Alcaraz battles past Lehecka in Queen’s final, Bublik clinches Halle Open title

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz edged powerful Czech Jiri Lehecka 7-5 6-7(5) 6-2 to claim his second Queen’s Club title and send out a powerful statement ahead of his Wimbledon defence on Sunday.

Spaniard Alcaraz, who triumphed at Queen’s a few weeks before claiming his first Wimbledon title in 2023, extended his winning streak to 18 matches but was pushed hard by Lehecka who underlined his own credentials as a rising force.

Alcaraz, 22, pounced at 5-5 to break the Lehecka serve and duly bagged the opening set in 45 minutes.

Lehecka, bidding to become the first Czech to win the Queen’s title since Ivan Lendl in 1990, continued going toe-to-toe with the five-times Grand Slam champion and edged the second-set tie-break with some clinical tennis.

Alcaraz had more in his locker though and forged 4-1 ahead in the decider as Lehecka’s level finally began to drop on a breezy Andy Murray Arena in west London.

He then broke the 23-year-old Lehecka’s serve again to complete victory, letting out a roar of a delight as Lehecka struck a backhand into the net.

While Alcaraz will be seeded number two at Wimbledon behind Jannik Sinner as he bids for a hat-trick of titles there, he will arrive in red-hot form and as overwhelming favourite.

He has won 27 of his 28 matches since April, his lone loss coming against Holger Rune in the Barcelona final, and Sunday’s win was his fifth title this year.

“This is really special this trophy and this tournament for me,” Alcaraz said on court as he clutched the huge piece of silverware.

“Jiri had an incredible week and his level is very high and it’s a nightmare to play against you.”

Meanwhile, Kazakh Alexander Bublik achieved his first win in seven meetings with Russian Daniil Medvedev to claim his second title on the grass of Halle, a week before Wimbledon.

Bublik, ranked 45, claimed the scalp of world number one Jannik Sinner in the second round.

The 28-year-old maintained his streak with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), victory in one hour and 22 minutes in his first clash on grass with third seed Medvedev.

Thanks to his second Halle trophy after 2023 and fifth ATP title overall, Bublik will move to 30th in Monday’s ATP rankings, while Medvedev, who was playing in his first final in 15 months, will move to number nine.

“I was cursed against you, Daniil. But today, I’m happy to have won. Beating you here is a great honour for me,” Bublik said during the trophy presentation.

In the first set, Bublik broke his opponent’s serve to lead 5-3 and won the set on his serve.

The Kazakh saved Medvedev’s only break point, also a set point, at 4-5 in the second set, with a perfectly hit drop shot.

He wrapped up the match in the tie-break with a service winner.

Vondrousova triumphs: Marketa Vondrousova ended the run of Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu to land the Berlin WTA title on Sunday and ignite dreams of a second Wimbledon victory.

The Czech, who won Wimbledon in 2023, was pushed hard by Wang, appearing in her first final, but eventually emerged the 7-6 (12/10), 4-6, 6-2 winner.

This was Vondrousova’s third success on the WTA tour and it proved she is hitting form at the right moment after a torrid time with injury with Wimbledon starting on Monday week.

The 25-year-old, finalist at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has tumbled down the world rankings to 164 from sixth after months away from the court with a left shoulder injury for which she underwent surgery last year.

“We’ve all worked hard for me to come back,” said Vondrousova, acknowledging the hard work she and her team have put in to get her back firing on all cylinders.

Agencies