Jannik Sinner vs Alexei Popyrin Doha Prediction 2/18/2026 Today’s Tennis Picks

Second seed Jannik Sinner will face former Top 20 player Alexei Popyrin in the last 16 of the Qatar Open in Doha. The match is scheduled for Wednesday, February 18. Here’s our Jannik Sinner vs Alexei Popyrin prediction. This preview will also include a Jannik Sinner vs Alexei Popyrin pick.

Jannik Sinner vs Alexei Popyrin Preview

Jannik Sinner is competing in Doha for the first time and he is the second seed this week. The Italian World No. 2 beat Tomas Machac in what was expected to be a tricky opening match for the dethroned Australian Open champion. Sinner wasted no time in securing an early break in the first, which he dominated to win it 6-1 in under half an hour. Machac put up a fight in the second set, but dropped his serve in the fifth game, and it was all Sinner needed to seal a straight-sets win.

Sinner held to 15 in the final game, converting his fifth match point and bouncing back from his semifinal defeat to Novak Djokovic in Melbourne. Sinner hit 21 winners to just 9 unforced errors in the match. He accounted for 6 aces and 0 double faults. Sinner landed 69% of first serves in play and won 86% of first serve points (25/29). He won 85% of second serve points (11/13) and did not face a break point on his serve.

Alexei Popyrin ended his winless start to the season with a comfortable victory against lucky loser Mubarak Shannan Zayid. Popyrin secured a 6-0, 6-2 win in precisely an hour to move into round two in Doha for a second time.

The Australian had struggled coming into the tournament, losing five matches on the spin, including a gut-wrenching five-set defeat to Alexandre Muller at his home Grand Slam last month. But he was clearly far superior to Zayid in this match, tallying 16 winners to 13 unforced errors. Popyrin accounted for 5 aces and 1 double fault. He landed 68% of first serves in play and won 85% of first serve points (23/27). Popyrin won 62% of second serve points (8/13) and saved one break point in the match. Popyrin is a former semifinalist in Doha, but the odds are stacked against him to replicate that run this week.

Jannik Sinner vs Alexei Popyrin Head-To-Head

Sinner and Popyrin have met twice. The Australian stunned the world when he beat Sinner in Madrid five years ago on quick clay. But Sinner cruised past him when they played at last year’s US Open 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

Jannik Sinner vs Alexei Popyrin Prediction

I don’t see Popyrin as an obstacle in Sinner’s path to the quarterfinals. The Australian has the serve to bag cheap points, but his movement and confidence are lacking at this point and despite ending that winning drought in the last match, he faces the tour’s most clinical hitter on this surface. Sinner is nailed on to progress here and covering the -5.5 games handicap.

Nur Said's Pick: Jannik Sinner in straight sets