Arthur Fils just couldn’t keep up with Carlos Alcaraz in the Qatar Open final. After the match, Fils admitted that the world No. 1 is simply “on another level” right now.

Earlier in 2025, Fils hit a career high of No. 14 in the ATP rankings, but things took a tough turn at the French Open. A serious back injury sidelined him for months. He tried to come back at the Canadian Open in August, got through two matches, but then had to pull out of the US Open and missed the rest of the season. He even skipped the start of 2026, pulling out of the Australian Open.

Finally, in February, Fils returned to the court. He made the quarter-finals in Montpellier but crashed out in the first round of the Rotterdam Open, losing to Alex de Minaur, who ended up winning the tournament.

Everything seemed to come together for Fils in Doha. He knocked out eighth seed Jiri Lehecka in the quarters, then took down sixth seed Jakub Mensik, who had upset world No. 2 Jannik Sinner to reach the final against Alcaraz.

But against Alcaraz? There was just no contest. The seven-time Grand Slam winner needed only 50 minutes to deliver a 6-2, 6-1 defeat and kept his perfect record against Fils, now 3-0.

Honestly, losing like that to Alcaraz isn’t something to be ashamed of. The guy hasn’t lost a match in 2026 and already has the Australian Open trophy this year.

“I played worse than I did earlier in the week. But he’s number one for a reason; undefeated since the start of the year, you get it when you watch him,” Fils said. “He’s on another level right now, and I’m just not there. Not even close.”

“I need to put in the work, but at the moment, I’m not at that level. He plays unbelievably well. I’ve got no excuses.”

Alcaraz and Sinner have been running the show in men’s tennis for the past two years. After this run-in in Doha, Fils is set to jump seven spots to No. 33, and he talked about what separates players like Alcaraz and Sinner from everyone else.

“They start fast, put on pressure right from the beginning, and play at such a high level it’s tough,” he said. “We’ll have to watch the match and figure out what happened.”

Even Alcaraz had some kind words for Fils and admitted he was locked in from the first point in Doha.

“Today I played great. I focused on keeping that up the whole match and started strong,” Alcaraz said. “Finals are where you have to show your best.”

“Honestly, Arthur didn’t start well. He made a lot of mistakes, which gave me the confidence to play more relaxed and stay calm. I was able to control the match, control every point, and always be in a good position.”

“I played solid, stayed aggressive when I could, and hit passing shots. It all came together. Arthur just came back four months ago, only played a couple of tournaments, and still made the final here after beating some really good players. I’m sure he’ll get back to his best soon.”

Elina Svitolina stunned world number four Coco Gauff to earn a spot in the Dubai Tennis Championships final, where she’ll face Jessica Pegula.

Pegula got there first, clawing her way back after a rough start against Amanda Anisimova. She dropped the first set badly and even lost her serve early in the second, but still pulled off a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 win.

Gauff, just 21, almost set up an all-American final, but Svitolina refused to fold. The match? Epic. Svitolina took it 6-4, 6-7 (13-15), 6-4 after more than three hours on court. She let four match points slip in a wild second-set tiebreak, but didn’t let that break her. She powered through the decider, and now she’s back in the Dubai final for the first time since she won the title back-to-back in 2017 and 2018.

“I was playing like there’s no tomorrow, just giving it everything,” Svitolina said afterwards.

Over in the men’s Qatar Open, world number one Carlos Alcaraz kept his perfect 2026 record alive. He beat Andrey Rublev 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 to reach the final. Alcaraz, just 22, already grabbed the Australian Open this season and became the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam. He’s won all 11 matches he’s played this year.

“I know what I can do every time I step on the court,” Alcaraz said.

He’ll face Arthur Fils from France in the final. Fils beat Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic, who’d knocked out world number two Jannik Sinner earlier in the week, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).

And in some more big news, Venus Williams is heading back to Indian Wells. The seven-time Grand Slam champ, now 45, got a wildcard for both singles and doubles.

“It’s great to be heading back to Indian Wells and returning home to California,” Williams said in a statement.