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Alcaraz's Wimbledon Defense Takes a Hit when he Loses in Queen's 2nd Round

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain attends a press conference after losing his second round match against Jack Draper of Britain at the Queen's Club tennis tournament in London, Britain, 20 June 2024. EPA/TOLGA AKMEN
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain attends a press conference after losing his second round match against Jack Draper of Britain at the Queen's Club tennis tournament in London, Britain, 20 June 2024. EPA/TOLGA AKMEN
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Alcaraz's Wimbledon Defense Takes a Hit when he Loses in Queen's 2nd Round

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain attends a press conference after losing his second round match against Jack Draper of Britain at the Queen's Club tennis tournament in London, Britain, 20 June 2024. EPA/TOLGA AKMEN
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain attends a press conference after losing his second round match against Jack Draper of Britain at the Queen's Club tennis tournament in London, Britain, 20 June 2024. EPA/TOLGA AKMEN

Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz's buildup took a hit when he lost in the second round of Queen's Club on Thursday.
Alcaraz, the defending Queen's champion and top seed, lost to Jack Draper 7-6 (3), 6-3.
For Draper, the British No. 1, it was the biggest win of his career. He was impressively composed in front of his home crowd.
Queen's was Alcaraz's only grass-court preparation last year en route to winning Wimbledon for the first time.
But this time the Spaniard will have only two grass matches under his belt following his French Open victory, The Associated Press reported. Wimbledon starts in 11 days.
Draper ended Alcaraz's eight-match win streak while extending his own to seven after winning his first ATP title last week in Stuttgart.
Draper didn't drop serve against Alcaraz. They were finally separated in the first set in the tiebreak, where Draper shot to 4-0 then 6-1. Alcaraz netted a return to concede the set.
Alcaraz suffered the only break in the sixth game of the second set, after Draper's backhand return serve down the line.
Draper saved a break point to hold for 5-2, then Alcaraz saved three match points to hold. Draper served out and threw his arms in the air.
“I knew I had to come out here and play really well, and luckily I did that,” he said on court.

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A Penalty Shattered Palestinian World Cup Dreams for 2026. The Squad Has Inspired Hope 

Football - World Cup - AFC Qualifiers - Group B - Palestine v Oman - King Abdullah II Stadium, Amman, Jordan - June 10, 2025 Palestine's Oday Dabbagh in action with Oman's Abdulrahman Al-Mushaifri. (Reuters) 
Football - World Cup - AFC Qualifiers - Group B - Palestine v Oman - King Abdullah II Stadium, Amman, Jordan - June 10, 2025 Palestine's Oday Dabbagh in action with Oman's Abdulrahman Al-Mushaifri. (Reuters) 
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A Penalty Shattered Palestinian World Cup Dreams for 2026. The Squad Has Inspired Hope 

Football - World Cup - AFC Qualifiers - Group B - Palestine v Oman - King Abdullah II Stadium, Amman, Jordan - June 10, 2025 Palestine's Oday Dabbagh in action with Oman's Abdulrahman Al-Mushaifri. (Reuters) 
Football - World Cup - AFC Qualifiers - Group B - Palestine v Oman - King Abdullah II Stadium, Amman, Jordan - June 10, 2025 Palestine's Oday Dabbagh in action with Oman's Abdulrahman Al-Mushaifri. (Reuters) 

An engrossing qualifying journey of 16 games and the obstacles of a war came crashing down in an instant for Oday Dabbagh and his Palestinian team.

Their legacy will long continue.

Players left the field in tears in the immediate aftermath at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, Jordan, last Thursday after their quest for a first appearance at a World Cup evaporated on a contentious penalty awarded deep in extra time. Fans looked on, stunned.

"It's very hard," Dabbagh, the team's star striker, told The Associated Press. "It was massive for us to get to the next stage — we prepared well, we had a positive atmosphere, and we had the fans with us. We gave everything, but it was gone in a moment."

Needing to win its last three Group B games to reach the playoffs for the last two of Asia's automatic spots at the World Cup, the No. 101-ranked team in the world beat Iraq in Basra in March, Kuwait in Kuwait City on June 5. Five days later, it was leading 1-0 against Oman in Jordan in the 97th minute.

The Palestinians had never been in a better position in qualifying for a World Cup. Then Oman was awarded, and scored, a penalty to make it 1-1 in the last real act of the game.

Not long after the dejected players had picked themselves up, the Palestine Football Association (PFA) made an official complaint to soccer's world governing body, FIFA, about the penalty. It didn't change the fact, however, that the long road trip was over.

"We tried to put smiles on the faces of Palestinians amid their great pain," head coach Ihab Abujazar said. "The heroic players are our pride and glory, a symbol of all that is beautiful in the Palestinian nation."

Playing Away

It may have been different if the Palestinian team, admitted into FIFA in 1998, was able to play home games in front of its fans in Gaza or the West Bank in the third round of qualifying. The Israel-Hamas war meant that couldn't happen. And so, the many of the team's home games have been taking place in the nearby Jordanian capital of Amman, home to a large community of Palestinians.

"It is easier to play in your home," Dabbagh, who helped Aberdeen win the Scottish Cup last month, said. "But the circumstances there are so difficult so we choose to play in Amman as it is close to Palestine, the people are the same, and we have a lot of fans there."

There's been no domestic soccer in the Palestinian territories since the war started in 2023. Hundreds of athletes are among the more than 55,000 Palestinians killed in the conflict and sports facilities have been destroyed.

"Everything that goes on makes us all sad," Dabbagh said. "As players, we try to focus on football during the games, but we use what is happening as motivation to bring happiness to the people of Palestine."

All but two of the roster of 27 national squad players are contracted to foreign clubs either in the region or in Europe, a change from the start of the conflict when a number of players weren't able to leave the West Bank or Gaza to report for international duty.

Over the past year or so, the Palestinian squad has assembled for training camps in Algeria, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to prepare for World Cup qualifying.

The top two teams in each of three Asian groups in the third round earned direct spots for next year's World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The third- and fourth-place teams in each group advanced to a playoff for two more places. A win would have secured fourth spot in the group for the Palestinians. The last-minute draw meant they finished a point behind Oman in fifth.

What's next? Now their focus has to shift to the 2027 Asian Cup, which will take place in Saudi Arabia. The Palestinian team has already qualified for the tournament.

Dabbagh is ready to show that the team is set to remain a force in Asian soccer and continue to be ambassadors for millions of people.

"We will keep using football as a message to show the world that there are other things in Palestine" he said. "We will keep going. The dream is not over, it is just delayed."