Carlos Alcaraz makes confession about Novak Djokovic’s ‘impressive’ record
Carlos Alcaraz is yet to lose a match so far in 2026 and he will look to continue his unbeaten run at the Indian Wells Open, but even if he ends up winning the title, he will still be well short of Novak Djokovic’s incredible record.
The world No 1 is on a 12-match winning streak after he won the Australian Open and Qatar Open, and he can take his tally to 18 with another title run at the first leg of the Sunshine Double in California.
But that would still leave him well adrift of Djokovic’s milestone as he won 41 matches in a row at the start of the 2011 season with the tennis great lifting trophies at the Australian Open, Dubai Tennis Championships, Indian Wells Open, Miami Open, Serbia Open, Madrid Open and Italian Open with his run eventually ending in the semi-final of the French Open.
Djokovic also sits second on the all-time list as he won 26 consecutive matches at the start of the 2020 season, while Rafael Nadal won 20 in a row at the beginning of the 2022 campaign.
When asked about the record, Alcaraz said: “Obviously I know that 41, Novak holds the record. I’m gonna say you don’t realise how difficult it is until you, I’m gonna say, you’re chasing that, because, you know, all right, 41, it’s not that much, but then you’re like 12 on, it’s like, s***, it’s like four or five more tournaments, the biggest tournaments in the world (smiling).
“You realise and you feel like how impressive it is.
“I am just really proud of my start of the year. Hopefully the winning streak continues or I would try that, but I’m just happy to see myself playing great tennis.”
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One thing is certain, though, Alcaraz seems to be in a happy space this year and he feels key to his incredible run of form is his ability to keep calm when things are not going his way.
“I think on the court I just I control my emotions even better. I would say that was the key of, you know, the good level of tennis that I have been playing lately, because on the court, I just control myself, and in a calm place I can find the solutions and I can go through,” the seven-time Grand Slam winner said.
“When I was getting mad or when I was playing bad or whatever, I just found the right way again, because I was calm, I was controlling myself and controlling my emotions and I was maintaining my good focus.
“I would say I was doing that even better than before.”
