Alcaraz ready for grass battle despite scare at Queen’s

Carlos Alcaraz believes he will only improve on grass after struggling past French journeyman Arthur Rinderknech in the first round at Queen’s Club on Tuesday.The world number two was playing only his seventh match on the surface and his first outside of Wimbledon as he prepares for the third Grand Slam tournament of the season next month.Lucky loser Rinderknech only found out he was playing the Spaniard hours before the match after Frenchman Arthur Fils, Alcaraz’s scheduled opponent, withdrew from the tournament.But the 27-year-old almost stunned the US Open champion before Alcaraz edged through 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) in just over two-and-a-half hours."It has been a really tough match, he has played four or five matches on the grass and this was my first one,” said Alcaraz."It was really difficult to adapt my game to the grass. For me it’s tough to play here, but Queen’s is a tournament I really wanted to play.”Alcaraz was playing his first match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at the French Open and is hoping to improve once he gets accustomed to the conditions."I couldn’t play tennis on grass at home but I practised the movement on grass. I practised here a little bit before the tournament and I felt really good, even though it was the first match."I would say I’m going to be better in the next round.”Alcaraz will face Czech Jiri Lehecka in the second round.Second seed Holger Rune was also pushed by American Maxime Cressy before the Dane progressed 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/3) to secure his first ever grass court win on the ATP Tour. World number 10 Frances Tiafoe was more comfortable as he saw off Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2, 6-4 to continue his winning streak after lifting the title in Stuttgart last week.Sinner holds off Gasquet for debutwin In HalleJannik Sinner gave another reminder of his development as a grass-court talent yesterday at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, where the 21-year-old began his maiden campaign at the ATP 500 with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 triumph against Richard Gasquet. Playing in just his 12th tour-level match on grass, Sinner overcame a tough challenge from Gasquet with consistent, clean baseline hitting, particularly in the first and third sets.Despite a strong fightback from Gasquet, who notched his 600th career win by defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in Stuttgart last week, the Italian finished with 41 winners to Gasquet’s 25 in his 31st tour-level win of the season."(Grass) is a surface where I feel like I still have to learn maybe the most amount of all the three surfaces,” Sinner, who reached the quarter-finals in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last week, told ATPTour.com after the match. "On the other hand, I guess it’s a positive thing. The last days after ‘s-Hertogenbosch I practised many hours, trying to feel my game, trying to feel my movement."I felt today I was moving much better today than the last match. Every match is good and positive. I win or I learn, and even if I win I try to learn. Today I had a lot of chances in the second set, I couldn’t use them, but still I reacted well in the third seat.”With his two-hour, 29-minute victory, Sinner improved to 12-0 in opening-round matches for 2023. He now leads Gasquet 2-0 in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series after defeating the Frenchman in straight sets in Indian Wells in March.The 21-year-old Sinner will take on countryman Lorenzo Sonego next after the World No. 39 also came through in three sets against Aslan Karatsev. Sonego triumphed 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in what was also his main-draw debut in Halle.Former world No.2 Kontaveit to retire at 27 after WimbledonThe former second-ranked women’s tennis player Anett Kontaveit announced yesterday that she would be retiring in July after Wimbledon because of a back injury."Today I am announcing that I am ending my career as a competitive athlete,” the 27-year old Estonian posted on Instagram. "After several doctor’s visits and consultations with my medical team, I have been advised that I have lumbar disc degeneration in my back."This does not allow for full-scale training or continued competition. Therefore, it is impossible to continue at the top level in such a highly competitive field,” she wroteKontaveit, ranked 79th in the world, reached the WTA’s No. 2 ranking in June 2022. Her best performance in a Grand Sam event was a quarter-final at the 2020 Australian Open."Tennis has given and taught me a lot, and I am very grateful for that,” she wrote. "It has been important for me to bring the Estonian flag to the tennis courts and to be able to play in front of my supporters and fans all over the world.”Kontaveit made her debut in the main draw at a WTA tour event in Miami in 2013. She won six tournaments including four in 2021. Her last title was in St Petersburg in 2022.