Carlos Alcaraz claims Novak Djokovic holds an all-time record which he’s only just realising how tough it’ll be to break

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Carlos Alcaraz is still some way away from breaking this Novak Djokovic record.

Alcaraz beat Djokovic to win the Australian Open in January, as he claimed his seventh Grand Slam title at just 22 years old.

After becoming the youngest player in history to complete the Career Grand Slam, there was a lot of debate about whether Alcaraz could win more majors than Djokovic.

However, after Alcaraz won the Qatar Open to continue his winning streak, he has been asked if he is now targeting Djokovic’s 41-match winning streak from 2011.

Carlos Alcaraz says if he is targeting Novak Djokovic’s 41-match winning streak

Alcaraz has won his first 12 matches of the year, which is the first time that he has ever achieved this in his career.

As he looks to continue this at Indian Wells, where Alcaraz is a two-time former champion, he was asked if Djokovic’s 41-match winning streak is now something he is looking at.

No other player on the ATP Tour has won more consecutive matches at the start of a season than Djokovic in 2011, and Alcaraz admitted in his pre-tournament press conference that he is now just realising how impressive it is.

“Yeah, obviously I know that 41, Novak holds the record,” said Alcaraz. “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.

“You know, I’m just really proud about 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.”

Who ended Novak Djokovic’s 41-match winning streak?

Prior to the 2011 season, Djokovic had only won one Grand Slam title at the 2008 Australian Open.

However, that changed when Djokovic won his second Australian Open title, before going on to win the Dubai Tennis Championships, Indian Wells, the Miami Open, the Serbia Open, the Madrid Open and the Italian Open.

After reaching the semifinals of Roland Garros, Djokovic had won 43 consecutive matches, with 41 of these matches taking place from the start of the 2011 season.

This came to an end in that semifinal, when Djokovic was beaten by Roger Federer 7-6(5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5).

Although his winning streak had come to an end, Djokovic would go on to win an additional three titles in 2011, including winning Wimbledon and the US Open for the first time, and ended the year as the world number one.

Djokovic’s 2011 season is considered one of the best ever, and it would take some effort for Alcaraz to repeat it in 2026.

Alcaraz will look to extend his 13-match winning streak at Indian Wells, where he will play either Grigor Dimitrov or Terence Atmane in his opening match on Saturday, March 7.