Carlos Alcaraz defeated Valentin Royer, 6-2, 7-5, in the second round of the 2026 Qatar Open.
After a strong first set, the Spaniard struggled in the second and trailed his French opponent 2-5.
But Alcaraz was determined to get the job done in straights, and won five games on the bounce to secure his spot in the quarterfinals.
What would the score be if Carlos Alcaraz faced prime Roger Federer?
Who is winning and in how many sets?
There, he will play Russia’s Karen Khachanov, the world number 17.
Alcaraz will need to be better if he wants to take down Khachanov, but chose to look at the positives during his post-match interview.
Carlos Alcaraz says he wants to reach finals not quarterfinals after making 55th QF in Doha
The seven-time Grand Slam champion was told he’d qualified for his 55th tour-level quarterfinal during his post-match interview.
Although he was happy to hear the statistic, Alcaraz was keen to state his real goal.
“Obviously, it’s a great number!” he said.
“But, to be honest, I’m not thinking about the number of quarterfinals I’m doing, I want to be focused on the number of finals I’m doing, that’s my mindset, that’s my goal.
“Hopefully, this week I’m going to add another final to my belt, but a few matches, a few really difficult matches ahead of me.
“I’m really excited and looking forward to playing them, but yeah, it’s great to see myself with such great consistency.”
Alcaraz also took a minute to look back at his second-round win over Royer, and admitted he had doubts that he would close out the match in straight sets.
“Obviously, I had to be prepared for everything, my mind, there were some moments where I thought about the third set, I’m not going to lie,” he said.
Carlos Alcaraz vs Valentin Royer – Match stats
| Stats | Carlos Alcaraz | Valentin Royer |
| Performance rating | 8.6 | 7.6 |
| Aces | 4 | 2 |
| Double faults | 2 | 2 |
| 1st Serve % | 81% | 56% |
| Winners | 19 | 13 |
| Unforced errors | 24 | 23 |
| Net points won | 15/20 | 9/15 |
| Baseline points won | 32 | 29 |
“But it was just a small place in my mind that I was thinking about the third set, the rest was working to find the solutions, to find the right way.
“I’m really pleased, and really happy that I was able to find the good rhythm again, the good tennis.
“But yeah, it’s just about fighting, it’s just about one point.
“Sometimes it’s really difficult to close the sets, the matches, so I just had to stay there, and I’m happy to turn it around and get the win in straight sets.”
Alcaraz will now turn his attention to the quarterfinals…
Who will Carlos Alcaraz have to beat to win the Qatar Open?
Next up for Alcaraz is a tricky test against Russia’s Khachanov.
The 29-year-old is battle-ready, having won his first two matches in three sets.
Alcaraz may be feeling confident; however, when he looks at their head-to-head record.
Carlos Alcaraz and Karen Khachanov’s head-to-head record (5-0)
- 2025 Italian Open 4R – Carlos Alcaraz bt. Karen Khachanov, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6
- 2024 China Open QF – Carlos Alcaraz bt. Karen Khachanov, 7-5, 6-2
- 2023 Madrid Open QF – Carlos Alcaraz bt. Karen Khachanov, 6-4, 7-5
- 2022 Hamburg Open QF – Carlos Alcaraz bt. Karen Khachanov, 6-0, 6-2
- 2022 French Open 4R – Carlos Alcaraz bt. Karen Khachanov, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4
The Spaniard is 5-0 against Khachanov and has only dropped one set.
Alcaraz will be the favorite to advance, but who could he meet in the semis?
He would play either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Andrey Rublev.
Tsitsipas picked up an impressive win over Daniil Medvedev in his second-round match, while Rublev kept his title defence alive with a convincing win against Fabian Marozsan.
Again, though, you’d expect Alcaraz to win against either opponent.
Who is the best ATP player never to win a Grand Slam title?
Is it Alexander Zverev, Marcelo Rios, Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer or maybe even someone else?
It’s in the final that he may have a bit of trouble…
Jiri Lehecka, Arthur Fils, and Jakub Mensik are all good players in their own right, but it’s his great rival, Jannik Sinner, that Alcaraz will be looking at.
The pair met in a handful of finals in 2025 as their rivalry continued to develop.
Fans expected Alcaraz and Sinner to contest this year’s Australian Open final, having met in the US Open, Wimbledon, and French Open finals last year.
It wasn’t to be, though, as Sinner lost to Djokovic in the semis.
Will Doha stage their first official match of 2026?
Only time will tell.
First, Alcaraz will play Khachanov and Sinner will play Mensik in the quarterfinals on Thursday, February 19.
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