DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz lost for just the second time this year on Thursday when 25th-ranked Jiri Lehecka beat him 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open.
Alcaraz’s only other defeat in 2025 was to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open quarterfinals. The 21-year-old Spaniard, ranked No. 3, won the Rotterdam Open earlier this month.
“I’ve talked with my team, with my coach, and honestly I don’t know what I could have done better,” Alcaraz said in a press conference. “Honestly, I don’t know. It was kind of a difficult feelings, I guess. I have to give credit to him as well, because when he was down, especially in the third set, he didn’t give up.”
Alcaraz led 4-2 in the third set and had a break point on Lehecka’s serve, but couldn’t finish off the Czech, who won the next three games to advance to the semifinals.
The 23-year-old Lehecka will next play eighth-seeded Jack Draper, who knocked out Matteo Berrettini 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
