First-round competition at Queen’s Club continues on Tuesday, when top seed Carlos Alcaraz gets underway against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Alex de Minaur and Jiri Lehecka are also taking the court.
(1) Carlos Alcaraz vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Alcaraz will be back in action for the first time since winning a second straight French Open when he makes his third appearance at the HSBC Championships. The second-ranked Spaniard won this tournament in his 2023 debut before falling to Jack Draper in round two last summer. A week off–and another trip to Ibiza–should have Alcaraz refreshed and ready to go following his Roland Garros final heroics against Jannik Sinner.
Up first for the No. 1 seed on Tuesday is a third meeting with Davidovich Fokina. Both of their previous encounters have gone Tsitsipas’ way; 7-6(5), 6-4 in the 2023 Barcelona quarterfinals and 7-6(2), 6-4 this spring in the Monte-Carlo semis. A move from clay to grass probably won’t change anything. Alcaraz may not be as dominant on this surface as he is on the red stuff, but this is a two-time Wimbledon champion we are talking about. Davidovich Fokina has played poorly since Monte-Carlo, so he doesn’t figure to provide much resistance in this one.
Pick: Alcaraz in 2
(5) Alex de Minaur vs. Jiri Lehecka
De Minaur and Lehecka will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers on Tuesday at Queen’s Club. Their only previous showdown came at the 2023 Davis Cup Finals, where De Minaur survived a 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-5 thriller. On paper, grass should make this more of a mismatch. De Minaur is an outstanding 51-23 lifetime on the slick stuff, whereas Lehecka is a modest 7-7.
Current form also favors De Minaur–even though he did not do a whole lot on his least favorite surface, clay. The 12th-ranked Australian is 27-11 this season and should be particularly motivated to secure a top-12 seed at Wimbledon, thus avoiding Sinner and Alcaraz at least until the quarterfinals. Lehecka is 20-12 for his 2025 campaign, but he is 12-12 in his last 24 matches since beginning the year 8-0. Count on the No. 5 seed picking up another grass-court victory.
Pick: De Minaur in 2
WWW?
Alcaraz in 2 obv., massive fav.
de Minauer did well on the clay only losing to some of the best clay players going, he’s a real danger on the surface now, de Minaur in 2.
Carlos in 2; Demon in 2.
Alcaraz ended up playing LL Walton and faced a SP, but got it done in 2.
It was Lehecka over de Minaur in 2.