Tennis: Carlos Alcaraz inches closer to maiden grass-court title with semis win in Queen's Club

Carlos Alcaraz moved to the brink of his first grass court title and reclaiming the world number one ranking from Novak Djokovic after sweeping aside Sebastian Korda 6-3, 6-4 to reach the final at Queen’s Club on Saturday. The Spaniard will face Australia’s Alex de Minaur, who beat second seed Holger Rune 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), in Sunday’s final.

Playing in just the third grass court tournament of his career, Alcaraz has adapted quickly to the conditions after a tough first round clash against French lucky loser Arthur Rinderknech.

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The US Open champion had to recover from a slow start as he was broken for the only time in the opening game. But Korda was let down by a number of double faults at key moments as Alcaraz broke back immediately and edged a tight first set after breaking again in the eighth game.

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The second set was more straightforward for the 20-year-old as Alcaraz broke to love in the third game and comfortably served it out.

"I'm playing great, I'm feeling great," said Alcaraz, adding that this was the best performance of his short career on the grass to date. "I'm really happy to play here in Queen's. Since the first match, I feel the love from the crowd.”

A fifth title of the year would take Alcaraz back above Djokovic, who won their battle at the French Open earlier this month, at the top of the world rankings.

De Minaur continued his fine form in London as world number six Rune was no match for the big-serving Aussie. The world number 18 ended Andy Murray’s renaissance on the grass in the first round and is eyeing a second grass court title after winning in Eastbourne in 2021.

“I love being here and playing on this court in front of this amazing crowd," De Minaur said. "I am having a good week and this was my best performance of the week."

Bublik sets up Halle title clash with Rublev

Alexander Bublik eased past home hope Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-5 to reach the final of the Halle ATP tournament on Saturday. Bublik, 26, will play his first final of the season in the Wimbledon warm-up grass-court event against Russia's Andrey Rublev who knocked out Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-4.

Kazakh Bublic won his only title last year in Montpellier against Zverev and now holds a 3-1 record against the German.

On Saturday, Bublik took less than an hour and a half to dispatch the former world number two, firing down 14 aces with a strong service game.

In the first set, he quickly took the lead with a break in the fourth game and then counted on his serve to pull through.

The two players duelled until 5-5 in the second set, when Zverev collapsed, allowing Bublik to confidently seal victory 7-5.

"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."

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