Carlos Alcaraz came through a potential banana skin in his first round match against Karen Khachanov at the Vienna Open.

The Spaniard battled through a very entertaining match to win in straight sets against Khachanov, who came into the tournament in very good form.

The Russian star reached the semifinals of the US Open recently and followed it up by reaching quarterfinals at the China Open and the Almaty Open.

Alcaraz will now await Nikoloz Basilashvili and Jurij Rodionov, both of whom enter the ATP 500 tournament unseeded. The Spaniard will fancy his chances of winning that match to reach the quarterfinals.

After his victory against Khachanov, Alcaraz earned his 22nd straight victory at ATP 500 level, dating back to the 2025 Queen’s Club Championships.

Alcaraz is now only two victories away from Jannik Sinner’s all-time ATP 500 victory streak, which was ended by the Spaniard at the China Open in 2024.

Longest winning streaks at ATP 500 level (since 2009):

- 28— Roger Federer

- 24— Jannik Sinner

- 23— Andrey Rublev

- 22— Carlos Alcaraz*

Alcaraz will need to beat either Basilashvili or Jurij Rodionov, as well as his quarterfinal match to match Sinner’s streak of 24 ATP 500 victories.

His most likely opponent in the Vienna Open quarterfinal looks to be Tommy Paul, whom Alcaraz has a very good recent record against. He’s beaten the American in their last six matches and he leads their head-to-head 7-2.

Jakub Mensik or Daniil Medvedev could be awaiting in the semifinal and that would give Alcaraz the chance to earn the second-longest ATP 500 winning streak in tennis, behind only Roger Federer, who managed 28 straight victories in his career.

Should Alcaraz win the Vienna Open, he will be on the cusp of match Federer’s record, but he will have to wait until the start of the 2027 season in order to continue his streak.

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That would likely come at either the Qatar Open or the Rotterdam Open, the latter of which Alcaraz has already been confirmed to play next year.

Alcaraz has won Queen’s, the Japan Open twice, and the Qatar Open to earn a streak of 22 straight victories at ATP 500 level. The only player to defeat Alcaraz at ATP 500 level in the last two seasons is Holger Rune, who beat the Spaniard in the final of the Barcelona Open.

Outside of Grand Slams, it seems that ATP 500 events are the place where Alcaraz feels most at home recently, especially compared to Masters events.

He has struggled on the Masters 1000 stage recently, which has coincided with his complaints about the extended two-week format at most Masters events on the ATP Tour calendar now.