Doha, 20 February (H.S): Spain's top seed Carlos Alcaraz on Wednesday defeated Italian qualifier Luca Nardi to enter the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open. However, this win was not easy for him.

Despite winning the first set and taking a 4–1 lead into the second set, Alcaraz struggled as Nardi won five straight games to take the match to a deciding set. In the third set, Alcaraj got a crucial break in the fourth game and won the match 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

Alcaraz said after the match, He played some great points and felt like he was playing like a world number one player. I was just trying to keep myself mentally strong. It's satisfying for me to come back and win in the third set.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Alkaraj, who is playing in Doha for the first time, will face Czech Republic's Jiri Lehka for a place in the semi-finals on Thursday.

Leheka defeated Hungary's Fabian Marozson 6-4, 6-2 in just over an hour in his pre-quarters match to make it to the last eight.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar