Doha (AFP) - Spaniard Carlos Alcaras, ranked first in the world, reached the second round of the Doha Tennis Tournament (500 points) with a difficult victory over Frenchman Artur Rinderkneich 6-4 and 7-6 (7-5) on Tuesday.
Published on: 02/17/2026 - 20:13 Last updated: 02/17/2026 - 21:19
The 22-year-old Alcarras, who is playing his first tournament since winning the Australian Open title, the first major tournament, when he became the youngest player to achieve a quadruple Grand Slam, saved two balls that would have given the Frenchman victory in the second set, before he decided it in his favor and achieved his eighth successive victory this season and his 150th on hard courts in professional tournaments.
Alcarras will meet in the next round with the other Frenchman, Valentin Royer, ranked 60th in the world, who defeated his compatriot Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-0, 6-3 on Monday.
The Spaniard snatched the first set after breaking his opponent's serve in the fifth game, but he found fierce resistance from Rinderkneich, who had the first two break-break opportunities in the match when the Spanish star was serving to force a tiebreak in the second set.
Alkaras saved both chances before sealing the win in the tiebreak, ending the match with a forehand smash down the line on the match ball.
Alkaras, who needed an hour and 47 minutes to get through the first round, said: “The match was very difficult. Artur is a dangerous player, and no one wants to face him in the first round. I am happy with the level I played. I am happy that I overcame the difficult moments in the match, and that I remained calm and positive and played great tennis.”
This week, Alkaras hopes to improve his result in his first appearance last year in Doha, when he was eliminated in the quarter-finals against Czech Jiri Lehiczka.
Alcarras' most prominent competitor, Italian Jannik Sinner, is in the other half of the draw.
Sinner defeated Czech Tomas Machach 6-1, 6-4 on Monday.
No player other than Alcarras or Sinner has succeeded in winning a title at the professional tournament level in any tournament or tournament that brought them together since the Russian Andrey Rublev was crowned champion in Madrid in May 2024.
The Lebanese Hadi Habib and the Tunisian Moez Al-Sharqi were eliminated on Tuesday from the first round, with the former losing to Hungarian Marton Vjochovics 3-6, 3-6, and the second to Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 4-6, 4-6.
Russian Karen Khachanov and Czech Jiri Lehiczka, ranked seventh and eighth, respectively, reached the second round by defeating Japanese Shintaro Mochizuki 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, and American Jenson Brooksby 6-3, 6-3.
The other Russian, defending champion Andrey Rublev, also qualified by defeating Dutchman Jesper de Jong 6-4, 6-3.
In the remaining matches, the other Hungarian Fabian Marojan defeated the Frenchman Ugo Hombre 6-3, 6-1, the Frenchman Quentin Hales defeated the Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, and the Chinese Zhang Jingjin defeated the Spaniard Roberto Carpayes 6-4, 6-4.
© 2026 AFP
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