Yannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz remain on track to meet in the Qatar Open final after winning in straight sets on Wednesday.
World No. 2 Sinner defeated Australia’s Alexei Popyrin 6-3 7-5 in Doha to reach the quarter-finals, before Alcaraz beat France’s Valentin Royer 6-2 7-5.
The pair met in six finals last year, three of which were Grand Slams, with world number one Alcaraz winning the French Open and U.S. Open.
The 22-year-old Spaniard will next face Karen Khachanov, who beat Marton Fucovic 6-2 4-6 6-4.
Sixth seed Jakub Mencic defeated Zhang Zhizhen 6-3 6-2 to set up a duel with Sinner in the quarterfinals. Sinner has reached at least the quarterfinals in 28 of his last 30 matches, dating back to the 2023 ATP Finals in Turin.
The 24-year-old Italian won the Australian Open and Wimbledon last year and has now won 22 of his last 23 matches. His only loss was to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals last month.
Meanwhile, Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas beat world No. 11 Daniil Medvedev 6-3 6-4 in Doha to set up a clash with fifth seed Andrei Rublev, who defeated Fabian Marozsan 6-2 6-4.
Unseeded Frenchman Arthur Fels and eighth-seeded Czech Jiri Lehka also won comfortably to round out the quarterfinals.
