Carlos Alcaraz has crossed paths with some legends of the game during his still young career.
The Spaniard has clashed with two members of the previous generation’s ‘big three’, having met Novak Djokovic and compatriot Rafael Nadal multiple times at tour-level events.
Alcaraz has defeated both Djokovic and Nadal, with his most recent triumph over the Serb coming in the 2026 Australian Open final.
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Though he never did battle with Roger Federer on the tour, the now-seven-time major champion met Andy Murray twice in the early stages of his career.
The first of those meetings came at the Indian Wells Open in 2021, when Alcaraz was 18 years old.
Andy Murray’s clash with Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells in 2021
Murray received a wildcard for the Indian Wells Open that year and won his first-round matchup with Adrian Mannarino in straight sets.
In the second round, he was faced with 30th seed Alcaraz, who was in the middle of his first trip around the ATP Tour at the time.
Alcaraz started the match promisingly, taking the first set after one hour and six minutes of play.
After conceding the opener, Murray was close to being broken early in the second set at 1-1, but he held on by delivering the first underarm serve of his career, which caught Alcaraz completely off guard.
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From there, Murray started to build momentum in the bout, and earned an all-important break of serve to force a decider.
An early break for Murray in the third set saw him close in on the victory, and the Briton produced a defiant display while battling back pain to defeat Alcaraz 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
Despite triumphing over the future world number one, Murray was ultimately knocked out in the next round by third seed Alexander Zverev.
Alcaraz met Murray for the second time later on that season at the Vienna Open, and earned revenge with a 6-3, 6-4 win.
The unlikely winner of the 2021 Indian Wells Open
The 2021 Indian Wells Open saw history made when, for the first time at an ATP Masters 1000 event, all four semifinalists were ranked outside of the world’s top 25.
Cameron Norrie, Grigor Dimitrov, Nikoloz Basilashvili and Taylor Fritz, seeded 21st, 23rd, 29th and 31st, respectively, made up the final four in ‘Tennis Paradise’ that year.
Following their semifinal wins, Norrie and Basilashvili advanced to the final, where the British star came out on top to become the first from his country to win the title in men’s singles.
The crown remains Norrie’s only Masters title, though he has since added three more trophies to his name.
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