Carlos Alcaraz thrashed Arthur Fils inside 50 minutes to keep up his unbeaten begin to 2026 and win the Qatar Open in Doha.
Spanish high seed Alcaraz was ruthless from begin to end, changing 5 out of seven break factors, as he blew France’s Fils away in a 6-2 6-1 victory.
The win – the shortest of Alcaraz’s profession in accomplished matches – was his twelfth of the season as he adopted up final month’s Australian Open triumph together with his twenty sixth profession title.
“I got here this 12 months hungry for extra,” stated Alcaraz, 22, who misplaced within the quarter-final of the Qatar Open final 12 months.
“It has been a very robust begin to the 12 months. It wasn’t straightforward, I needed to be robust mentally with my crew. I am simply taking part in nice tennis and I am actually completely satisfied about this week. This trophy means rather a lot to me.”
Victory towards unseeded Fils comes simply 20 days after Alcaraz grew to become the youngest man in historical past to finish the Profession Grand Slam in Melbourne.
The seven-time Grand Slam-winner set the tone from the beginning as he broke Fils’ serve within the first sport earlier than rushing by way of the primary set in solely 28 minutes.
Alcaraz’s dominance continued into the second set and a double break to go 3-0 up prompted Fils’ frustrations to boil over because the Frenchman smashed his racquet.
Fils acquired on the board in his subsequent service sport, inducing cheers from the group, but it surely proved to be a comfort as Alcaraz’s dominance within the rallies noticed him go on to safe the second set in solely 24 minutes.
Alcaraz fired 18 winners through the course of the match, in comparison with Fils’ three, and did not concede a single break level.
The victory in 50 minutes eclipses final 12 months’s shortest ultimate, when Norway’s Casper Ruud beat Ugo Humbert, of France, 6-2 6-3 in 68 minutes on the Nordic Open in Stockholm.
World quantity 40 Fils, who missed round eight months final 12 months with a again harm, noticed the humorous facet as he paid tribute to Alcaraz.
“You performed excellent, you are a hell of a champion, it is a joke,” he stated.
“Congrats to your crew and to you, you probably did an unbelievable job.”
