Carlos Alcaraz recently broke Novak Djokovic’s record of most consecutive outdoor hard-court victories. The Serbian had a streak of 33 wins from 2010 to 2011, and Alcaraz defeated Cameron Norrie in his quarterfinal fixture of the ongoing Indian Wells Masters to make it 34 consecutive outdoor hard-court victories.
The Spaniard hasn’t lost an outdoor hard-court match since Miami last year. During the streak, he has also won five titles, including two Grand Slam titles.
Alcaraz will be aiming to cross Pete Sampras’ (34) run from 1994 when he takes on Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals on Sunday. Jimmy Connors leads the list with 55 wins from 1973 to 1976, followed by Roger Federer’s 46 wins between 2005 and 2006. Sampras and Alcaraz are third in the list, followed by Rod Laver (33) and Djokovic.
Alcaraz is also unbeaten this season, and this is his fifth straight Indian Wells semifinal. In the quarterfinals, he sealed a 6-3 6-4 win against Norrie.
Meanwhile, Medvedev is also in an eight-match ATP winning streak, and beat defending champion Jack Draper 6-1 7-5.
He is the current world No. 1 and won his first Australian Open title this year. He finished as the year-end No. 1 in both 2021 and 2022. He has won 26 ATP Tour-level singles titles, including seven majors and eight Masters trophies. He is also the youngest man to complete a Career Grand Slam in singles, having achieved it after winning the Australian Open this year.
During preseason, he parted ways with longtime coach Juan Carlos Ferrero in a shock split. In interviews since then, Ferrero revealed that it was due to a contract dispute and also blamed the player’s advisors.
A coaching staff shuffle didn’t have an effect as he reached the Australian Open semis without dropping a set. In the semifinals against Alexander Zverev, he won the first two sets before beginning to struggle due to cramps. He dropped the third and fourth sets in a pair of tiebreaks, but fought back to win the decider. Then, in the final, he beat Djokovic.