DOHA, Qatar — High-seeded Carlos Alcaraz overcame Croatian veteran Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4 Monday to achieve the spherical of 16 on the Qatar Open.
Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion who has fallen to No. 192 within the rankings, was enjoying his first match of the season after recovering from a long-term knee damage. The 36-year-old Croatian led 4-3 and 0-40 on Alcaraz’s serve within the second set, however the Spanish four-time main winner managed to recuperate after which broke within the subsequent recreation.
“I’m simply actually glad that I stayed calm at that second, respiration, going by means of my routines, making good factors,” Alcaraz mentioned. “That is why I used to be capable of win in two units.”
Alcaraz will play both Zhang Zhizhen of China or Italy’s Luca Nardi subsequent.
Earlier, seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov misplaced 6-4, 6-4 to Jiri Lehecka.
Additionally on Monday, eighth-seeded Jack Draper beat Alexei Popyrin 6-2, 7-6 (4) to arrange a gathering with one other Australian, Christopher O’Connell.
A number of different high gamers will play their first matches on Tuesday.
Second-seeded Alex de Minaur will face Roman Safiullin. Novak Djokovic, who needed to pull out of his Australian Open semifinal with a hamstring damage, will tackle Matteo Berrettini.
Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas will even play on Tuesday.