Carlos Alcaraz bagged his second title at Queen’s Club to follow on from his superb French Open triumph.
Alcaraz, the world no2, beat Jack Draper’s conqueror Jiri Lehecka in three sets on the Andy Murray Arena - 7-5 6-7(5) 6-2.
The reigning Wimbledon champion was pushed to the limit by the tricky Czech, who had put together a stunning run to the final of the ATP 500 tournament.
Alcaraz struggled to break down his big-serving opponent in the opening set, only earning his first break point opportunity in the seventh game, but Lehecka held firm to deny him.
Finally, his resilience was breached by the Spaniard to go up 6-5, and the five-time Grand Slam winner served it out as the west London crowd expected an early ending.
That wasn’t the case, as Lehecka refused to lie down. He forced a second-set tiebreak, with neither player facing a break point in the set, before Lehecka sped into the ascendancy in the first-to-seven pointer.
He snagged the mini-break to go up 2-0, and responded immediately to restore his lead at 4-2, and then 6-5.
It took Alcaraz, the two-time Wimbledon champion, two break points to move ahead in the decider, and he put his foot down, speeding away from the Czech, who, despite pulling out some superb shot-making, could not compete with Alcaraz’s top gear.
The Spaniard roared as a final Lehecka backhand was netted to seal the victory, and he will arrive at the All England Club in a week’s time full of confidence with his grass-court swing off to the perfect start.
