The World number three looked to be heading towards victory, but the World number 25 had other ideas.

Lehecka defeated Alcaraz for the first time in his career and left the 21-year-old reflecting on one of the most surprising losses of the week.

Boris Becker makes prediction about Carlos Alcaraz after Qatar Open defeat

Lehecka showed no fear against Alcaraz as he took the lead by claiming the first set.

The Spaniard levelled the match and held a 4-2 advantage in the decider, before Lehecka reeled off five successive games to win 3-6, 3-6, 6-4.

Alcaraz was unsure of how he lost the match from a commanding position, and as a result his debut Qatar Open campaign is now over.

The result left the tennis world stunned and drew a response from six-time major winner Boris Becker, who expects the Spaniard’s consistently improve with age.

“Carlos is still very young ( 21), consistency will come with age,” the German wrote on X. “But I still love his style and charisma!”

Carlos Alcaraz is searching for consistency in 2025

Since Alcaraz suffered an agonising loss in the 2024 Olympics final to Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz results have been a mixed bag to say the least.

He suffered an opening round loss at the Cincinnati Masters before a shock second round exit at the US Open.

Alcaraz then played a starring role in Team Europe’s Laver Cup victory, before defeating Jannik Sinner to win the China Open.

Since then Alcaraz lost to Tomas Machac, in Shanghai, and he was beaten early in Paris before failing to reach the semi-finals of the ATP Finals.

Alcaraz’s 2025 began by reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals, and winning in Rotterdam was certainly a morale-boosting achievement for Alcaraz.

It remains to be see if the Spaniard can bounce back form his defeat in Qatar when he heads to the United States for the North American hard court swing.