The South Tyrolean, beaten in three sets, misses the match in the final with Alacaraz
Jannik Sinner’s adventure at the Doha tournament ends in the quarter-finals. The Italian, number two in the world, was defeated in three sets by Jakub Mensik. It is the second defeat in two tournaments in 2026, first the knockout against Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Australian Open and now this unexpected accident in Qatar. The Cecop born in 2005 is considered a rising star of tennis, destined to enter the fight between the two champions Sinner and Alcaraz. But the Doha match gives the impression of being a missed opportunity for Sinner even though Mensik served very well and showed great power in his groundstrokes with both his forehand and backhand.
Sinner’s mistakes
Jannik played badly in the first set and in the second he had to raise the level of his shots to try to recover. The South Tyrolean he often resorted to the short ball to try to put the opponent in difficulty, who however also proved to be very good at moving around. Sinner seems to be improving but in the third set he immediately loses serve and is no longer able to recover, in fact it is the Czech who breaks his serve again and closes 7-6, 2-6, 6-3. There will therefore be no match against Alcaraz that was expected in the final in Doha. From now until the Internazionali in Rome Sinner has no points to defend and now, between Indian Wells and Miami, he will have to make sure he gets close to Alcaraz.
