The countdown to Wimbledon is on and as ever two weeks before the focus turns to SW19, the attention is on another part of London this week when the cinch Championships are played out a Queens Club.
Carlos Alcaraz won what was his first grass court title here last year before following up at Wimbledon and he is in the field looking to make a successful defence of the crown. A good field has been enticed to take him on.
Recent Winners
2023 – Carlos Alcaraz
2022 – Matteo Berrettini
2021 – Matteo Berrettini
2019 – Feliciano Lopez
2018 – Marin Cilic
2017 – Feliciano Lopez
2016 – Andy Murray
2015 – Andy Murray
2014 – Grigor Dimitrov
2013 – Andy Murray
The Format
This is a typical ATP 500 event with 32 runners which have all been placed into the draw bracket. The tournament is a straight knockout from the first round on the opening day on Monday with every match being the best of three sets. Should the final set go to 6-6 a normal tiebreak will decide the match rather than at Wimbledon where the set will go to a first to 10 breaker. The champion will be determined on Sunday 23 June.
Top Half
The number one seed this week is the defending champion and recent French Open winner Carlos Alcaraz and he has been put right at the very top of the draw for this tournament. Three other seeds will be in the top half of the draw and they come in the form of Tommy Paul, Grigor Dimitrov and Ugo Humbert. Other notable players in the top half of the draw include the Hertogenbosch finalist Seb Korda, the Stuttgart champion Jack Draper, Frances Tiafoe and the promising youngster Matteo Arnaldi.
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Bottom Half
The beaten finalist of a year ago and winner in Hertogenbosch, Alex de Minaur, is the second seed in the draw for this tournament and he has been inserted right into the bottom of the draw bracket. He also has three other seeds for company in this section. They are Holger Rune and the American pair of Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton. All eyes will be on this bottom half of the draw because it looks likely to be where Andy Murray plays Queens for the final time in his career. Cameron Norrie is also in this part of the draw as is the former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic and Dan Evans.
Betting
Grigor Dimitrov is enjoying a wonderful 2024 so far. He made it to the Miami final and the quarter final of the French Open earlier in the month and has won this title before so he knows how to get it done on the grass. The Bulgarian has gone so well this season that he currently sits at ninth in the race to Turin so a big week here could have him right in the mix for the World Tour Finals, especially with the injuries that are around to all of the big names. The second quarter where Dimitrov is housed looks wide open this week and even though the Hertogenbosch finalist Seb Korda is in there, I would be surprised if Dimitrov doesn’t make the semi-final. A meeting with Carlos Alcaraz could await there but on this surface I don’t think that is a match that would be beyond Dimitrov, and that is assuming the Spaniard gets there. 12/1 on Dimitrov looks good to me.
My other outright bet is a bit more of a speculative punt and it comes in the form of Milos Raonic, the former Wimbledon finalist who returned to the tour at Hertogenbosch last week when he won a couple of matches before he went down to the eventual winner Alex De Minaur. There is no shame in that but if we assume that he has recovered from three matches in four days for the first time in a while then with his big serve in drying conditions he could be a threat on a surface he has plenty of success on. That serve always has him competitive but he was timing the ball nicely from the back of the court last week too. Raonic is in a half of the draw where we could see a lot of tiebreaks and at 50/1 I’ll pay to see if he can run the gauntlet.
Tips
Back G.Dimitrov to win cinch Championships (e/w) for a 1.5/10 stake at 13.00 with Betfair (1/2 1-2)
Back M.Raonic to win cinch Championships (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 51.00 with Betfred (1/2 1-2)
