Carlos Alcaraz returned to the top of men's world tennis rankings on Monday after his straight sets win over Alex de Minaur furnished him with the Queen's Club title in London.
Alcaraz, 20, beat the Australian 6-4, 6-4 on Sunday afternoon to win his first tournament on grass and usurp Novak Djokovic at the head of the ATP lists.
Djokovic, 36, returned to pole position following his victory in the final at the French Open on 11 June in Paris. The fortnight allowed him to nudge onto 389 weeks.
"I feel great. To lift this trophy, to have my first tournament on grass. It has been an amazing run for me," said Alcaraz.
"I played at an amazing level I think at the end of the week. So seeing my name on the trophy means a lot. I'm going to keep that memory with me for the rest of my life for sure."
The victory will put Alacaraz at the top of seedings for the third Grand slam tournament of the season which starts next Monday on the grass courts of the All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon.
"Honestly, I have to get more experience on grass," added Alcaraz. "Even if I've won the Queen's title, I have just played 11 matches in my career on grass. So, I have to get more experience, more hours.
Challenger
"But, obviously, after beating amazing guys, great players and the level that I played at I consider myself to be one of the favourites to win Wimbledon."
Alcaraz is regarded as the main challenger to Djokovic's supremacy. The two played in the semi-final at the French Open on 9 June. And after two fiercely fought sets, Alcaraz suffered cramps and Djokovic swept into the final 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1. The Spaniard admitted afterwards that the occasion may have overwhelmed him.
"I saw a statistic that Novak has won more matches at Wimbledon than the other top 20 players combined," said Alcaraz.
"What can I say about that? Novak is the main favourite to win Wimbledon, that's obvious.
"But if I go to Wimbledon playing at this level I will have a chance, that's for sure. But, I see Novak as the main favourite and that's not going to change."
De Minaur, 24, beat former champion Andy Murray and the second seed Holger Rune on his run to the final.
"The positive for the week for me I think has been my mentality, my mindset, how calm I've been on the court and how I've backed myself at every stage," he said.
"When I'm in that kind of mindset and attitude I can beat anyone and even if things don't go my way I'm content because I know I left it all out there and I try to play the way that I want to play.
"So, that's a big positive for me coming into Wimbledon."
