Qatar Open Doha Round-up | Alcaraz survives slight blip, Sinner reaches milestone as Tsitsipas dumps out Medvedev

World number one Carlos Alcaraz had to clamber over obstacles in his 6-2, 7-5 victory over Valentin Royer, getting a scare in the second set before bringing us back to reality in the ATP Qatar Open.

It seemed so simple from the off for the recent Australian Open champion, who is playing in his first event since lifting the title after withdrawing from his title defence in the ABN AMRO Open.

He broke on the way to going 3-1 ahead and saw out the first set with three consecutive games, taking his second set point. There were signs of change in the air as his French opponent found a way back into the match.

He failed to convert a break opportunity in a game with five deuces before not making the same mistake later on, this time going 3-1 ahead himself. He saw it out until going 5-2 up but Alcaraz decided that he was ready to end this match. He turned up the gears and won five games in a row to overcome what had seemed like an awkward situation with the quarterfinal stage beckoning for the 22-year-old as he continues his domination on the ATP Circuit.

Jannik Sinner is firmly back in the winning enclosure after seeing out a decent performance with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Alexei Popyrin.

There never seemed to be any problems for the Italian who is still continuing to banish the Australian Open semi-final defeat against Novak Djokovic to the back of his mind. He defeated Tomas Machac in the opening round in straight sets and has followed up with another routine win.

There were just two breaks in the entire match, both obviously going the way of the world number two. He went 502 ahead in the first with three consecutive holds of serve concluding the set in 29 minutes. The second lasted nearly an hour with both players unable to find a breakthrough on the other’s serve. This was until Sinner struck late, going 6-5 in front before taking his first match point to continue marching on in this tournament. The possibility of meeting Alcaraz in the final is an exciting one, but there is still a long way to go before that prospect.

This marks a 50th win against players outside the top 50, something that he reacted to after the match. “I respect every player, but I always try to play my best tennis,” Sinner stated. “The ranking, at the end of the day, is just a number. Everyone is playing [with] high quality. Especially when the opponents don’t have much to lose, you always have to stay very focused.”

Seeing Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas compete against each other is something fans are accustomed to by now. However, they tend to see it deep in competitions, not in the last-16 stage. This shows off the fall from grace both players have endured recently. However, Tsitsipas will be the one sleeping slightly easier tonight as he powered past the former US Open champion 6-3, 6-4 to reach a first ATP quarterfinal in 2026.

A hugely important break of serve was enough to split the two players apart in the first set. It would go the way of Tsitsipas who took the first opportunity that cam his way. This did not happen when he had set points, squandering a couple on the Medvedev serve before having to see it out on his. Another break in the second set finished Medvedev off as Tsitsipas cruised through the finishing line. He is in desperate need of ranking points with a handful set to come off with as he is set to defend his title in Dubai next week, making this win crucial.

It was better going for the other Russian players. The reigning champion Andrey Rublev took out Fabian Marozsan 6-2, 6-4 with a much-needed solid performance.

After going 1-0 down, Rublev indicated the direction that the match was going in by collecting five games on the spin without answer. He saw it out on serve and put himself in a solid position to see the match out. He did so with just one break to put the Hungarian in all sorts of peril. He took his fourth match point and prolongs the title defence. He will take on Tsitsipas in a highly anticipated matchup.

Karen Khachanov has also finally found a good bout of form with a tight 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win against Marton Fucsovics. It really was not Hungary’s day in Doha as Khachanov raced into a one set lead. The deficit was eradicated by Fucsovics who forced a tense last set. It went on serve for the opening nine games before the 2024 champion pulled the rabbit out of the hat late on to book his spot in the last-eight.

As for the other last-16 matches, Arthur Fils had two contrasting sets in a 6-1, 7-6(7) win against fellow Frenchman Quentin Halys. It was a walk in the park enroute to going a set to the good, but he was pushed much harder in the second. Both players failed to take a set/match point in a tiebreaker, but Fils would not make the same mistake twice.

He will come up against Jiri Lehecka who blew away Zizou Bergs in a commanding 6-2, 6-1 win. The Belgian stood no chance throughout as Lehecka went through the gears. From 2-2 in the first set, the eighth seed would win an outstanding nine games in a row and drop just one more on the way to confirming victory. He also won 18 points in a row at one point, showcasing a dominant performance.

He was not the only Czech performing well. Jakub Mensik is set to soon defend his Miami Open title so a deep run here will do him a lot of good. He comfortably bypasses Zhizhen Zhang 6-3, 6-2 with the ultimate prospect of facing Sinner for a spot in the semi-finals.