By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz defeated France’s Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the first round of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Tuesday in Doha.
Rinderknech had two chances to finish the second set, but the Spaniard won both to force a tiebreaker, which he then won. Alcaraz hadn’t faced a break point in the match until that moment.
“It was really difficult,” said the Spaniard.
“Arthur is a really dangerous player. Nobody wants to play against him in the first round, I’m happy with the level. I’m happy that I got through difficult moments in the match.”
Alcaraz started well and broke to go 3-2 up, before comfortably seeing out the rest of the set to take it 6-4 with a deft volley at the net.
Rinderknech improved from there, earning two set points at 6-5, but Alcaraz, helped by his 28 winners in the match, saved them before coming out on top in the tie-break.
He sealed victory with a forehand down the line and sets up a second-round tie against France’s Valentin Royer, who beat countryman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-0 6-3.
Victory was Alcaraz’s 150th at tour level on hard courts and extended his flawless start to the 2026 season to 8-0.
All seeded players in action on Tuesday advanced to the second round. No. 5 Andrey Rublev of Russia beat the Netherlands’ Jesper De Jong 6-4, 6-3; No. 7 Karen Khachanov of Russia topped Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki 6-1, 3-6, 6-4; and No. 8 Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic ousted the United States’ Jenson Brooksby 6-3, 6-3.