger Rune on his route to the final. But the Australian was left to rue Alcaraz’s ability to win the big points in a tight contest. “It’s been a great week for me,” said De Minaur. “We were close but weren’t able to get it done today. Too good by Carlos.” De Minaur had two break points for the chance to serve for the first set when he led 4-3. Alcaraz responded, though, to hold serve and immediately break the world number 18 in the next game before serving out for the set. He then needed lengthy treatment as he had strapping applied to his right quad. However, Alcaraz’s movement did not seem affected as he again pounced with his only break point to move ahead 3-2 in the second set. Two rare errors gave De Minaur some hope in the final game as Alcaraz found himself 0-30 down. But his booming serve dug him out of trouble as four straight points secured the title and a return to world number one. Kvitova boosts Wimbledon bid with Berlin triumph Petra Kvitova boosted her status as a leading favourite for a third Wimbledon title by sweeping past Donna Vekic in the final of the Berlin WTA grass-court tournament on Sunday. The Czech seventh seed won 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) to clinch her second title of the year and 31st of her career. Sunday’s victory gave her a sixth grass-court trophy for a 31st title, giving her more than any other active player besides Venus Williams’ 49. Kvitova, 33, who was Wimbledon champion in 2011 and 2014, burst out of the blocks, breaking her opponent twice in the first set. The pair traded breaks in the second before Kvitova triumphed in a tiebreak. The world number nine did not drop a set on the way to lifting the title at Steffi Graf Stadium in the German capital. Moments after the countdown to lift the trophy, Kvitova told the crowd: “I’m in shock right now. “I wasn’t sure I could count in German, but I did it in the end so I’m happy.” Vekic praised her opponent, saying: “Your career is something we can only hope for. “I’ve lost to you a few times and every time I lose to you I feel like you win the tournament.” Kvitova has now won 12 of her last 13 matches on grass dating back to her title run in Eastbourne last season. She has lost just four sets over that span. The unseeded Vekic, 26, impressed this week, defeating reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina on her way to her first grass-court final since 2019. Ostapenko claims Birmingham Open title Jelena Ostapenko won a battle of two former French Open champions beating Barbora Krejcikova 7-6 (10/8), 6-4 to win the Birmingham Open on Sunday. Krejcikova had sailed into the final without dropping a set with her progress in the English Midlands enough to ensure she will return to the world’s top 10 on Monday. But Ostapenko showed no sign of fatigue from her more draining route to the final as the Latvian claimed her first title of the season. “I played five great matches, this was the only match in two sets thankfully because every match was really tough,” said Ostapenko. “It’s a great preparation for Wimbledon.” Neither player dropped serve in the first set as Ostapenko finally got the upper hand in a marathon tie-break slamming a forehand winner down the line on her fourth set point. The 2017 French Open champion then looked on course to cruise to victory in the second set as she led 5-1. Krejcikova fought back to narrow the deficit to 5-4 but it was too little, too late for the Czech as Ostapenko served out for the title at the second time of asking. Bublik defeats Rublev to win Halle title Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik defeated third seed Andrey Rublev in three sets to win the biggest title of his career at the Halle Open on Sunday. Bublik won 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the final of the traditional Wimbledon warm-up tournament in Germany. The Kazakh took the first set after breaking Rublev in his opening service game. Rublev responded by winning the second set in similar fashion but Bublik raced 3-0 ahead in the decider before clinching his second ATP title. “This means the world to me, I’ve been struggling for a year and a half now. It was hard work,” he said of his 95-minute triumph. The 48th-ranked Bublik faced a difficult path to the final, making his way past Borna Coric, Jan-Lennard Struff and Jannik Sinner, before downing home favourite Alexander Zverev in the last four. “I was walking through the little hall of fame here before entering the court for the very first time,” recounted the 26-year-old. “I was like ‘wow, the different names, a lot of guys I’m familiar with. “But I could not even imagine I would win this tournament. I’m really, really happy.” Bublik chalked up 42 winners on the way to victory, compared with Rublev’s tally of 23. World number seven Rublev finished runner-up in Halle for the second time in three years having lost the 2021 final to France’s Ugo Humbert. Bublik’s win means Rublev’s bid to become the first player in history to win an ATP 500 title on all three surfaces continues. The Russian previously won on the clay in Hamburg and the hard courts of Vienna, Dubai, Rotterdam and St Petersburg. 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