Tennis
2026-02-19 - Carlos Alcaraz vs Karen Khachanov
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis : ATP 500 Doha Quarter Final
Thursday 19th February 2026 - Scheduled 7:30pm
4:30pm (British Time)
Preview
The World Number 1 has not been at his very best in the ATP Doha tournament, but Carlos Alcaraz will be comfortable with the level he has been producing to move through to the Quarter Final.
He arrived after completing the career Grand Slam with the title at the Australian Open, but credit has to be given to Alcaraz for stating there is still more development to improve his tennis.
It is a desire that could see Carlos Alcaraz competing for Grand Slam titles for many years to come and he will be seen as the player to beat at the remaining Slams to be played in 2026.
Strong numbers have been produced on the hard courts since the start of the 2024 season and Carlos Alcaraz is developing the serve, which is going to make it even easier for him to put opponents under pressure. It has been a strong weapon for him over the last couple of years, but the early signs are that Alcaraz is going to have an even better serve in 2026 and that will allow him to play with some real aggression on the return.
He will be challenged in this Quarter Final by a big hitting, aggressive player in Karen Khachanov who gave Carlos Alcaraz all he could handle in a tight defeat at the Rome Masters on the clay last season.
The World Number 17 has needed to go the full three sets in both opening wins in Doha, but he will be glad the conditions will offer his first serve some support. That is going to be vital for Karen Khachanov to see if he can keep Carlos Alcaraz under considerable pressure and look for that to dictate how the Spaniard responds.
However, Karen Khachanov will also be aware that he cannot afford to allow too many looks at his second serve against a return player like Carlos Alcaraz who will be looking to control rallies from the opening shot played.
Karen Khachanov is not having nearly as much success as Carlos Alcaraz when it comes to the return game and that will put more pressure on his serve. He has held almost 90% of service games played on the hard courts this season, which will give Khachanov real belief, but the highest Ranked opponent faced in 2026 is the World Number 25 and this is a considerably tougher test against the Australian Open Champion.
In the previous five matches on the Tour, Carlos Alcaraz has a huge edge in terms of Breaks of serve put together and the Spaniard may be able to push through and find the Breaks needed to cover this relatively big line.
Prediction
Lay the games with the World Number 1 as he looks to reach his latest Semi FInal on the professional Tour.
The Pick :
Carlos Alcaraz 2-0 Karen Khachanov
