Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are on course for a repeat of their Australian open quarter-final clash in Doha this week, with the two seeded stars potentially meeting in the semi-finals of the Qatar Open.
The pair produced an epic just one month ago in Melbourne when Djokovic came from behind to defeat Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in three hours and 37 minutes, despite all leading betting sites pricing him as a heavy underdog.
Tennis betting sites have both favoured to win their quarters in Doha, paying -250 for Alcaraz to make the final eight while Djokovic is at -120.48.
For Djokovic, he has the likes of English up-and-comer Jack Draper and Matteo Berrettini in his quarter.
The Brit pays just +300 to win the quarter and is a possible third round opponent for the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
Berrettini awaits in the first round, however, Djokovic is priced at -400 at Betway (Betway review) to beat the Italian.
Alcaraz’s biggest competition is likely to be the powerful Czech Jiri Lehecka, who is at +2000 in outright betting.
He opens against 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic but is a -2500 favourite against the out-of-form veteran.
The Spaniard returns to the Qatar Open for the first time since 2021 and is in red-hot form, having recently won the Rotterdam Open.
“I think Doha has had always really good tennis players at this tournament,” he said on Sunday.
“Four years on, I think I’m coming here feeling different, obviously, but I have great memories from here, from this last time.”
The world No.3 pointed towards his improved level across his recent run in Rotterdam as a confidence-builder heading into the Doha tournament.
“I think that the way that I improved my level since the first round through to the final, the things that I had to improve, I did it pretty well,” he said.
“For me that was the most satisfying thing.”
In the bottom half of the Qatar Open draw, Australia’s Alex de Minaur and Russian Daniil Medvedev are seeded to meet in the other semi-final.
The two hold the third and fourth lines of betting to win the Qatar Open (Medvedev +650, de Minaur +800) but each face challenging opening matches.
Medvedev faces defending champion Karen Khachanov with bet365 pricing the match at $1.44 to $2.75 in his favour.
De Minaur also takes on a Russian to begin his campaign but is at a shorter $1.11 to defeat Roman Safiullin in round one.
