ATP Tour Q2 Review: Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic Dominate As Rivalry Grows | ATP Tour | Tennis

The busiest quarter on the 2023 ATP calendar started with the European clay-court swing and concluded final week at Wimbledon. With half of the yr within the books, the Pepperstone ATP Dwell Race To Turin is starting to take form, with Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev main the chase for the Nitto ATP Finals.

Earlier than the North American exhausting court docket swing takes middle stage subsequent month in Toronto and Cincinnati, ATPTour.com appears to be like again at the very best of Q2.

No. 1 Alcaraz Wins Wimbledon Crown
Alcaraz started and concluded the second quarter in supreme type, bookending the interval with trophies and popping out the opposite facet atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

For the second straight yr, Alcaraz accomplished a Spanish double in Barcelona and on the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid, shedding simply two units in 11 wins. A shock early exit in Rome — shortly after his twentieth birthday — was adopted by a semi-final run at Roland Garroswhich ended by the hands of Djokovic because the Spaniard struggled with cramp.

It’s a signal of the large progress in Alcaraz’s sport — and the expectations positioned on it — that the defeat was billed as a disappointment for the pre-tournament favorite. However that feeling was rapidly forgotten when the Spaniard posted an ideal 12-0 file on grass throughout The Queen’s Membership and Wimbledon.

Having performed simply two grass court docket occasions in his life earlier than this yr, Alcaraz’s showcased his adaptability amidst speedy growth on the British lawns. His first grass title at Queen’s noticed him recapture World No. 1, and he retained his standing atop the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in a winner-takes-all Wimbledon ultimate towards Djokovic.

Alcaraz’s 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 victory ended the Serbian’s four-year title run at on the All England Membership. The Spaniard now leads the pair’s budding Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry 2-1.

Torino is ready for you! @carlosalcaraz

The Mole Antonelliana lights up after the primary #NittoATPFinals qualification 💫✨ pic.twitter.com/WpEdMcDJzt

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 19, 2023

Djokovic Stands Alone With twenty third Main Title
Djokovic compiled a pedestrian 5-3 file throughout his first three clay occasions of 2023, his greatest end result a quarter-final exhibiting on the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome. However he as soon as once more displayed his potential to peak for the majors at Roland Garrosthe place he misplaced two units on his strategy to his twenty third Grand Slam title — a quantity that put him away from the absent Rafael Nadal because the all-time chief for males’s singles main crowns.

After beating Alcaraz in a four-set semi-final, Djokovic gained his third Roland Garros title by beating Casper Ruud within the title spherical. It was Ruud’s third ultimate up to now 5 majors.

Like Djokovic, the Norwegian additionally had an inconsistent clay marketing campaign previous to Roland Garrostogether with his lone spotlight coming in a semi-final run in Rome. However by defending his runner-up factors on the main, Ruud has held regular at No. 4 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Medvedev Slides Into Clay Success
Lengthy identified for his rocky relationship with clay courts, Medvedev turned a brand new leaf by profitable his first title on the floor this Might. It got here on a historic stage on the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome, the place the World No. 3 beat Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Holger Rune to assert the crown, together with an identical 7-5, 7-5 triumphs towards Tsitsipas and Rune within the final two rounds.

Medvedev notched two match wins every in Monte-Carlo and Madrid earlier than his Rome success, although he was knocked out within the Roland Garros opening spherical by Thiago Seyboth Wild. He made up for that by securing his greatest Wimbledon end result, a semi-final run that was stopped by Alcaraz.

Alcaraz and Medvedev ended the second quarter with the 2 greatest match information this season on the ATP Tour, Alcaraz at 47-4 and Medvedev at 46-9.

Rublev Wins First ATP Masters 1000
Rublev started Q2 with a bang, profitable his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title with a strong efficiency on the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. The 25-year-old did it the exhausting method with three High 15 wins, capped with a 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 ultimate victory towards Rune.

He adopted that up by reaching the ultimate in Banja Luka (clay) and Halle (grass), then superior to his first Wimbledon quarter-final, the place he was overwhelmed by Djokovic.

Rune Reveals Consistency To Attain New Profession Excessive
Rune started his clay season by reaching the ultimate in Monte-Carlo and defending his title in Munich, then rose to a brand new career-high Pepperstone ATP Rating of No. 6 by reaching the Rome ultimate.

Displaying exceptional consistency on the largest occasions on the ATP Tour calendar, he then superior to the Roland Garros quarters, the Queen’s Membership semis and his first Wimbledon quarter-final. Relationship again to Monte-Carlo, Rune reached not less than the quarters at six of seven occasions.

Krajicek Debuts As Doubles No. 1 After Roland Garros Triumph
Austin Krajicek was on prime of the world, and the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings, after he gained his maiden Grand Slam title with Ivan Dodig at Roland Garros. The American-Croatian duo additionally gained Monte-Carlo to open the clay swing, and so they adopted their Roland Garros triumph with one other title at The Queen’s Membership. Their 13-match profitable streak was ended by Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic within the Eastbourne ultimate.

Dutchman Wesley Koolhof and Briton Neal Skupski completed Q2 as joint World No. 1s after profitable their maiden main title at Wimbledon. The pair first reached No. 1 final November.