Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner remain on a collision course for the Doha final, but the quarters are next up on the schedule. They are facing Karen Khachanov and Jakub Mensik, respectively, on Thursday.
(1) Carlos Alcaraz vs. (7) Karen Khachanov
Alcaraz and Khachanov will be going head-to-head for the sixth time in their careers when they clash in the quarterfinals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Thursday. As it is for most players, this has been a nightmare matchup for Khachanov. He is 0-5 overall and 1-11 in total sets, with not a single tiebreaker forced in his 11 set losses. The Russian finally, however, managed to snag a set in their most recent meeting at the 2025 Rome Masters — where Alcaraz prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
The reigning Australian Open champion has extended his season-opening winning streak to nine matches with Doha victories over Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Royer. It has been a rough 2026 campaign for Khachanov, who is 5-3 with losses to Michael Mmoh (Hong Kong), Luciano Darderi (Australian Open), and Jaume Munar (Rotterdam). The world No. 17 scraped past Shintaro Mochizuki and Marton Fucsovics earlier this week, but nothing about his current form suggests that he is about to challenge Alcaraz.
Pick: Alcaraz in 2
(6) Jakub Mensik vs. (2) Jannik Sinner
Like Alcaraz, Sinner can generally just go through the motions in the early stages of tournaments. Once the competition heats up with seeded players on the other side of the set, Sinner’s level almost always rises. Coming off a surprising semifinal loss to Novak Djokovic at Melbourne Park, the second-ranked Italian was easily good enough to dispose of Tomas Machac and Alexei Popyrin in straight sets.
Up next for Sinner is a first-ever meeting with Mensik, who secured his spot in the last eight with a three-set defeat of Jan Choinski and a straight-set victory over Zhizhen Zhang. The 20-year-old Czech is wildly talented — as evidenced by his Miami Masters triumph last spring — but his defensive skills can still improve and his forehand is liable to breaking down. Sinner is obviously more than capable of victimizing those weaknesses.
Pick: Sinner in 2