Carlos Alcaraz survives Luca Nardi fightback to reach last eight in Qatar

Carlos Alcaraz withstood a late charge from Italian qualifier Luca Nardi to reach the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open in Doha.

The 21-year-old top seed won 6-1 4-6 6-3 but not before Nardi had rallied to fight back from a set down and 1-4 down in the second to hand the world number three a scare.

At one stage the Italian clocked up six consecutive games to force a decider but Alcaraz ultimately saw it through in one hour and 53 minutes.

The four-time Grand Slam winner, who is now on a 12-match winning streak, will face the Czech Jiri Lehecka in the last eight after he defeated Fabian Marozsan 6-4 6-2.

It leaves Alcaraz on track to meet British number one Jack Draper in the semi-final after his 6-2 6-1 win over Australian Christopher O’Connell.

The 23-year-old broke serve in the first game and repeated the feat at 4-2, with O’Connell taking just one game in the second set to exit in 59 minutes.

His quarter-final opponent will be Matteo Berrettini, who built on victory over Novak Djokovic on Tuesday to progress to the last-eight by beating Tallon Griekspoor 7-6 6-7 6-4 and is yet to have his serve broken so far in Doha.

The Italian was pushed hard by his opponent with the second set going to a tense tie-break from which the Dutchman emerged victorious before the unseeded Berrettini won through in the third.

The win against Djokovic had been his first over a top-10 opponent since January 2023.

Elsewhere in Doha, Alex de Minaur claimed a 6-4 6-4 victory over Botic van de Zandschulp, his 200th tour-level hard-court win to set up a quarter-final against fifth seed Andrey Rublev, who beat Nuno Borges 6-3 6-4.

World number six Daniil Medvedev beat Zizou Bergs 6-2 6-1 and will face Felix Auger-Aliassime, who was given a walkover against Hamad Medjedovic after the Serbian withdrew through injury.

In the doubles, Wimbledon champions Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara eliminated the pairing of Djokovic and Fernando Verdasco, the second seeds winning through 7-5 6-4. It was the final match of 41-year-old Verdasco’s career, as the Spaniard called time on his 24 years as a professional.