The top seeds of the Qatar Open, including Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev, and Andrey Rublev, were taken to the Persian Gulf for a fishing adventure. Video clips of the players travelling across the country to reach the ports, then their banter on the way to the boat, and their riding and fishing adventure are going viral on social media.
The main draw of the tournament commenced yesterday, Monday, February 16, and the final is scheduled for Saturday, February 21.
Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Others’ Unexpected Fishing Expedition
In the video clip going viral on social media, the players are travelling from the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex in Doha, Qatar, to the country’s northern ports. As they are walking up to the boat, Rublev can be seen teasing Medvedev, trying to push him off the bridge into the sea.
As they talk about their previous fishing experiences, the boat crew gives them robes similar to the ones they wear for better comfort, which are very common in the Middle East.
All four then listened carefully to the boat crew’s instructions on how to catch fish in the sea, and once they reached the ideal location, one by one they began lowering their hooks and lines into the water, each with a bait attached to the tip. Medvedev and Sinner were the first two to catch an actual fish, with Alcaraz and Rublev immediately catching up with their own.
Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Andrey Rublev, and Daniil Medvedev went fishing together in Doha.
The matching pants are taking me out
😭😭😭😭
(via @qemopen & @QatarTennis) pic.twitter.com/c1KnxACfEp
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) February 17, 2026
The players posed with all the fish they caught on the boat and returned safely once the fun activity was over. All the top stars seemed to have enjoyed the outing right before the tense outing began. Alexander Bublik was supposed to enter the tournament as the third seed, but following his withdrawal, the French player Quentin Halys replaced him in the singles draw.
The 2026 Qatar Open, also known as the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, is an ATP 500 tournament, played on the hard courts in Doha, with a prize money of $2,833,335. The fifth seed in the tournament, Rublev, is the defending champion, having beaten British Jack Draper in three sets to lift the title last year.
The main draw commenced yesterday, with World No. 2 Sinner having his first match against Tomáš Macháč, whom he beat 6-1, 6-4 to reach the second round. He will now face the Australian star Alexei Popyrin tomorrow, Wednesday, February 18, to qualify for the final eight. Medvedev also had his first match yesterday, taking on Shang Juncheng 6-4, 6-2 in a straight-sets match, setting up a clash against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the round of 16 tomorrow.
On the other hand, the top seed Alcaraz will take on the Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in his first match at the tournament today. The fifth seed also opens his title-defending campaign today against the Dutch Jasper De Jong in the round of 32 match. Once this event wraps up, players will head towards Dubai or Acapulco for the upcoming ATP 500 tournaments, before heading towards Indian Wells for the 2026 season’s first Masters 1000 event.
