Alcaraz beats Cilic in straight sets to advance at Qatar Open

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz overcame Croatian veteran Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4 Monday to reach the round of 16 at the Qatar Open.

The 36-year-old Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion who has fallen to No. 192 in the rankings, was playing his first match of the season after recovering from a long-term knee injury. The Croatian led 4-3 and 0-40 on Alcaraz's serve in the second set, but the Spanish four-time major winner managed to recover and then broke in the next game.

“I am just really happy that I stayed calm at that moment, breathing, going through my routines, making good points," Alcaraz said. “That’s why I was able to win in two sets.”

Alcaraz will play either Zhang Zhizhen of China or Italy's Luca Nardi next.

Earlier, seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov lost 6-4, 6-4 to Jiri Lehecka.

Also on Monday, eighth-seeded Jack Draper beat Alexei Popyrin 6-2, 7-6 (4) to set up a meeting with another Australian, Christopher O'Connell.

Several other top players will play their first matches on Tuesday.

Second-seeded Alex de Minaur will face Roman Safiullin. Novak Djokovic, who had to pull out of his Australian Open semifinal with a hamstring injury, will take on Matteo Berrettini.

Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Stefano Tsitsipas will also play on Tuesday.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis