Carlos Alakraj with NBA star Jimmy Butler© AFP
Carlos Alakraj sent Martin Silic in the early stages of the Qatar Open on Monday, taking a viewer – NBA star Jimmy Butler to court to play a few balls. Alakraj took his time to find his rhythm on an air night, but eventually exceeded the experienced Croatia 6-4, 6-4, then took to Butler. The 35-year-old guard recently traded for Golden State Warriors, opted to not stay from the Gulf, while he hosted Sunday’s National Basketball Association All-Star Game. Instead he flew to the Gulf and was in the crowd winning Alakraj.
Butler again came to court. Both men donated microphones as they put in a small show for fans. Butler even attempted to return an alkaraz lobe, in which a legs shot-but missed.
Against 36 -year -old silic, Alkaraz was strong in decisive moments. The first set turned into a seventh game of 18 minutes, which ended with Alkaraz, which he needed.
In the second set, Alakraj fell back 0–40 to serve in the eighth game. He responded to 15 points out of the next 19 points to win the match in an hour, 38 minutes.
“I am really pleased to save that game,” Alakraj said in court. “When you are serving, Marin puts a lot of pressure, he is a great return. I am really happy to remain calm in that moment, do my routine and make good shots. I really win two sets Happy for. “
He will face Zhang Jhizhen or Luka Nardi in the second round.
After knee surgery in November, silic was competing in its first program
Jiri Leheka defeated the seventh seed Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-4. It was the 11th win of the check in 2025, tied to the ATP Tour lead with Alex de Minaur and MimiMir Kekmanovic.
(This story is not edited by NDTV employees and auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Subjects mentioned in this article
