Alcaraz passes the Nardi test to reach Qatar Open last eight

Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the top seed, reached the last eight of the Qatar Open by defeating Italian qualifier Luca Nardi 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha on Wednesday.

Alcaraz looked cruising towards a straightforward win after going a break up in the second set but Nardi fought his way back into the match, not allowing the Spaniard to win a game following 1-4 in that set.

The Spaniard, however, steadied his ship quickly and secured the decider to prevail after an hour, 53 minutes, recording three aces and five break-point conversions. He’s now 11-1 (win-loss) in 2025.

Alcaraz, ranked No 3, will play Jiri Lehecka next.

The 21-year-old Spaniard won against Croat Marin Cilic (6-4, 6-4) ahead of his victory.

In the previous round of the Doha tournament, Nardi, ranked No 85, won against Chinese Zhizhen Zhang (6-4, 6-3).

Doha ATP 500, other second-round results (Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, hard, USD 3.035.960, most recent results first):

• Matteo Berrettini vs. Tallon Griekspoor
• Hamad Medjedovic vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime
• Jiri Lehecka beat Fabian Marozsan: 6-4, 6-2
• Daniil Medvedev (4) beat Zizou Bergs: 6-2, 6-1
• Andrey Rublev (5) beat Nuno Borges: 6-3, 6-4
• Jack Draper (8) beat Christopher O’Connell (Q): 6-2, 6-1
• Alex De Minaur (2) beat Botic van de Zandschulp (Q): 6-4, 6-4

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