Alcaraz, O’Connell strike early blows at Qatar Open

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Alcaraz, O’Connell strike early blows at Qatar Open

Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz has overcome Croatian veteran Marin Cilic 6-4 6-4 to reach the round of 16 at the Qatar Open.

Also through is Australia’s Christopher O’Connell. The qualifier, ranked No. 82, edged out Lebanese wildcard Hady Habib 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-3).

Cilic, 36, the 2014 US Open champion who has fallen to No. 192 in the rankings, was playing his first match of the season after recovering from a long-term knee injury.

The Croatian led 4-3 and 0-40 on Alcaraz’s serve in the second set, but the Spanish four-time major winner managed to recover and then broke in the next game.

“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 now play either Zhang Zhizhen of China or Italy’s Luca Nardi.

Earlier, seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov lost 6-4, 6-4 to Jiri Lehecka.

Several other top players will play their first matches later on Tuesday.

Australia’s second-seeded Alex de Minaur will face Roman Safiullin. Novak Djokovic, who had to pull out of his *********** Open semi-final with a hamstring injury, will take on Matteo Berrettini.

Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Stefano Tsitsipas will also play on Tuesday.

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