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Carlos Alcaraz is hoping an aggressive approach will help him adapt to grass as he looks to find his best form ahead of Wimbledon.
Alcaraz arrived in London at the weekend after returning home following his French Open semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic.
He is playing just his third career tournament on grass this week at Queen’s, with all six of his previous matches on the surface played at Wimbledon.
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Despite his inexperience he showed some encouraging signs at Wimbledon last year as he reached the fourth round, where he lost to Jannik Sinner in four sets.
He is hoping to continue to improve on grass this summer and thinks moving well is one of the keys to success for him.
“After the French Open I had four days off to rest a little bit and turn my mind off,” he said ahead of his first-round win over Arthur Rinderknech.
“I picked up a racquet and practised for three days back at home but that was on a hard court. I tried to make similar movements on the hard courts that you’d make on the grass but obviously it’s never the same.
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“The most difficult part of playing on grass is being able to move well. You have to be more careful than on the other surfaces; but the most comfortable thing for me is being able to go to the net and play more aggressive all the time.
“That side is similar to the other surfaces so playing that style is comfortable and natural for me – I really like it.
“There are a lot of players who slide on grass and I’m not one of them, so I have to think a lot more about my movement and be really focused on every move and every shot I make.
“It can be more tiring because you’re constantly moving – it’s totally different to the other surfaces and I have to put in a specific type of work to get ready for it.”
Alcaraz leads the field at Queen’s ahead of world No. 6 Holger Rune, world No. 8 Taylor Fritz, and British No. 1 Cameron Norrie.
Alcaraz says he is not planning to change his approach on the court despite the switch of surface from clay to grass.
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“There are a lot of players who slice on grass, I am not one of them, so I have to think about the movement,” he said.
“I have to be focused on every movement and shot. For me it is more tiring when you are moving on grass. It is totally different, so you have to be really specific.”
Alcaraz won the US Open last summer and reached world No. 1.
He was top of the rankings heading into the French Open but slipped to No. 2 following Djokovic’s victory. He could get back to No. 1 if he wins Queen’s, with Djokovic not in action until Wimbledon.
Reflecting on his win over Rinderknech, Alcaraz said: “It was really difficult for me at the beginning to adapt my tennis, my game to the grass.
“For me it is tough playing here but of course I enjoyed playing on the grass and playing at Queen’s. It is a tournament that I really wanted to play. It was a good performance from me on my first match on grass.”
Alcaraz is working alongside Samuel Lopez at Queen’s as regular coach Juan Carlos Ferrero is taking the week off to spend time with his family.
Ferrero will return to Alcaraz’s team ahead of Wimbledon, which starts on July 3.
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