Izuchukwu OkosiAhead of the release of the official ATP Tennis rankings on Monday following the conclusion of the Queen’s Club Championships on Sunday, Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz is set to become the number one ranked player.
The 20-year-old Alcaraz secured his first grass-court title with victory over Alex de Minaur in the final at Queen’s Club on Sunday before declaring he’s one of the favourites to win the Wimbledon Open starting on July 3.
The Spaniard becomes the 17th active player with a tour-level title on all three surfaces.
Consequently Alcaraz is expected to overtake Novak Djokovic as world No 1 when the new rankings are released today (Monday) and boasted he will be a major contender to take the Serb’s crown at Wimbledon next month, with a commanding 6-4 6-4 win.
“It means a lot to have my name on the trophy. It was special to play here where so many legends have won.
“To see my name surrounded by the great champions is amazing,” Alcaraz told the media.
“I started the tournament not very well, especially my movement on the grass, but it’s been an amazing week.”
In baking temperatures, a break of serve in each set proved enough to overcome Australian No 1 De Minaur, who competed well but had no answer to the pace and power o f the favourite.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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