World No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz found himself trailing in the second set to Croatia’s Marin Cilic, but battled back for a 6-4, 6-4 win Monday in the opening round at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha.
With Cilic — the former World No. 3 — on the verge of taking a 5-3 lead in the second set, Alcaraz rebounded while serving at 0-40 down and notched 14 of the next 19 points to seal the victory. Alcaraz, who saved five of six break points, will face World No. 7 Novak Djokovic of Croatia if both reach the semifinals.
Czech Jiri Lehecka upset No. 7 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-4, 6-4, taking 35 of 40 first-serve points (88 percent) and saving both break points he faced. Other first-round winners included No. 8 seed Jack Draper of Great Britain, Fabian Marozsan of Hungary and Australia’s Christopher O’Connell.
Rio Open
Taiwanese qualifier Chun-Hsin Tseng stunned third-seeded Alejandro Tabilo of Chile 6-2, 7-5 in the first round at Rio de Janeiro.
Tseng, ranked 125th in the world, finished with a 6-0 edge in aces en route to the 1-hour, 36-minute victory.
Another Chilean, sixth-seeded Nicolas Jarry, rallied for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Argentine qualifier Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
The home fans had four Brazilian players to cheer on, but only one advanced, as wild card Thiago Monteiro nipped Argentina’s Facundo Diaz Acosta 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3). Kazakhstan’s Alexander Shevchenko defeated wild card Felipe Meligeni Alves 6-4, 6-2; Argentina’s Francisco Comesana eliminated Gustavo Heide 7-6 (2), 6-7 (7), 6-3; and Spain’s Jaume Munar topped Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-4, 3-6, 6-0.
–Field Level Media
Feb 20, 2025, 07:50 AM ETNo. 2-ranked Iga Swiatek lost to a player younger than 18 for the first time on tour when she was stunned by Mirra Andreeva in the Duba
If you watched any of Emma Raducanu’s Tuesday match against Karolina Muchova, it was probably only the two clips, stitched together neatly for the news highli
Aryna Sabalenka has suffered another early defeat at the Dubai Tennis Championships as her woes continue.Sabalenka lost to Madison Keys in the final of the Aus
CNN — Tennis legend Venus Williams has received a wild card entry for next month’s