Doha, February 19 (). Carlos Alcaraz has advanced to the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open with a straight sets win over Valentin Royer 6-2, 7-5. At one point in the second set, Alcaraz’s score was 2-5, but after that, he won 5 consecutive games and secured his place in the quarter-finals.
After the win, Alcaraz said, “I’m very happy that I was able to have a good rhythm and play good tennis again. I know tennis. It’s just about one point, and sometimes it’s really difficult to finish a set or a match. I’m not going to lie, there were some moments when I thought about the third set. I’m happy that I turned it around and won in straight sets.”
Alcaraz will face Karen Khachanov in the quarterfinals. Seventh seed Khachanov had defeated Marton Fucsovics 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 on Wednesday. Khachanov was the champion of Qatar Open in 2024.
Alcaraz is now on a 27-match winning streak on outdoor hard courts. This streak started after her title win at the Cincinnati Open last August.
22-year-old Alcaraz, who became the youngest person to complete a career Grand Slam by winning the Australian Open title, is looking for his first Qatar Open title. He lost to Jiri Lehecka at the quarterfinal stage on his event debut a year earlier.
The other quarter-final in Alcaraz’s half of the draw will pit fifth seed and defending champion Andrey Rublev against Stefanos Tsitsipas. Rublev beat Fabian Marozsan 6-2, 6-4, while former world No. 3 Tsitsipas beat fourth seed Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4 to reach his first tour-level quarter-final in 10 months.
—
PAK
