At the Qatar Open, Carlos Alcaraz defeated Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 7-6(5) in his first match since becoming the youngest man ever to win the Career Grand Slam at the Australian Open.

The 22-year-old saved two set points on serve in a tense second set before winning the tie-break to earn his 150th tour-level hard-court victory and extend his perfect start to the 2026 season to 8-0, according to ATP.

It was quite challenging. Arthur is a very hazardous player. In the first round, no one wants to compete against him. The level makes me pleased. The fact that I was able to get through the match’s challenging times makes me glad. I’m glad I maintained a good attitude and composure and performed well on the court, Alcaraz said.

In Doha, where he lost to Jiri Lehecka in the quarterfinals of his debut last year, Alcaraz is hoping to do better. The world’s top player in the ATP rankings will next face French Valentin Royer.

The only way Alcaraz can face second seed Sinner in the title match is in the 17th episode of their thrilling competition.

Prior to that, the Spaniard might have a quarterfinal match against Karen Khachanov.

In the 2024 championship, Khachanov defeated lucky loser Shintaro Mochizuki by a score of 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. In the second round, the seventh-seeded Khachanov will face Marton Fucsovics.

Later, in his first game as the defending champion, Andrey Rublev recovered from a sluggish start to defeat Jesper de Jong 6-4, 6-3. Fabian Marozsan, who defeated Ugo Humbert 6-3, 6-1, will be the next opponent for the fifth seed, who also won the Doha title in 2020 when it was an ATP 250.

Stefanos Tsitsipas kicked off his Doha bid with a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Tunisian wild card Moez Echargui, setting up a popcorn second-round match against Daniil Medvedev, the reigning 2023 champion and his longtime rival.

Although the two haven’t faced each other since Shanghai in 2024, Tsitsipas is behind in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 4–10.