Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz hits a return against France’s Valentin Royer. PICS: AFP
Doha, Qatar: Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner powered into the Qatar ExxonMobil Open quarter-finals while World No.33 Stefanos Tsitsipas knocked out former champion Daniil Medvedev in an action-packed Round of 16 in Doha yesterday.
Playing in the late-night clash against Frenchman Valentin Royer at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, the World No.1 Alcaraz secured a 6-2, 7-5 win over the Frenchman.
The Spaniard looked in complete control in the opening set, but a few unforced errors gave Royer a 3-1 advantage. Royer almost pulled off a set win, forcing a decider as Alcaraz trailed 5-2. However, Alcaraz fought back brilliantly, mixing power with precision to win five straight games and seal the victory to set up a quarter-final clash against Russia’s Karen Khachanov, who earlier overcame Marton Fucsovics in a two-hour thriller 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
“There were some moments I thought about the third set, I’m not going to lie. Just a small place in my mind where I was thinking about the third set, the rest was working to find the solution, to find the right way to win the game,” Alcaraz said after the match.
Italy’s Jannik Sinner in action during his match against Australia’s Alexei Popyrin.
“I was really happy that I was able to find the good rhythm again, the good tennis. It’s just about fighting. I know tennis, it’s just about one point and sometimes it’s really difficult to close the sets, the matches. I’m happy to turn it around and get the win in straight sets.”
Earlier, Sinner - seeded second - produced another composed display as advanced with a straight-sets victory over Australia’s Alexei Popyrin, keeping alive the prospect of a showdown with Alcaraz later in the week.
The Italian world number two, competing in his first tournament since his Australian Open semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic last month, sealed a 6-3, 7-5 win.
Sinner broke early to take charge of the opening set and then held firm during a tighter second set, showing calm under pressure to close out the match in one hour and 28 minutes.
“He’s a very dangerous opponent, serving very well. I struggled a bit in the second set, making some mistakes, but it can happen. Obviously very happy to be in the next round,” Sinner said after the win.
The result saw Sinner setting up a quarter-final clash against Czech sixth seed Jakub Mensik, who overcame China’s Zhizhen Zhang 6-3, 6-2.
Sinner said he is looking forward to meeting Mensik.
“I’m looking forward to it. It’s an opponent and a player we never actually practiced together, so it’s also something completely new for me. He’s a very, very talented player. He is strong from both sides. It’s going to be a very, very tough match. But let’s see what’s coming,” Sinner said.
Earlier, Tsitsipas powered past the 2023 champion Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 to reach his first ATP quarter-final in 2026.
“Well, a lot of grit. A lot of high intensity. Today I showed a lot of consistency. I was really glad with the way my tennis came together towards the end. I’m really happy with my serving. That gave me a lot of points and I was able to build a lot of confidence and a lot of authority starting with such good serves,” Tsitsipas said.
Tsitsipas, who won 80% of points on his first serve against the Russian fourth seed, will face the defending champion Andrey Rublev for a place in the semi-finals.
The Russian fifth seed Rublev took out Fabian Marozsan 6-2, 6-4 with a solid performance to make his fourth Doha quarter-final in a row.
