Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner remain on collision course for the Doha final, but the quarterfinals are next on the schedule. On Thursday they will face Karen Khachanov and Jakub Mensik respectively.
(1) Carlos Alcaraz vs. (7) Karen Khachanov
Alcaraz and Khachanov will face each other for the sixth time in their careers when they clash in the quarterfinals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Thursday. As for most players, this was a nightmare for Khachanov. He is 0-5 overall and 1-11 in total sets, not forcing a single tiebreak in his 11 set losses. However, the Russian eventually managed to take a set in their most recent meeting at the 2025 Rome Masters, where Alcaraz prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
The reigning Australian Open champion extended his season-opening winning streak to nine matches with Doha victories over Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Royer. It’s been a rough 2026 season for Khachanov, who is 5-3 with losses to Michael Mmoh (Hong Kong), Luciano Darderi (Australian Open) and Jaume Munar (Rotterdam). The world number 17 scraped past Shintaro Mochizuki and Marton Fucsovics earlier this week, but nothing about his current form suggests he is about to challenge Alcaraz.
Choice: Alcaraz in 2
(6) Jakub Mensik vs. (2) Jannik Sinner
Like Alcaraz, Sinner can generally go about his business in the early stages of tournaments. Once the competition increases with seeded players on the other side of the set, Sinner’s level almost always rises. After a surprise semi-final loss to Novak Djokovic at Melbourne Park, the second-ranked Italian was easily good enough to dispose of Tomas Machac and Alexei Popyrin in straight sets.
Next up for Sinner is a first-ever meeting with Mensik, who secured his place in the last eight with a three-set defeat of Jan Choinski and an outright victory over Zhizhen Zhang. The 20-year-old Czech is immensely talented – as evidenced by his victory in the Miami Masters last spring – but his defensive skills can still improve and his forehand is in danger of breaking down. Sinner is clearly more than capable of victimizing these weaknesses.
Choice: sinner in 2
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