The Cinch Championships at The Queen’s Club, West Kensington, is one of the most popular and best supported tournaments on the Grass Court swing.
Carlos Alcaraz returns to London to defend his title, his first tournament since winning the French Open in Roland Garros. Alcaraz took a break immediately after the victory, as expected, to play in this more prestigious event in London and will likely take another week off next week in preparation for the main event in Wimbledon starting on July 1st.
With Zverev, Tsitsipas, Medvedev and Sinner all playing in Halle, Germany, the field is not as intimidating as it could be but there will still be potential banana skins and quality players to contend with during the week.
Alcaraz open against Francisco Cerundolo and then likely the newly crowned champion of Stuttgart, Jack Draper. The path will not get easier as he could face a player who he has lost to twice, Tommy Paul.
Alcaraz has a lot to play for and it would be a remarkable feat if he could repeat last year’s results of winning Queens and Wimbledon in the same year and add to his current winning streak of 12 on Grass Courts.
One of the biggest threats to Alcaraz is second seed Alex De Minaur who just won the title in Hertogenbosch on grass and looks in imperious form. De Minaur will face Lorenzo Musetti who reached the Stuttgart semi-finals where he was dominated by a resurgent Matteo Berrettini. De Minaur made the final here last year where he was beaten by Alcaraz – it’s very likely that we see a repeat in 2024 if both play to form.
Andy Murray will open his tournament against a qualifier. The former Wimbledon Champion will face a stern test in the second round if he makes it where he is likely to face the athletic Holger Rune. Murray’s preparations for Queens did not go to plan as he lost in the first round to Marcos Giron in Stuttgart last week.
Other players to look out for at the Cinch Championships will be today’s beaten finalist in Hertogenbosch, Sebastian Korda who opens against the big hitting Russian Karen Khachanov.
The British home support, while maybe not as vocal as the recent French crowd, will be well behind Cameron Norrie as the leftie battles against the big serving Canadian Milos Raonic. Raonic is capable of beating anyone when his serve is on song and he looked promising in Hertogenbosch last week.
Dan Evans will open against American Brandon Nakashima, while Billy Harris will try to topple Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry. There will be plenty for the home crowd to get behind in the early rounds. Only time will tell if Murray or Evans can find form for a deep run but the best chance of home success seems to lie with Jack Draper going into the tournament.
It promises to be an unpredictable tournament with many 50/50 battles early in the tournament and players are still finding their feet on the new surface. Indeed, with just a couple of weeks until the world’s most prestigious tournament, we will surely see those who are most likely to compete at SW19 emerge in the next few days.
Tip: De Minaur looks like good value at 8.2 on Betfair Exchange. he will give Alcaraz a run for his money if they reach the final.
Patrick.