Tennis News

What is the Doha tennis draw?

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have discovered their potential routes to a blockbuster championship clash at the 2026 Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, with the ATP 500 draw unveiled on Saturday.

Top seed Alcaraz will open his campaign against Arthur Rinderknech and is projected to face 2023 champion Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals. The 22-year-old Spaniard is chasing his 26th tour-level title and is competing for the first time since capturing the Australian Open last month, where he became the youngest man in history to complete the Career Grand Slam.

Second seed Sinner is also back in action for the first time since reaching the semi-finals in Melbourne. The 24-year-old Italian is making his Doha debut and begins against Tomas Machac, whom he leads 2-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Third seed Alexander Bublik, who plays Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Rotterdam semi-finals Saturday, starts his Doha title bid against a qualifier. He is a potential semi-final opponent for Sinner. In the second round, Bublik could face former World No. 14 Arthur Fils, who is continuing his comeback from an eight-month back injury.

The field also features several other Top 20 players in the PIF ATP Rankings, including defending champion Andrey Rublev, 2024 finalist Jakub Mensik and Karen Khachanov. Rublev is a two-time Doha champion, having also lifted the trophy in 2020 when the event was still an ATP 250. Khachanov claimed the title in 2024.

Who are the seeds at the 2026 Qatar ExxonMobil Open?

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner lead the field as the top two seeds. Alexander Bublik is seeded third, followed by Daniil Medvedev in fourth and Andrey Rublev in fifth. Jakub Mensik, Karen Khachanov and Jiri Lehecka complete the top eight seeds.

Who are the past champions in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open?

Three former champions are competing this year: Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev and Karen Khachanov.

What are the first-round matches to watch at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open?

Carlos Alcaraz faces Arthur Rinderknech, Jannik Sinner takes on Tomas Machac, and Daniil Medvedev plays Shang Juncheng.

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Love All: ATP Stars celebrating engagements this Valentine’s Day

The ATP Tour calendar rarely slows down. Between long-haul flights, three-set battles and the constant push for PIF ATP Ranking points, players spend much of the year chasing marginal gains on court. But away from stadium lights and scoreboards, life continues to move forward.

This Valentine’s Day, several ATP stars are marking significant milestones off the court as well, celebrating engagements while continuing to compete at the highest level of the sport. 

Alex de Minaur & Katie Boulter
One of tennis’ most visible cross-Tour couples, Alex de Minaur and Katie Boulter got engaged in December 2024. The Australian and the Briton regularly support one another at events around the world, balancing two demanding schedules while continuing to compete at the top level.

During this year’s Australian Open Jim Courier asked how involved De Minaur planned to be during the wedding planning.

“Are you doubting me, Jim?” De Minaur joked. “No, this is a 50-50 relationship! I’ve been involved so far with some of the decisions… When it comes to the details of napkins and flowers, that’s not my forte, so I’ll leave that to Katie.”

Tommy Paul & Paige Lorenze
Tommy Paul is engaged to longtime girlfriend, influencer and entrepreneur Paige Lorenze. As Paul has climbed the ATP Rankings and contended at major events, Lorenze has been a consistent presence in his player box throughout his breakthrough seasons. 

Paul and fiancee Lorenze recently announced the creation of the Kids Outdoors Foundation, which creates opportunities for kids without the financial means to play sports to do so. Read more here…

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_{^{Paige Lorenze and Tommy Paul celebrate Paul’s 2024 Queen’s Club title. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images}}

Sebastian Korda & Ivana Nedved
Sebastian Korda is engaged to Ivana Nedved. The American, a two-time tour-level titlist, announced the engagement in November. Ivana has been a consistent presence for most of the 25-year-old’s career, dating back to before the American appeared in the Next Gen ATP Finals in 2021. 

Henry Patten & Ellie Stone
Henry Patten’s engagement came during one of the most memorable weeks of his career. The Briton proposed to long-term girlfriend Ellie Stone at the 2025 edition of the Nitto ATP Finals, and capped the week by winning the title with Harri Heliovaara.

“The tennis is pretty good but the engagement was something special,” Patten said to ATPTour.com in Turin in November. “It has been a complete dream for me. Ellie has been here supporting me all week. I am a very happy guy right now. I feel unbelievably lucky to have a partner like her and a partner like Harri.”

 

 

 

 

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Yannick Hanfmann & Sofie Oyen
Yannick Hanfmann became engaged to his partner Sofie Oyen at the start of this season in Melbourne. 

“It’s beautiful, actually. We were super lucky,” Hanfmann told ATPTour.com in January. “We were driving to the animal park. It was raining and we were a little down, then the weather actually got good. It was super windy, so maybe the bad weather got blown away. The animal park was really nice, we saw koalas and quokkas and wallabies and kangaroos, all of that. That was really nice.

“I kind of knew in that moment I wanted to do it, and told my sister and her fiance to maybe go to the toilet. It was super nice. She was super happy.”

Jason Kubler & Maddison Inglis
Jason Kubler and Maddison Inglis are engaged, forming one of Australia’s professional tennis couples.

“It was super exciting. I didn’t anticipate the hour leading up. I was so nervous. That was crazy. Felt like we were on a first date again,” Kubler told ATPTour.com in January on the proposal. “Very happy I did it. Very happy Maddy said yes, which is good.”

The longtime partners spent December in Perth, with the highlight being their engagement. Read more here...

Cameron Norrie & Louise Jacobi
Cameron Norrie is engaged to longtime partner Louise Jacobi. Their relationship since 2019 has spanned Norrie’s rise from outside the Top 100 to inside the Top 10, highlighted by his Indian Wells title in 2021.

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Fritz survives 'sharp pain', Korda to reach Dallas semis

Taylor Fritz survived a razor-tight match and an injury scare Friday to beat Sebastian Korda 6-7(2), 6-4, 7-6(5) for a place in the Nexo Dallas Open semi-finals.

At 4-5, 30/15 first set, Fritz hit an awkward backhand flick that led to a sharp pain and a physio visit in the same game. After speaking throughout the week about injuries he has dealt with in the past year, it was an alarming sight.

“That was a weird one. He hit a really hard return and so I had to kind of hit a flick backhand and the way that I [hit it], just jammed my elbow I think. It was a hard-hit ball, so I just think the way I hit it behind me and extended my elbow, I instantly just felt this really sharp pain in my elbow,” Fritz said in his on-court interview. “I went over to the towel box, I was feeling it and I was like, ‘I’ll try to hit a serve’. Luckily I made it and it wasn’t a bad serve, because the ball came back and I couldn’t hit the next ball. It was such a sharp pain.”

Fritz had the injury worked on and was still feeling the pain, but not as intensely. He received multiple visits from the physio, which he explained helped.

“It felt like it was better and then I started to get some confidence in it. And then I served one that gave me the exact same pain and it’s such a sharp pain… like I can barely hold the racquet. No chance I can hit the next ball,” Fritz said. “It was weird, but then I got the pain-killers and as the match went on, I stopped feeling it and I was able to trust it and have no pain the whole third, most of the second set.”

Even so, Fritz had to deal with Korda, who served at 5/4 in the final-set tie-break. But the former No. 15 player in the PIF ATP Rankings made back-to-back forehand errors, allowing Fritz to escape. The top seed hit 22 aces and saved all four break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Fritz will next face former World No. 3 Marin Cilic, who stormed past breakthrough Briton Jack Pinnington Jones 6-1, 6-4 in jut 78 minutes.

The Croatian, a 21-time tour-level champion, is pursuing his first ATP Tour title since Hangzhou in 2024. Fritz leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 2-1, but they have not played since 2022.

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Courier hosts new ATP podcast presented by Infosys, examines Alcaraz-Sinner rivalry

The legends of our sport — past, present, and future — stand together on a mountain of titles, achievements and broken records. But what has allowed them to do so?

ATP Beyond the Numbers presented by Infosys is a new series hosted Jim Courier examining the powerful and evolving role of statistics in telling the story of tennis.

Each episode, another expert will join Courier to use Infosys ATP Stats to dig deeper into what makes the sport tick and how those insights are helping unlock a new understanding of the game.

Courier is a member of the prestigious ATP No. 1 Club, having spent 58 weeks at No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings. The iconic player and broadcaster combines his experience on the court with his perspective off it to provide advanced insights into the modern game.

Using their knowledge and the numbers, Courier and his guests will dive deep into the history and future of the ATP Tour and its stars.

Watch the first episode below, with Courier and Mark Petchey exploring rivalries, including the one between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.

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Pinnington Jones' dream Dallas run ended by Cilic

Great Britain’s Jack Pinnington Jones has his dream run at the Dallas Open ended by veteran Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals.

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Wawrinka, 40, set for Top 100 return

Stan Wawrinka is not going away quietly.

The Swiss star, who plans to bring the curtain down on his remarkable career this season, is set to return to the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings on Monday following his good start to the year. He is No. 98 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and will be back in the Top 100 for the first time since July 2024.

In January, the 40-year-old rolled back the clock at the Australian Open, becoming the oldest man since Ken Rosewall in 1978 to reach the third round in Melbourne. Wawrinka defeated Laslo Djere and then earned a five-set win against Frenchman Arthur Gea.

Returning to Europe, Wawrinka recorded main-draw victories in Montpellier and Rotterdam this month. His win against 17-year-old Thijs Boogaard at the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam on Wednesday ranked as the second-largest age gap in ATP Tour and Grand Slam history, trailing only Dominic Thiem’s 2011 win over Thomas Muster. Twenty-three years and three months separated Wawrinka and Boogaard.

At 40, with his 41st birthday approaching in March, Wawrinka will stand as the oldest man in the Top 100 by more than two years. For perspective, Novak Djokovic, 38, sits at No. 3, while Adrian Mannarino, Marin Cilic and Roberto Bautista Agut, all 37, also remain inside the elite bracket. The last 40-year-old to feature in the Top 100 was Roger Federer, who held No. 97 in June 2022.

Wawrinka reached a career-high No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings after he won the first of his three major titles at the Australian Open in January 2014.

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Etcheverry finds a major spark in thrilling Buenos Aires win

Tomas Martin Etcheverry soared to his first ATP Tour semi-final since last May on Friday at the IEB+ Argentina Open, where he used the support from a vocal home crowd and high-quality shotmaking in key moments to earn a comeback 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory against Alejandro Tabilo.

Tabilo had defeated former champions Facundo Diaz Acosta and Joao Fonseca in his first two matches at the ATP 250 clay-court event in Buenos Aires and looked on course for another victory after a dominant first set.

However, Etcheverry hit a scorching forehand winner to break Tabilo’s serve at 0-1 in the second set and that moment changed the complexion of the clash. The seventh seed struck 14 winners in the second set to level and then fired an astonishing backhand pass from near the advertising boards at 4-4 in the third set to break Tabilo again. He served out in two hours and seven minutes to reach the last four in Buenos Aires for the first time.

“I am so happy,” Etcheverry said. “The first set was so tough for me, but in the second set I started to play my best tennis and then in the third set at 4-4, I got the break with the passing shot with my backhand, down the line, was incredible. I am super happy to play here with my people.”

Etcheverry, who is 6-3 on the year according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, is chasing his first tour-level title this week and will next play top seed Francisco Cerundolo or Vit Kopriva.

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Bergs 'darts' into action for the Rotterdam Lexus ATP Head2Head Challenge!

Zizou Bergs took aim with a tennis ball ahead of the ABN AMRO Open in Rotterdam… but this time without a racquet in hand.

The No. 39 player in the PIF ATP Rankings went up against host Natalie Pike in the latest edition of the Lexus ATP Head2Head Challenge. Given it took place in a country renowned for its love of darts, Bergs and Pike’s abilities with ‘the arrows’ were fully put to the test.

After they each popped a row of balloons and completed a tennis-ball balancing task, Bergs and Pike were charged with throwing a few balloon-popping ‘bullseyes’ to advance to the final stage. The first contestant to land a tennis ball through a target placed in the boot of a Lexus was crowned the winner.

Did Bergs’ elite tennis abilities transfer smoothly to the challenge, or could Pike spring a surprise victory in Rotterdam? Watch the video below to find out who won.

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De Minaur’s ‘mental effort’ thwarts Van de Zandschulp in Rotterdam

Alex de Minaur remains relentless in Rotterdam, but only just.

The top-seeded Australian dug deep to hold off home favourite Botic van de Zandschulp 3-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 on Friday afternoon and book a semi-final spot at the ABN AMRO Open for the third consecutive year. De Minaur held his nerve after letting slip a 2-0 lead in the deciding set to outlast Van de Zandschulp and set a last-four meeting with Ugo Humbert.

THAT is a comeback 🤹‍♂️@alexdeminaur reaches the Rotterdam semi-finals for the third successive year!@abnamroopen | #abnamroopen pic.twitter.com/d5PjzSkl9q

— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 13, 2026

“I’m happy I got through,” said the No. 8 in the PIF ATP Rankings after the two-hour, 44-minute quarter-final tussle. “It wasn’t looking too good about three quarters of the way through the match, but I managed to find some of my better tennis today at the end of the second set. Another great mental effort.”

De Minaur was not always at his best against the World No. 65, who frequently dictated play with his powerful groundstrokes off both wings. Yet the Australian star typically refused to lay down and he found a path to victory after saving five of seven break points he earned, according to Infosys ATP Stats, including three during his crucial service hold at 3-3 in the second set.

Now 4-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Van de Zandschulp, De Minaur is just the second player in tournament history to reach three consecutive semi-finals after Tom Okker in 1974-76. The 26-year-old is 15-2 on Dutch soil since the start of 2024, a tally which includes the 2024 ‘s-Hertogenbosch title.

Awaiting De Minaur in the last four on Saturday in Rotterdam will be Ugo Humbert. The Frenchman earlier accelerated past Christopher O’Connell 6-4, 6-1 to win his 10th consecutive ATP Tour quarter-final.

Humbert and O’Connell’s third Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting was a tale of two halves. Neither man carved out a break point until the 10th game of the match, when the Frenchman decisively broke to clinch the set. The World No. 36 Humbert, a four-time tour-level champion on indoor hard courts, then raced through the second set to secure a 77-minute triumph.

In other quarter-final action, Alexander Bublik earned a milestone win. The 28-year-old overcame Jaume Munar 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(3) to notch his 200th tour-level victory, becoming the first Kazakhstani to achieve the feat.

“He played unbelievable. I faced him last time at Wimbledon. He is, I guess, the only Spanish [player] who can serve and volley that well. I was surprised,” said Bublik after the win.

The 28-year-old showed strong composure to level the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series at 1-1. He fended off 91 per cent (10/11) of the break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats and fired 61 winners to Munar’s 31, rallying to victory in two hours and 42 minutes.

“When you play him, you know that all the balls will come back, everything. So the grand plan was to, of course, get the winners, to shorten the points,” he said.

Bublik will face second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last four. Auger-Aliassime defeated home hope Tallon Griekspoor 7-6(2), 6-2 to extend his winning streak to seven. The Canadian won 92 per cent (34/37) of his first-serve points and saved the only break point he faced in one hour and 44 minutes.

Watch extended highlights of Friday’s action in Rotterdam:

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Mboko shocks Rybakina as Swiatek loses to Sakkari

Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina is knocked out of the Qatar Open by Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko, while top seed Iga Swiatek is toppled by Maria Sakkari.

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