ATP
Alcaraz advances with high octane Doha win
Carlos Alcaraz moved to within two victories of a follow up title to his Australian open crown on Thursday as he out-duelled Karen Khachanov 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3 to reach the Doha semi-finals.
The world No. 1 corrected some errors which lost him the opening set, lifting his game to move onto victory and a final four place.
“It was a close match, he was playing great,” the winner said. “I knew I had chances but I did not take them in the first set.
“But I was able to get going in the second and third, I kept fighting.”
The top seed moved through on his third match point as Khachanov suffered a sixth defeat without a win in the series with the Spaniard.
Alcaraz converted on three of 10 break point chances, ending with 33 winners and nearly the same in unforced errors.
He extended his current win streak to 10 in a row as he won his 112th consecutive quarter-final.