Carlos Alcaraz is not surprised by CF in Doha | ATP Tour

Doha

Alcaraz is not surprised by CF in Doha

The Spanish adds 12 victories in a row in the ATP 500 tournaments

February 19, 2025

It has happened on very few occasions, but this Wednesday was one of those days when Carlos Alcaraz, at 21, had to face a younger player than him. In this case, Luca Nardi, three months younger than Spanish.

But as had happened in the previous quotes in front of a least age rival, Alcaraz stayed in the second round of the Qatar Exxonmobil open 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in one hour and 52 minutes.

“Co 4-1, 40/40 [en el segundo set]he made good points and began to play as if it were No. 1 of the world, ”Alcaraz acknowledged about the improvement of Nardi from then on. “I couldn’t do anything. I just tried to be there, be mentally strong. My energy level probably went down a little, but merit is his. I am very happy to forget everything and reset on the third set. ”

“I was a good level mentally, I was very strong. I tried to let him know that he was there, shouting ‘let’s go’, to come up and recover the energy. I did very good tennis on the third set, but I am very proud of my energy levels on that set, ”he added to his analysis.

Nardi, who was born 93 days after Alcaraz, is one of the five minor victims, that the Murcian has left the road since he started his career. There are five victories in five games.

Alcaraz vs youngest rivals

Although the lexus ATP Head2head lacked the background before this duel, Alcaraz and Nardi are well known. Both belong to the 2003 generation and had already faced in the Junior category in the Tournaments of Villena (Alicante, Spain) 2019 and Sanxenxo (Pontevedra, Spain) 2018 with victory for Spanish.

And in the ATP 500 of Doha the story did not change. The main favorite won his twelfth consecutive game in a tournament in this category, after linking Tokyo’s titles last September 2024 (5-0) and Rotterdam (5-0), just two weeks ago, before the Finals of Doha (2-0).

His declaration of intentions was decisive since the beginning of the shock. Alcaraz was awarded the first ten points at stake to place 2-0, 0/30 in his favor. However, the Italian broke the drought and managed to save the game. He was the only one who won on the first set.

With the confidence of having overcome a hard premiere against CILIC in the first round, No. 3 of the PIF ATP Rankings found its best version from very soon to score the initial sleeve by missing only three points with its serve (12/15) .

Alcaraz’s domain also remained in the second set, leaving the Italian without any option from the previous phase. A break in the fourth game allowed him to take, again, an advantage that in just one hour was already 6-1, 4-1. When everything seemed sentenced, Nardi took an unexpected script turn, linking five games in a row and forcing the decisive set.

The main favorite cost to wake up from lethargy, but he did. He recovered the sensations and moved faster to chain three games in a row, which allowed him to place with 4-1 in his favor in the third set and keep the advantage until the end (6-3).

His next event this Thursday in Doha will be Jiri Leheckka, who did not find too many problems to impose himself to Fabian Marozsan 6-4, 6-2 in 63 minutes. It will be the second time that the Czech and the Spanish are on the track. At the moment, the lexus ATP Head2head favors Alcaraz 1-0.

Did you know what …?

Carlos Alcaraz has only lost a game this season, in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open against Novak Djokovic. In total, he chains an 11-1 record, raising the title in the ATP 500 of Róterdam.