Carlos Alcaraz has enjoyed a stellar year thus far, culminating in the retention of his French Open crown earlier this month.
The Spaniard, who is now a five-time Grand Slam champion, will now be hoping to mimic his Parisian feat by successfully defending his Wimbledon title too.
One of very few to have ever won these two events back to back, and now vying to become just the second-ever player to have defended both in successive years as well, so much history is on the line as he prepares to return to the All England Club.
However, before then, he must reacclimate to the grass courts which have served him so well over recent years.
Will Carlos Alcaraz play Queen’s this year?
There have been some questions over his preparation ahead of Wimbledon though, with his Queen’s participation thrown into doubt.
These worries were sparked by his coach, after he made some comments about their upcoming plans that did not specify when his pupil’s next tournament would come.
Juan Carlos Ferrero spoke about Alcaraz’s potential Queen’s appearance, and played down the chances, admitting that additional tests were needed to confirm.
He noted: ‘The plan is to play him, but we’ll make a final decision in a few days.
‘After these days off, on Thursday or Friday, we’ll do a test to see how he’s feeling physically and mentally.’
Whilst they hope to be available, missing Queen’s might mark a huge error from the Carlos Alcaraz team that could have huge repercussions ahead of Wimbledon too.
Carlos Alcaraz should not disrupt a winning routine ahead of Wimbledon
It seems like Alcaraz is becoming a creature of habit during certain parts of the year, with May to July all following the same pattern.
After all, why fix what’s not broken?
The 22-year-old seems to have fallen into the routine of winning the French Open, jetting off to Ibiza for some much-needed downtime, returning to play Queen’s as his sole warm-up tournament before then winning Wimbledon too.
If he were to miss that crucial preparatory event, he would be heading to SW19 wholly unprepared, and having broken a routine that has brought him so much success in the past few years.
Hopefully, their tests come back positive, and Alcaraz is given the green light to confirm his attendance at Queen’s.
If not, there will be serious worries over his ability to convert his fine form directly from the Parisian clay to the grass of Wimbledon.
