Some of the world’s best players are in action this week at the only ATP 500 events featured on grass: Halle and London, where play will run from 19-25 June.
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz headlines the draw at the Cinch Championships, where the Spaniard is making his event debut and will return to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings next Monday should he win the title. Holger Rune and former World No. 1 Andy Murray are also in action in London. Daniil Medvedev leads the field at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle, where he reached the championship match last year. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Jannik Sinner are also among the field in Germany.
ATPTour.com looks ahead at five things to watch at each event.
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FIVE THINGS TO WATCH AT QUEEN’S CLUB
1) Alcaraz Makes Tournament Debut: The World No. 2, who holds a 4-2 career record on grass, is aiming for his fifth title of the season. This week will be Alcaraz’s first grass event away from Wimbledon, where he reached the fourth round last year. In his Queen’s Club debut, Alcaraz is the top seed and will first meet a qualifier. Alcaraz surrendered World No. 1 after Roland Garros to Novak Djokovic, who is not playing this week, opening the door for the 20-year-old to reclaim top spot should he win his fifth title of 2023 and his 11th career crown.
2) Red-Hot Murray In Action: The Scot arrives at The Queen’s Club off the back of consecutive ATP Challenger Tour titles on grass. Murray triumphed in Surbiton and then lifted the crown in Nottingham to become just the third player to win three Challenger Tour titles this season. The 36-year-old will look to maintain his strong form at the Cinch Championships, where he is a record five-time champion.
3) Early-Round Blockbusters: Seventh seed Alex de Minaur will open against three-time major champion Murray. Second seed Holger Rune will meet serve-and-volleyer Maxime Cressy in the first round. After going winless during the clay swing, Cressy will be pleased to continue his transition on grass, a surface on which he has tasted success on. Last year, the 26-year-old triumphed at the ATP 250 event in Newport and reached the final in Eastbourne.
4) Raonic Continues Return: Canadian Milos Raonic played his first match in 23 months last week in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. The 32-year-old defeated Miomir Kecmanovic in the opening round before falling to Jordan Thompson. Now, the former World No. 3 will get another crack at the Aussie Thompson, who he faces in the Queen’s Club first round.
5) Mektic/Pavic Defend Title: Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic won six tour-level titles in 2022, including at the Cinch Championships. The Croatians begin their title defence with a stern test against top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski. Home favourites Murray and Cameron Norrie open against third seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury.
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FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN HALLE
1) Medvedev Top Seed: The World No. 3 returns for a third appearance at the Terra Wortmann Open, where he was a finalist last year. After an opening-round exit in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Medvedev aims to find his best level on the grass, on which he has a 33-18 career record.
2) Intriguing Openers: Zverev will kickstart his grass-court swing against former World No. 3 and wild card Dominic Thiem while fourth seed Sinner will begin against Richard Gasquet, who earned his 600th career tour-level win last week in Stuttgart. Should home favourite Zverev advance, he could meet Denis Shapovalov in the second round.
3) Tsitsipas Headlines Loaded Bottom Half: In his third Halle appearance, second seed Tsitsipas’ path for his first title of the season will not be easy. The Greek is placed in the bottom half of the Halle draw alongside Sinner and 2018 champion Borna Coric.
4) Defending Champion Hurkacz: The Pole is seeded sixth in his third appearance at the Terra Wortmann Open, where he collected his first grass-court title last season. Hurkacz will begin his title defence against a qualifier and is seeded to meet Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals.
5) Arevalo/Rojer Lead Doubles Field: Top seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer are gunning for their third title of the season this week. Second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos will look for more magic in Halle, where they fended off two championship points last year to triumph. Several highly ranked singles players are among the doubles draw, including Rublev and Zverev. Hurkacz and Sinner are also partnering this week in Germany.
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