“I think the best way to be better on grass is to stay here,” Alcaraz commits to London practice ahead of Wimbledon

World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz suffered a surprising defeat in the second round of the ATP 500 Queen’s Club Championships against Jack Draper (No. 31). The Spaniard could not defend the title he won last year at Queen’s and will not have any more preparatory matches before Wimbledon.

At the start of the grass swing, Alcaraz seemed to be the best-positioned player, with a streak of 12 consecutive wins on grass last year and as the recent French Open champion. However, his run at Queen’s was interrupted by Draper's excellent form. The local player had a magnificent performance and defeated Alcaraz 7-6(3), 6-3 in the best win of his career.

The early elimination means Alcaraz will lose 450 of the 500 points he was defending from last year's title, resulting in a drop in the rankings to world No. 3 while Novak Djokovic moves up to No. 2 without playing as he recovers from knee surgery after Roland Garros.

Read also

No coach, no party: Carlos Alcaraz faces coaching dilemma at the Olympics

The Thursday defeat left Alcaraz with several days out of competition before he has to defend his Wimbledon crown. Considering he is already in London, the 3-time Grand Slam champion decided not to return to Spain and will stay in London until Wimbledon starts on July 1.

“I think the best way to be better on grass is to stay here, practice with players, physically doing good stuff on grass and the movement, really specific things. In Spain or at my home, we don’t have grass courts or really grass places just to practice,” he said.

“I’m going to stay here. I have to talk with my team, but yeah, I’m close to Wimbledon, so as soon as I can, I’m going focus on the practicing with players, practicing and everything, and I hope to be better. I don’t think I’m going to go back home,” the former world No. 1 added.

Read also

(VIDEO) BBC commentator bizarrely hits back at Carlos Alcaraz in rant surrounding name pronunciation