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.



Olympic Cauldron to Rise into Paris Skies Each Night

 Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
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Olympic Cauldron to Rise into Paris Skies Each Night

 Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 27, 2024. A general view of the balloon and Olympic cauldron in Jardin des Tuileries. (Reuters)

The Olympic cauldron that made a stunning first flight at the Paris Games opening ceremony will sit on the ground during the day and rise again every evening.

Paris Olympics organizers said that from Saturday, the cauldron attached to a balloon will fly more than 60 meters (197 feet) above the Tuileries gardens near the glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre museum from sunset until 2 a.m.

During daytime hours, 10,000 people each day can get free tickets to approach the cauldron, which is the first in Olympic history to light up without the use of fossil fuels.

Organizers said the electric flame uses 40 LED spotlights “to illuminate the cloud created by 200 high-pressure misting nozzles.”