Carlos Alcaraz is the red-hot favourite to retain his Wimbledon title after warming up by winning the HSBC Championships.

But the French Open champion was given a thorough grasscourt examination by Jiri Lehecka before winning 7-5 6-7 6-2.

Like the French Open final against Jannik Sinner earlier this month, it was another high-quality final were he came out as the winner. The Czech beat Brits Jacob Fearnley and Jack Draper on his way to his first grasscourt final and put up a strong fight.

But the Spanish superstar served superbly as he lost only two points on his ferocious first serve in the opening set and did not face a break point.

And the five-time Gran Slam champion showed his class in the final set to win his second title at Queen's Club - and will start Wimbledon on June 30 on an 18-match winning streak.

He has now made five consecutive finals and his record since April is now 27-1 with his only defeat coming against Holger Rune in the Barcelona final.

His post-Paris break in Ibiza - where he took shots with Spurs defender Sergio Reguilon - proved the perfect tonic for the 22-year-old.

And he needed his energy in the entertaining final.

At 2-2 in the first set, Lehecka saved the first break point of the match with a 138mph ace. And the world No.30 threatened to make his move when he went 0-30 up with Alcaraz serving at 4-5 down. But the five-time Grand Slam champion responded by winning 12 of the next 15 points at the business end of the set.

First he held serve by hitting an ace, a forehand winner and then two service winners. And at 5-5, the Spaniard forced the first break when Lehecka's forehand found the net to end a baselline rally. Alcaraz closed out the first set with a service winner on a second serve.

The second set was dominated by serve but Lehecka had a big chance at 5-6 on the Alcaraz serve. The Czech produced a huge forehand return deep into the court which the Spaniard could only flick up with a backhand half volley. Lehecka ran forward to the short ball but blasted his forehand over the baseline.

Until the second set tiebreak, Alcaraz had only lost 10 points on his serve. But at 5-5 in the break, he sent down a double fault and Lehecka took his first set point with a service winner. The match was level after one hour and 41 minutes.

But Alcaraz showed his class in the decider. He broke to lead 3-1 after the power of his baseline hitting saw a Lehecka forehand hit the net.

And the Spaniard took his first Championship point after two hours and eight minutes when Lehecka slapped a backhand into the net.