Statistics show that when Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner enter the same draw, one of them will win the tournament! The last player to win when the pair entered the draw was Andrey Rublev at the 2024 Madrid Open.
There were times when I thought about a third set: I’m not going to lie, but it was clearly just a little spot in my head that thought that. Carlos Alcaraz
Rublev is now the defending champion at the Qatar ExonMobil Open in Doha, where he is the fifth seed and one match away from meeting Alcaraz in the semi-finals, after progressing to the last eight by eliminating Hungarian Fabian Marozsan 6-2 6-4 in the ATP 500 event.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz, the world number 1 and top seed, reached the quarter-finals with a 6-2 7-5 second-round victory over Valentin Royer. He recovered from 2–5 in the second set by playing through five straight games to claim victory after 96 minutes.
“I obviously had to be prepared for everything,” the 22-year-old Spaniard replied when asked about his great recovery in the second set.
“There were moments when I thought about a third set: I’m not going to lie, but it was clearly only a small place in my head that thought that. The rest was busy finding solutions, trying to find the right path again.”
“I’m just very happy and very happy that I was able to find a good rhythm and good tennis again. It’s just about fighting. I know tennis. It’s just one point, and sometimes it’s very difficult to close the set or the match. I just had to stay there and I’m happy that I turned it around and got the win in straight sets.”
Now on a nine-match winning streak, including clinching the Australian Open title, he will face seventh-seeded Karen Khachanov, the 2024 champion, who defeated Marton Fucsovics 6-2 4-6 6-4 earlier on Wednesday.
Despite the defeat, Royer will be able to take plenty of positives from his first match against Alcaraz, showing great composure as he stepped up within a game of the second set, but the Frenchman was unable to parry the young Spaniard’s late attack.
In the other quarter-final half of the draw for Alcaraz, defending champion Rublev will face a resurgent Stefanos Tsitsipas after the Greek advanced to his first quarter-final for 10 months and brushed aside 2023 champion Daniil Medvedev 6-3 6-4.
(Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The player who faced Alcaraz in the final, Jannik Sinner, the world number 2 and second seed, also maintained his performance and reached the last eight in the bottom half.
The Italian, making his debut in Doha, advanced with a similar 6-3 7-5 victory over Alexei Popyrin, achieved in 85 minutes after absorbing a barrage of big serves and blistering winners.
“I respect every player, but I always try to play my best tennis,” Sinner said. “Everyone plays [with] high quality. Especially when the opponents don’t have much to lose, you always have to stay very focused.”
He continued: “I feel like I started really well in the first set, not too many problems with my service games,” Sinner said. “But after I had some struggles. I felt like he raised his level and I lost a little bit of rhythm and confidence. I just tried to dig deep… I’m very happy. You have to find different ways to win games.”
Sinner is competing in his first tournament since his painful five-set semi-final defeat to Novak Djokovic at the Aussie Open and is aiming for a third consecutive ATP 500 title after winning trophies in Beijing and Vienna last October.
Sixth seed and 2024 finalist Jakub Mensik is next for Sinner after the Czech defeated Zhang Zhizhen 6-3 6-2
To complete the quarter-final, Jiri Lehecka – the Czech player who defeated Alcaraz in the quarter-final last year – advanced after beating Zizou Bergs 6-2 6-1 and will face Arthur Fils who in turn ousted Quentin Halys 6-1 7-6(7).
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