QUEEN’S CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Queens’s Club Championships are seen as the true warm-up for Wimbledon and are always a perfect opportunity for players to try their luck on the English grass before the Grand Slam rolls around.
Matteo Berrettini – Hunting a hat-trick
Matteo Berrettini is a very solid all-round player, but grass court tennis is where he really come in to his own. Berrettini has reached the final at Wimbledon once, and also has two Queen’s Club Championship titles to his name, having been victorious in both of the last two tournaments.
Berrettini’s aggressive playstyle very much suits grass court tennis, with his big serves and extremely powerful forehand making him a formidable opponent on such a quick, low-bouncing surface.
The Italian hasn’t exactly excelled in 2023, with his best run coming at the Mexican Open where he was defeated in the quarterfinals by Danish sensation Holger Rune, who went on to lose in the semi-finals.
Although he has not yet found his feet in 2023, the Queen’s Club Championships is a tournament which he loves, and completing a hat-trick of wins here could be just what he needs to build momentum heading into Wimbledon.
Carlos Alcaraz – The one to beat
Carlos Alcaraz is undoubtedly the most exciting player on the tour at the moment. At just 20 years of age he already has a US Open title to his name, and everything suggests that it will be the first of many.
Alcaraz become the youngest ever World Number One in 2022 at the age of just 19, and he has not looked back since. The Spaniard notched up his 100th career win in 2023 and already has four wins on the ATP Tour this year, with a semi-final appearance at the French Open on the horizon too.
Grass court tennis is not necessarily Alcaraz’s strong point, having never reached a final on the surface, but the Spaniard has a wide range of skills and ability. With more experience than he has ever had under his belt, and coming into the tournament with more momentum than most, it is hard not to see him going far at the Queen’s Club Championships.
Andy Murray – A Queen’s Club legend
Andy Murray is one of the Queen’s Club greats with five titles to his name, making him the most successful player ever at the tournament. Murray won five out of a possible eight titles between 2009 and 2016, the most dominant era in Queen’s Club history.
Murray’s last entry was in 2017 where he was the number one seed having won the year before, but he did not live up to expectation and crashed out in the first round to the mostly unknown Australian Jordan Thompson.
Murray has famously suffered with injuries in recent years, but in the past few months he has been putting in some decent performances, having reached the final of the Qatar Open in February and winning the Open du Pays d’Aix in May.
Despite a lack of wins in recent years, Murray will be fired up to perform here ahead of what could well be his last Wimbledon, and a good performance here would be the perfect platform to set himself up for a run at his favourite Grand Slam.
Holger Rune – Rising star
Holger Rune had somewhat of a breakout year in 2022 and has continued his form this year. Rune won the Bavarian Open back in April and has reached two ATP Masters 1000 finals outside of that.
Rune is already a star in Denmark, despite not having won a Grand Slam, but with a quarterfinal at the French Open on the horizon this year he could very well put himself in major contention in Paris.
Rune is making his debut at Queen’s and will hope to make an instant impact in England, with his one Wimbledon appearance ending in a first-round exit. The Dane will be hoping for a better season on the English grass courts this year, and a good account of himself here would be the perfect start to achieving that.
