Improving by the match on the grass courts of the Cinch Championships, Carlos Alcaraz moved into his first final on the surface with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Sebastian Korda on Saturday.

With victory against Alex de Minaur in Sunday’s final at The Queen’s Club in London, the Spaniard would reclaim the top spot in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings from Novak Djokovic and secure the No. 1 seed at Wimbledon. Through to his 14th tour-level final, he is seeking his 11th title.

“Right now I feel like I’m playing for 10 years on grass, it’s something crazy for me,” said Alcaraz, who is playing just his third tournament on the surface and entered London with a 4-2 grass-court record. “I didn’t expect to adapt my movement, my game so fast on grass. I’m really happy with that.”

Alcaraz’s win against World No. 32 Korda improved his record to 27-1 against players outside the Top 20 this season. He has reached at least the semi-finals in eight of the nine tournaments he’s played on the year.

After winning a dramatic opening set that featured a combined three breaks of serve on 13 chances, Alcaraz won the only break point of the second set. The 20-year-old converted three of his nine break chances overall, saving four of five break points against him in the opening set.

Korda was plagued by six double faults, including several at key moments in the first set. The American’s slice was also punished by Alcaraz, the top seed running around it and crushing forehands at every opportunity.

“I’m playing great, I’m feeling great,” the Spaniard assessed, saying that this was the best match of his young grass-court career. “I’m really happy to play here in Queen’s. Since the first match, I feel the love from the crowd. I would say that it’s impossible to win these kind of matches without them, without the energy they bring to me.”

What a way to reach the final! 🔥

First grass court final for @carlosalcaraz as he defeats Korda 6-3 6-4!@QueensTennis | #CinchChampionship pic.twitter.com/YvphwVfZu2

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 24, 2023

Alcaraz will again rely on that energy in the final against De Minaur, who beat Holger Rune 6-3, 7-6(2) earlier on Saturday. The pair’s lone previous Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting was a classic in last year’s Barcelona semi-finals. In a three-hour, 40-minute thriller, Alcaraz saved a pair of match points in a 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 6-4 victory en route to the title on home soil.

“It’s going to be a big challenge for me. His game is really good on grass,” Alcaraz said of the final matchup. “He serves so flat. He’s going to be very dangerous here on grass.

“But I think about myself, I’m thinking about my game. I will try to put my game in the match. I will try not to think about the opponent. Just enjoy the final, enjoy playing here and let’s see what happens.”

De Minaur could reach a new career-high Pepperstone ATP Ranking of No. 14 with victory in the final. Korda, behind his run to the semis, will move to a new high of World No. 25 on Monday.

Alex de Minaur reached his second tour-level final of the season on Saturday when he defeated second seed Holger Rune 6-3, 7-6(2) at the Cinch Championships in London.

The Australian has a strong record on grass, winning the title in Eastbourne in 2021 and advancing to the fourth round at Wimbledon last year. He demonstrated his pedigree on the surface once again in his semi-final clash against the Dane, moving well and committing just nine unforced errors to advance after one hour and 40 minutes.

“I love being here and playing on this court in front of this amazing crowd,” de Minaur said. “I am very happy to get through. I have played decent on grass and I am having a good week and this was my best performance of the week.”

De Minaur now holds a 12-2 record at ATP 500 events this season, having captured this biggest title of his career in Acapulco in February. The World No. 18, who defeated former World No. 1 Andy Murray in the first round, will chase his eighth tour-level title on Sunday when he meets Carlos Alcaraz or Sebastian Korda.

Rune arrived in London having never earned a tour-level grass-court win. The 20-year-old found his range on the surface this week, though, defeating Maxime Cressy, Ryan Peniston and Lorenzo Musetti to reach his sixth semi-final of the year.

Former finalist Andrey Rublev blasted past Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the Terra Wortmann Open title match once again.

The third seed, who fell against Ugo Humbert in the championship match in Halle in 2021, was locked in from ball one, using his flat groundstrokes to dictate. He demonstrated great footwork to attack on his forehand, striking 29 winners to overpower the Spaniard.

With his one-hour, 42-minute win, Rublev set a final meeting against Alexander Bublik on Sunday, when he will chase his second tour-level title of the season (Monte-Carlo).

If Rublev lifts his 14th tour-level trophy, he will have captured an ATP 500 title on grass, clay and hard courts.

Bublik moved to within one win of capturing his first grass-court tour-level title when he defeated home favourite Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-5.

The 25-year-old produced a strong serving performance at the ATP 500 event, firing 14 aces and winning 94 per cent (32/34) of points behind his first delivery to advance against the German after 88 minutes.

“The job is not finished, there is one last match,” Bublik said. “I am happy but I try to stay focused. I tried to play my game and i am really happy with the win today. Playing Sascha is really tough and I was a bit lucky in the key moments. When you play against a top player like Sascha, you need all the weapons to work.”

With his win, Bublik improved to 3-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Zverev. Bublik lifted his only tour-level trophy in Montpellier in 2022, but will have the chance to add to his trophy haul when he meets Rublev.

Bublik is up 15 spots to No. 33 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his run to the final in Halle, where he has also defeated Jannik Sinner and Jan-Lennard Struff. Bublik has often found his best level on grass, reaching title matches on the surface in Newport in 2019 and 2022.

In the first look at Season 1, Part 2 of Netflix’s Break Point, the focus turned to Serena Williams. As several of the show’s personalities said the American legend’s name, Patrick Mouratoglou asked, “Who?”

The Frenchman was joking, of course. Mouratoglou was Williams’ longtime coach. In Break Point, however, he dished on far more than his former charge.

ATPTour.com looks at the best Mouratoglou moments from the Netflix series.

Patrick Dishes On Nick
The first two episodes of the batch focused on Wimbledon, with a lot of time spent on Nick Kyrgios and his breakthrough run to the final. The Australian’s talent has never been questioned, but could he put it together on the sport’s biggest stages?

“All his career so far, Nick has said, ‘I’m not practising, don’t expect anything from me’, because acting that way can just take away the pressure,” Mouratoglou said. “But now he realises that he can maybe win a major. If he starts to work, starts to be ambitious, the pressure suddenly takes him.”

Mouratoglou also said of Kyrgios: “This job is about dealing with pressure at the highest level. So if Nick wants to become a top champion and win Grand Slams, he will have to learn to deal with it, which is something he has never done before.”

High Praise For Novak
Kyrgios eventually met his match in the Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic, who won his seventh title at SW19.

Mouratoglou said of the Serbian: “Beating Novak at Wimbledon is probably the highest mountain to climb for any tennis player.”

Mouratoglou Helps Explain Tsitsipas
The drama of episodes six and seven revolved around the third-round Wimbledon clash between Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Mouratoglou knows the Greek well having helped coach him over the years.
“Stef is an incredible player — I mean, he played a final of a Grand Slam,” Mouratoglou said. “And he is the model of professionalism. He is super aggressive in terms of wanting to dictate and be the boss on the court.”

As the story of the match unfolded, the tension levels were high.

“Stef is a fierce fighter and his emotional state is very high,” Mouratoglou said. “If he keeps it here, he’s super dangerous. If it goes too high, it plays against him.”

Patrick Succinctly Captures Tiafoe’s Story
Break Point helped viewers get to know Frances Tiafoe. His parents, from Sierra Leone, moved to the United States. His mother was a nurse who worked multiple jobs and his father was a maintenance worker at a tennis centre. Tiafoe sometimes slept in his father’s office and was able to play tennis for free.

Fast forward and the American was making a dream run at the US Open, where he upset Rafael Nadal en route to the semi-finals, captivating the New York crowd along the way.

Mouratoglou said of Tiafoe: “He’s one of the most incredible stories in our sport. Frances represents better than anyone the American dream.”