Queen’s Club R2 previews and predictions: Alcaraz vs. Lehecka, Dimitrov vs. Cerundolo

Top seed Carlos Alcaraz will fight for a spot in the Queen’s Club quarterfinals against Jiri Lehecka on Thursday afternoon. Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and Argentine Francisco Cerundolo will also be in round-two action.

(1) Carlos Alcaraz vs. Jiri Lehecka

Carlos Alcaraz limped into the Cinch Championships a bit following a disappointing result at the French Open. The Spaniard was in excellent form for the fortnight, but he came up short against Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Alcaraz won the second set, but the pressure of the situation caused the pre-tournament odds-on favorite to start cramping. Djokovic snagged a four-set win and eventually took the title.

Alcaraz had to fight for his first-round win this week over Arthur Rinderknech, but he toughed it out to advance. The world No. 2 has only played two seasons on grass, but he did well enough at last year’s Wimbledon Championships to make the round of 16–so he should adapt quickly enough.

Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic is no grass-court specialist. The world No. 36 has played five total tour-level matches on grass; he has won two of them. Lehecka upset Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the first round this week, but it’s unlikely he will be able to replicate that against Alcaraz.

Cheryl pick: Alcaraz in 2

Ricky pick: Alcaraz in 2

(Q) Grigor Dimitrov vs. (8) Francisco Cerundolo

Francisco Cerundolo is the No. 8 seed at Queen’s Club, but his grass-court credentials are far from impressive. Like Lehecka, Cerundolo is an anemic 2-5 lifetime on grass. One win came a few days ago against Tommy Paul in the first round. The Argentine sits at a career-high 19th in the world following his consistently good results during the clay court season.

Grigor Dimitrov also had a productive clay-court swing. But, more importantly, he posted an impressive first round win over Emil Ruusuvuori earlier this week. Perhaps more than any other surface, results are surface-specific for grass-court tennis. Unlike his opponent, Dimitrov has plenty of experience on the lawn. His results have been a mixed bag over the course of his career, but his form this week suggests that more success is in his future.

This will be the first meeting between Dimitrov and Cerundolo. Current form suggests this one will go to the Bulgarian.

Cheryl pick: Dimitrov in 2

Ricky pick: Dimitrov in 2