Alcaraz now looks to beat Frenchman Fils to lift his maiden trophy in Doha on Saturday.
World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz continued his blistering start to the 2026 season by defeating defending champion Andrey Rublev 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the semifinals of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Friday, to reach his first final in Doha.
In a high-intensity semifinal at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, Alcaraz was tested by Rublev’s relentless baseline game throughout the match.
Both players held serve for much of the opening set, leading to a tiebreak, Alcaraz remained controlled at key moments to take the lead.
The second set remained tight. Alcaraz looked poised to close the match after gaining a late break, but Rublev fought back and saved several match points.
The Spaniard ultimately sealed victory in his sixth match point after over two hours on court.
The win extends Alcaraz’s unbeaten run in 2026 to 11 matches, adding to the momentum he built by capturing the Australian Open title earlier this year.
Reflecting on his performance, Alcaraz said he feels he is approaching matches with increased maturity and focus, key factors in navigating tight contests like Friday’s semifinal.
“I know what I am able to do every time I step on the court, what I am capable of doing,” Alcaraz said.”The way that I am approaching every match, I’m just really proud about it. It’s something I am trying to be better at and it’s paying off. I’m proud of myself [for] getting better and maturing.”
Standing between Alcaraz and the Doha title is France’s Arthur Fils, who advanced to the final after defeating Czech player Jakub Mensik in straight sets.
Fils, who is 21-years-old, had a strong week in Doha and will be playing in his first final since returning from injury.
Alcaraz has won both of his previous meetings with Fils and enters the final as a favourite.
The Spaniard now has the opportunity to cap his outstanding start to the season by lifting his maiden trophy in Doha, further cementing his status as the player to beat in 2026.
Rephrase in a different way as if you were a native American speaker as a content creation expert and do not talk about yourself or your experience in the text and do not show yourself as an artificial intelligence who wrote and fill the bullet point in the topic and speak the heart of the topic itself and dont take date of blog in ther first and dont take text like box of newsliter subscribe on post from content and romove all linke insert in content and and remove all affiliate disclosure phrases on content like this “This post may contain Amazon or other affiliate links that allow us to earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Please see our Disclosure Policy for more info” and “#” put in its place bullet point, and romove name of the web site or his links we are take a content from our new creation, and don’t publish clone new content more than just one time
