Carlos Alcaraz has given his verdict on Jannik Sinner’s defeat at the 2026 Qatar Open as he also reacted to matching a world No 1 feat accomplished by his rival.
Alcaraz and Sinner were heavily favoured to meet in the final in Doha for what would have been their first match of 2026.
However, Sinner fell to world No 16 Jakub Mensik in the quarter-finals of the ATP 500 tournament.
Alcaraz defeated world No 14 and 2025 Doha champion Andrey Rublev 7-6(3), 6-4 in the last four. He will play Arthur Fils in the final after the Frenchman beat Mensik in the semi-finals.
In his press conference after reaching his first Qatar Open final, Alcaraz was asked about having ensured that he will match Sinner’s tally of 66 weeks ranked as world No 1.
“Well, it’s going to be a great number, obviously,” said the seven-time Grand Slam winner.
“A goal for me is just to stay in the top as many weeks as I can and trying to play the finals of every tournament, which I’m just really happy that I’m able to do it in the last tournaments.
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“I’m just happy to see myself with a big gap on points, but I will try to still focus on it.”
Alcaraz has held top spot in the ATP Rankings for the last 15 weeks and 23 of the last 24 weeks since winning the US Open in September, with Sinner taking No 1 for a solitary week in November.
The 22-year-old also expressed surprise at Sinner’s loss to Mensik in Doha.
“I mean, I was surprised, I’m not going to lie, I was surprised that Jannik lost. But at the same time, I know what the players are capable of,” Alcaraz said.
“And for example, there are some players that are really dangerous when they have their day, for example, Mensik and a lot of players, their problem I would say is the consistency to play at that level every match.
“But when they have their days, they are really, really dangerous and they can beat anybody, including myself.
“So I was surprised in a way, but at the same time, I wasn’t at all.”
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