Carlos Alcaraz is up and running at the Qatar Open in Doha, winning his opening match against Arthur Rinderknech.
Rinderknech certainly troubled the top seed, but Alcaraz triumphed 6-4, 7-6(7-5) after one hour and 47 minutes of action.
The Spaniard now meets another Frenchman in the Qatar Open round of 16, taking on Valentin Royer for a place in the quarterfinals.
Alcaraz is being paid $1.2 million to play in Qatar, where he is joined by fellow ATP superstar and fierce rival Jannik Sinner.
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Carlos Alcaraz continues stunning record after first Qatar win
Sinner and Alcaraz could reunite in the Doha final, which would represent a 17th career meeting between the pair.
The Spanish star boasts a hugely impressive 10-6 record, but that tally falls well short of another stunning record he holds at this moment in time.
Since his 2025 Miami Open loss to David Goffin, Alcaraz is currently 63-4 in tournaments that count for ranking points.
That equates to a figure of 94%, while the Spaniard already boasts an 8-0 record for the 2026 season.
He shared his delight at the success shortly after, sharing images of the match on his Instagram with the simple caption: “DOHA!”
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Carlos Alcaraz achieves career milestone at the Qatar Open
Alcaraz really didn’t have it all his own way against Rinderknech, needing to save two set points on serve in the second set.
But the career Grand Slam champion proved his worth in the end, managing to clinch his 150th tour-level hard-court win.
It’s another phenomenal achievement from Alcaraz, who is seeking to win a 26th career ATP title at the age of 22.
The world number one will now look to take that momentum into his match against Royer, who he has never played before.
The 24-year-old Frenchman is currently ranked 60th in the world, and has yet to win a title in his career.
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Carlos Alcaraz vs Arthur Rinderknech point stats
Rinderknech, unlike his compatriot, has met Alcaraz several times, and has now lost all five of their career meetings.
The Frenchman impressed with six aces and 14/17 of his net points won, but it simply wasn’t enough in the end to pull off an upset.
| Carlos Alcaraz | Arthur Rinderknech | |
| 16/21 (76%) | Net points won | 14/17 (82%) |
| 27 | Winners | 25 |
| 15 | Unforced errors | 15 |
| 53/69 (77%) | Service points won | 55/83 (66%) |
| 28/83 (34%) | Return points won | 16/69 (23%) |
| 81/152 (53%) | Total points won | 71/152 (47%) |
Still, Rinderknech can take great confidence from his performance, which will have earned the respect of Alcaraz.
Earning a more straightforward route to the round of 16 was Sinner, who beat Tomas Machac 6-1, 6-4 after one hour and 10 minutes.
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