De Minaur, Alcaraz both tested in Qatar Open second round

Carlos Alcaraz and Alex de Minaur each picked up victories at the Qatar Open on Thursday morning (AEDT), meaning the top two seeds remain on track to meet in the final in Doha.

Alcaraz survived a scare against fellow 21-year-old Luca Nardi, prevailing 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 to make the quarter-finals.

“At 4-1, 40-40 in the second set, he played a few good points and then it seemed like he started to play like the world No.1,” the Spaniard said after the match.

“I couldn’t do anything, I just tried to stay there, stay strong mentally.

“My energy levels probably went down a little bit, but credit to him.

“I’m really happy [that I] forgot everything and restarted in the third set.

“It was a good level mentally, I was really strong.

“I just tried to [let him know] that I’m there, screaming ‘Vamos!’ to push me up and get the good energy again.

“I played really good tennis in the third set, but I’m really proud of my energy levels in that set.”

Second seed de Minaur was also challenged, with the Australian pushed for more than two hours by Dutch qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp.

The 6-4, 6-4 victory takes de Minaur through to his third quarter-final of the season.

Seeds Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Jack Draper all advanced as well, as did Felix Auger-Aliassime, Matteo Berrettini and Jiri Lehecka.

With the quarter-finals set in Doha, tennis betting sites heavily favour Alcaraz to claim the title.

The four-time Grand Slam champion is paying just $1.90 at Marantelli Bet to claim his second consecutive ATP 500 trophy.

Medvedev holds the second line of betting at $6, while de Minaur is close behind on $7.50 with top bookmakers.

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