Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the round of 16 at the Qatar Open with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Croatian veteran Marin Cilic on Monday.
Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion who has dropped to No. 192 in the rankings, was playing his first match of the season after recovering from a long-term knee injury. Despite trailing 4-3 and facing a 0-40 deficit on his serve in the second set, Alcaraz rallied and broke Cilic in the following game to seal the victory.
“I am just really happy that I stayed calm at that moment, breathing, going through my routines, making good points,” Alcaraz said. “That’s why I was able to win in two sets.”
Alcaraz will face either Zhang Zhizhen of China or Italy’s Luca Nardi next.
Earlier, seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov lost 6-4, 6-4 to Jiri Lehecka.
Also on Monday, eighth-seeded Jack Draper defeated Alexei Popyrin 6-2, 7-6 (4) to set up a meeting with fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell.
Several other top players will play their first matches on Tuesday.
Second-seeded Alex de Minaur will face Roman Safiullin. Novak Djokovic, who had to withdraw from his Australian Open semifinal due to a hamstring injury, will take on Matteo Berrettini.
Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, and Stefanos Tsitsipas will also play on Tuesday.
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