Alejandro Davidovich hits a return shot in his quarter-final defeat against Van de Zandschulp. REUTERS

The Costa del Sol's Davidovich no match for Van de Zandschulp in the Queen's quarter-final

After a poor first set, the Rincón de la Victoria local had the chance to pull one back after his opponent's first sign of weakness, but he was no match for the Dutchman

PEDRO LUIS ALONSO

Friday, 17 June 2022, 17:24

Alejandro Davidovich was knocked out of the Queen's Club Championship this Friday afternoon, 17 June, following his defeat to Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets (2-6, 4-6). It was the Spaniard's first quarter-final appearance in a grass court tournament, which barely lasted an hour and a quarter.

The afternoon played out much differently than the Rincón de la Victoria local's previous match on Wednesday against Álex de Miñaur, when Davidovich (ranked 36th) showed the best version of himself and pulled off a comeback.

However, Van de Zandschulp (29th) proved to be too much for the Andalusian to handle. The Dutchman's progression since last year has been impressive, especially on fast-paced surfaces, with a powerful, right-hand serve and backhand suiting the grass courts.

Riddled with mistakes

Davidovich made it too easy for his opponent and he only seemed to be interested in the match during his first two service games. From that point on he was all over the place, as he struggled to place his first serves and gave up five games on the bounce.

The second set was slightly more favourable for the Spaniard, even if it got off to a bad start when Van de Zandschulp broke his serve. Davidovich had the chance to pull a set back, as he went from almost being 1-4 down to 4-3 ahead.

But he didn't take advantage of the opportunity to then go 5-4 up when he was winning the ninth game 30-0, and Van de Zandschulp won the game and, subsequently, the match thanks to further errors in Davidovich's game.

However, the Rincón de la Victoria local still completed a positive week after making it to the quarter-final of a grass court tournament for the first time and also clawing back some positions in the ranking after a disappointing run at the French Open.

Davidovich will take part in next week's Eastbourne International as he continues his preparations for Wimbledon at the end of the month, where he hopes to be seeded if a number of players pull out of the tournament.