Carlos Alcaraz has embarked on a flawless start to his 2026 campaign, but how much longer can he keep his run going?
The Spaniard has already triumphed at both the Australian Open and Qatar Open in 2026, and a confident win over Grigor Dimitrov in Indian Wells cemented his place as the tournament’s title favourite.
Many have questioned whether Alcaraz is capable of setting a new record for the longest unbeaten start to an ATP Tour season, and current record holder Novak Djokovic has even suggested that the world No 1 could be in line to make history.
However, when you look at the numbers behind Djokovic’s record, the sheer magnitude of Alcaraz’s task is easy for all to see.
What is the all-time record?
The all-time record was memorably set by Djokovic back in 2011, when the Serbian won the first 41 matches of his standout campaign.
Djokovic won his first seven tournaments of the year — the Australian Open, Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami, Belgrade, Madrid, and Rome — and then reached the last four of Roland Garros, where Roger Federer snapped his remarkable streak.
Alcaraz still has a long way to go to challenge Djokovic’s milestone, and is still well off the next longest unbeaten start streaks.
Prior to Djokovic, the record was held by John McEnroe, who won his first 39 matches in 1984 — winning seven titles and two Davis Cup rubbers before falling to Ivan Lendl in the French Open final.
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McEnroe technically won his first 42 matches of 1984, though his three wins at the Tennis Masters Cup (now ATP Finals) that January are counted as part of his 1983 campaign.
Bjorn Borg won his first 26 matches of the 1980 season and Djokovic won the first 26 matches of his 2020 campaign, ranking them joint-third in these standings.
Ivan Lendl won his first 25 matches of 1986, ranking him fifth in terms of longest unbeaten starts to a season, with Rafael Nadal’s 20-match win streak at the start of 2022 ranking him sixth.
At the time of writing, Alcaraz is still seven wins away from matching Nadal’s tally of 20, and becoming the sixth man to hit a 20-match win streak to start a season.
What is Alcaraz’s pathway to breaking the record?
Alcaraz’s win over Dimitrov on Saturday was his 13th win from as many matches in 2026, and victory over Arthur Rinderknech in round-three action on Monday would give him a 14th win of the season.
However, that would still leave him a staggering 27 match wins from matching Djokovic’s record, and 28 wins from breaking it.
Ahead of his match against Rinderknech, and based on his expected schedule for the coming months, Alcaraz would need to do the following to break Djokovic’s record:
- Win his remaining five Indian Wells matches (18-0)
- Win six matches to lift the Miami Open title (24-0)
- Win five matches to lift the Monte Carlo Masters title (29-0)
- Win five matches to lift the Barcelona Open title (34-0)
- Win six matches to lift the Madrid Open title (40-0)
- Win two matches at the Italian Open (42-0)
That does not factor in Alcaraz pulling out of any of those tournaments, either pre- or mid-event, and highlights the sheer magnitude of what Djokovic achieved in 2011.
Alcaraz’s start to 2026 is hugely impressive, but he is still some way off making history.
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