Alcaraz excels in serving to reach Queen's semi-finals

Carlos Alcaraz had a clear goal this Friday: to improve his serve. And he certainly achieved it. The Spaniard, in a sublime serving performance, dismantled the towering Arthur Rinderknech (7-5, 6-4) to secure a place in the Queen's semi-finals. After not being entirely satisfied with his service during the marathon match against Jaume Munar, which lasted three and a half hours and saw him lose his serve for the first time in the tournament, Alcaraz focused on sharpening his serve to be ready against players who can be a menace on fast courts.

Rinderknech is a familiar opponent for the Spaniard, having faced him during his first appearance at Queen's in 2023. Back then, Alcaraz was nearly sent home as the Frenchman took a set and came close to winning the match in the third set. His serve is his most dangerous weapon, alongside his volley, perhaps his only ones, but Alcaraz's exceptional serving kept the match firmly under his control.

He improved from landing only 52% of first serves and winning just 76% of them against Munar to over 65% and winning 89% against Rinderknech. He lost just four points on his first serve, allowing him to return with ease and destabilise Rinderknech, who only needs a couple of errors to falter.

In his best chance, leading 4-5 and 0-30, the Frenchman failed to capitalise, and in the following game, Alcaraz seized his first break opportunities, which he did not let slip. With the set in hand, Alcaraz repeated the strategy in the second. As soon as a break opportunity arose, he grabbed it with both hands and didn't let go. It was a perfect match, demonstrating that his adaptation to grass is progressing exceptionally well and that he has already overcome one of the major threats on this surface: the big servers. There are better ones on the circuit, but the Frenchman was the first real test in this regard, and Alcaraz passed with flying colours.

The quarter-final victory allows Alcaraz to close the gap with Jannik Sinner in the race for the world number one spot to 1,430 points, as the Italian failed to defend his Halle title this week, losing in the round of 16 to Alexander Bublik.