"Truly embarrassing from Carlos Alcaraz"; "Hard to win another Major" - Fans disappointed by Spaniard's shock loss to Jiri Lehecka at Qatar Open

Carlos Alcaraz's loss to Jiri Lehecka from an advantageous position in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Qatar Open has sparked discussions among tennis fans. The Spaniard's consistency and mentality is a topic often debated by the tennis fraternity.

Alcaraz's topsy-turvy 2025 season saw a big setback following his monumental win at the Rotterdam Open. The Spaniard was the top seed at the Qatar Open and kicked off his campaign by taking out veteran Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4 following which he defeated Luca Nardi 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in a topsy-turvy thriller to set up a quarterfinal meeting with Jiri Lehecka.

Things seemed to be going right for the Spaniard in the deciding set as he found himself 4-2, 40-30 up. But Lehecka dug deep in order to turn the match's fate around and win 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in two hours and nine minutes.

Fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to react to Carlos Alcaraz's shock defeat. One fan called his loss 'embarrassing'.

"God, that was truly embarrassing from Alcaraz. Lehecka didn't even need to be near his best," the fan called.

Another fan opined:

"Complete meltdown, becoming more and more common, and main adversaries started to pick up on it, will be very hard to win another major again," the fan opined.

Here are some other reactions from tennis fans.

"One of the great collapses I’ve ever seen," a fan said.

"There’s a good chance Sinner ends year end No.1 without ever losing it despite missing 3 months on tour lol," a fan felt.

"What if this is just who Alcaraz is? A player with the highest ceiling in tennis capable of winning double digit slams, but also wrestles with the urge to entertain and flirt with danger (regardless of who the opposition is) and will always have losses like this. Maybe that’s ok," a fan pondered.

"Sometimes I really don't understand what happened to you Carlos, you gave away a game you were going to win," a fan was confused.

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"I knew I had the level to produce that kind of tennis" - Jiri Lehecka on defeating Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz - Source: Getty

During his on-court interview after defeating Carlos Alcaraz, Jiri Lehecka was delighted with the first top three win of his career. He said:

"I feel great. The match was up and down from the start. To win a match like that against a player like this is a super big achievement. I believed in myself. I knew I had the level to produce that kind of tennis. I believe if I will be more consistent in the matches I’ll be able to bring these results more and more.”

Jiri Lehecka will face Jack Draper in the semifinals of the Qatar Open. As for Carlos Alcaraz, he will look to bounce back in the Sunshine Double, where he is the defending champion at the Indian Wells Masters.