Two weeks following his defeat to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open, Jannik Sinner secured a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Tomas Machac in his Qatar Open debut. Sinner, the second seed, displayed a dominant performance, extending his winning streak to 11 matches at this level. Notably, he had previously clinched titles in Beijing and Vienna last October.
During the match, Sinner showcased his prowess by losing only six points on serve in the first set and effectively handling Machac’s strong start in the second set. Despite missing three match points in the ninth game, Sinner closed out the match confidently on his own serve. With top seed Carlos Alcaraz also competing in Doha, Sinner aims to maintain their competitive edge whenever they are drawn together.
Looking ahead, Sinner is set to face Alexei Popyrin in the next round, who secured a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Qatari wild card Mubarak Shannan Zayid. Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev bounced back from a recent defeat in Rotterdam with a convincing 6-4, 6-2 win over Shang Juncheng in Doha. The 30-year-old, a former champion, joins Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov as past winners in the tournament.
In other matches, Jakub Mensik and Arthur Fils advanced to the second round in Doha with hard-fought three-set victories. Mensik, the sixth seed, overcame Jan Choinski 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-4, while Fils defeated Kamil Majchrzak 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4.
