Carlos Alcaraz defeated Alex de Minaur in straight sets to win the Cinch Championships and regain the top ranking on the ATP circuit. The issue, for the rest of the world of tennis, is that Alcaraz likely is nowhere near his peak and that might not come for a few years. But by that time, Alcaraz could already have won many majors.
Alex de Minaur didn’t play poorly against Alcaraz. But players have to perform nearly perfectly to defeat the 20-year-old Spaniard. A player that doesn’t beat themselves is tough to defeat, of course. But a player who doesn’t beat themselves and also wins points by hitting winners at insane angles is nearly impossible to defeat.
Alcaraz accomplished several things in his 6-4 6-4 victory at the Queen’s Club. He will move back into the ATP’s No. 1 ranking. He won his first tournament on grass. Alcaraz will be the number 1 seed at Wimbledon because he holds the number 1 ranking. And he won his fifth tournament of the year.
Carlos Alcaraz defeats Alex de Minaur in straight sets to win Cinch Championships
Now Wimbledon is set up as a potentially historic showdown between the precocious Spaniard and the all-time Grand Slam title holder, Novak Djokovic. Carlos Alcaraz will be seed number 1 and Djokovic likely number 2 which means the two would only meet in the final. As much as anyone can be a fan of any individual player, most tennis fans should probably hope Carlos Alcaraz versus Novak Djokovic is the men’s Wimbledon final matchup.
Djokovic has 23 Grand Slam titles, of course. He is the all-time record holder, and if Alcaraz wins a major every year between now and 2044 he will only be tied with Djokovic at 23. But there’s no reason to think that Alcaraz can’t win multiple majors every year for the foreseeable future. His tennis is simply too perfect for him not to win a bunch of Grand Slams quickly.