Doha, February 17 – Two weeks after his five-set defeat to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, Jannik Sinner returned to winning ways on his debut at the Qatar Open, securing a convincing 6-1, 6-4 victory over Tomas Machac at the hard-court ATP 500 event.
With this 70-minute victory, the second seed extended his winning streak at this level to 11 matches, having won titles in Beijing and Vienna last October.
During his dominant first-set win, Sinner only lost six points on serve and calmly handled Machac's strong start in the second set. He missed three match points while returning in the ninth game, resulting in a thrilling exchange filled with big winners from both players. Sinner then confidently closed out the match on his own serve.
With top seed and fierce rival Carlos Alcaraz also in the Doha field, Sinner will aim to maintain their dominance whenever they share a draw. According to ATP reports, since Andrey Rublev's triumph in Madrid in May 2024, no player other than Sinner or Alcaraz has captured a tour-level title at an event featuring both of them.
The world No 2 Italian will next face Alexei Popyrin, who easily defeated Qatari wild card Mubarak Shannan Zayid 6-0, 6-2.
Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev bounced back from his first-round defeat in Rotterdam by earning a clinical 6-4, 6-2 win over Shang Juncheng in Doha. The 30-year-old, who triumphed in 2023, is one of three former champions in the draw alongside Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov.
Jakub Mensik and Arthur Fils also secured their spots in the second round on Monday in Doha, where they rallied to three-set wins. Sixth seed Mensik overcame qualifier Jan Choinski 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-4 and Fils defeated Kamil Majchrzak 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4.