Carlos Alcaraz never had the opportunity to face Roger Federer in an official ATP match, as the Swiss legend retired from the sport just weeks after the Spaniard won his first Grand Slam singles title at the 2022 US Open.
But during his latest winning streak, Alcaraz says he feels like he is.
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The world No. 1 stretched his unbeaten run to start 2026 to 14 straight matches with a comeback win over France’s Arthur Rinderknech on Monday night in Indian Wells, where he rallied from a set and a break deficit.
Afterwards, the Spaniard joked that players are finding their best form against him “all the time,” making him feel like the 20-time Grand Slam singles champion is the man on the other side of the net.
“If they play that level every match, they should be higher in the ranking,” Alcaraz said. “But it is obviously something that concerns me. When I’m just playing, I think about that. All I can do is just accept it, keep it going, trying to do different things in the match.
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“Trying to not to let him be aggressive or play his style. Put my style, my tennis, my level into the match and try to turn around the things that way I try to do. But obviously, the first thing is just accept it.”
Alcaraz is bidding to win a third career title in Tennis Paradise, having won consecutive trophies in 2023 and 2024. And with his blistering start to the season, comparisons have naturally been made to Novak Djokovic’s world-beating 43-match winning streak from 2010-11—the fifth-longest in the Open Era.
While Alcaraz says he “feel[s] like [he] have a target on [his] back” that would see an in-form opponent derail that bid, the Serb himself thinks that the Spaniard can match it.
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“He has everything that you need to have in terms of the game, in terms of the adaptability to different surfaces, and level of fitness and recovery that he has shown and matured over the years,” Djokovic said.
“He needs to keep his body healthy. If he keeps his body healthy, he’s so good that he can win any tournament he plays on.
“So you never know. He’s been doing some historic things in our sport for such a young age.”
