Alcaraz, Medvedev weigh in on how ‘already great’ Doha event is thriving as an ATP 500

The Qatar ExxonMobil Open had a big reputation to live up to this week heading into its debut as an ATP 500. By all accounts, the hard-court event in Doha is doing just that.

“I love the tournament,” said Carlos Alcaraz, who competed as top seed on debut this week at the event, which was voted by players as ATP 250 Tournament of the Year six times between 2015 and 2024. “I think the tournament is amazing. Everything for the players, I think everything is really easy. The people who work here make this tournament really special. The courts are good. For us really everything is close, everything is easy. I love playing here.”

Alcaraz’s run may have ended on Thursday in the quarter-finals against Jiri Lehecka, but the World No. 3 was positive about the fact he wanted a repeat Qatar ExxonMobil Open experience in future.

"I think my game here has been really good as well,” said Alcaraz after falling to Lehecka. “So I leave Doha with my head up, with confidence, and really, really happy with everything that I've done here and how I felt here with my team. I'm going to come back next year, but I'm leaving Doha with my head up.”

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A fixture on the ATP Tour since 1993, the consistent quality of the Doha event made it an obvious candidate for an upgrade to ATP 500 level. Daniil Medvedev had only competed once in the Qatari capital prior to this years event, lifting the trophy on his debut in 2023, but that was enough for him to recognise why it held such a stellar reputation.

“I played it only once as a 250 and, honestly speaking, it was already great,” the No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings told ATPTour.com this week in Doha. “It was elected many times as the best 250. When you're elected as the best 250, you can be a 500 in terms of organisation and everything.

“The warmup area became bigger, which is good. I think the locker room is newer, but it was already good before, so now it's even better. It's just a great tournament. Everyone is happy to come back. I think it's a great organisation, and just a good tournament in general.”

Like Medvedev, both Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov are perhaps predisposed to have good feelings towards Doha: The pair lifted the trophy there themselves in 2020 and 2024, respectively. Yet they each acknowledged an elite off-court experience that complemented their on-court successes at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex, something they say has been maintained with the event’s upgrade in status.

“Doha always deserved to be a 500 event, because as a 250 everything was on the top level,” said Rublev. “They improved many things in terms of lockers. Everything remains top quality. The hotel, practice courts, facilities, the way they treat players. It’s unbelievable.”

Khachanov added: “To be honest, it was anyway one of the best tournaments on Tour. It was voted [many times] as the best 250, so now having a 500, they totally deserve it. I think there are still things to improve, but it's tough to improve something that is already very good.”