After getting the hump with Novak Djokovic in Melbourne, Carlos Alcaraz had a shot at revenge in an unusual Doha doubles contest.
Djokovic and Alcaraz are both in action at this week’s Qatar Open, where they could face off in the semi-final after their recent Aussie Open duel.
Ahead of the tournament, they had a chance to play a match while riding on camels.
Djokovic is competing in his first tournament since retiring injured from the Australian Open semi-final. The 37-year-old hurt himself during his quarter-final clash with Alcaraz and needed an off-court medical time out.
He stormed back to win in four sets and later admitted he may have retired if he went two sets down. But Alcaraz was sceptical. “The third and fourth set, I didn’t see anything bad from him,” he said.
The Spaniard has since bounced back to win his first indoor hard-court title in Rotterdam. Arriving in Doha for his tournament debut, Alcaraz has now been given the chance for a rematch with Djokovic.
The world No. 3 teamed up with Stefanos Tsitsipas to face Djokovic and Grigor Dimitrov in an extraordinary doubles match. The players sat on camel’s backs while hitting the ball back and forth.
The real work will begin on Monday, as Alcaraz faces former world No. 3 Marin Cilic in a meeting of Grand Slam champions. Cilic has not played a match since November after picking up a knee injury.
But the Croatian knows how to make a strong comeback. Following a six-month hiatus last year, he entered the Hangzhou Open as a wildcard ranked No. 777 and went on to lift the title.
Meanwhile, Djokovic will face Matteo Berrettini in a rematch of the 2021 Wimbledon final. The Serb is in the same half of the draw as Alcaraz, meaning they could meet in the semis.
Djokovic is seeking his 100th tour-level title after winning his 99th at the Olympics last summer, beating Alcaraz in the final.
The rivals are also joined by fellow top-10 stars Alex de Minaur, Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev in Doha. Ahead of the tournament, the Spaniard commented on the stacked draw.
“I think Doha has had always really good tennis players at this tournament,” he said.
“Great names, so I’m excited about playing my first time here in Doha, and let’s see. I’m still focusing on the things that I have to improve, just focus on myself, and hopefully show some great tennis here.”
