Carlos Alcaraz continued his red-hot to 2026 on Saturday, defeating Arthur Fils to win his second consecutive ATP Tour event.
After coming through tough contests against Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev, Alcaraz comfortably defeated Arthur Fils in the final, 6-1, 6-2.
The Spaniard has now won 12 consecutive matches to start the year, which has culminated in him winning the Australian Open and Qatar Open.
Which member of the ‘Big Three’ is Carlos Alcaraz most similar to? Let us know why below👇
Alcaraz is already a ‘legend’ of the sport according to Rafael Nadal: and who could argue with such an assessment?
Despite being only 22 years old, Alcaraz has won 26 ATP Tour-level titles, and on Saturday, he tied Andy Murray in a particular statistical category.
Carlos Alcaraz equals Andy Murray’s ATP 500 total
Carlos Alcaraz has now won nine ATP 500 titles: in Rio, Barcelona, the Queen’s Club, China, Rotterdam, Japan and Qatar.
By winning his ninth ATP 500 title in Qatar, Alcaraz has already equalled Andy Murray’s total.
Before his retirement in 2024, Murray won ATP 500 titles in Rotterdam, Valencia, Japan, Queen’s Club, China, Vienna and Dubai.
Remarkably, Murray only lost one ATP 500 final in his career. At the 2012 Dubai Tennis Championships, Murray lost 5-7, 4-6 to Roger Federer in the final.
Murray won his last 500 title in Dubai five years later, beating Fernando Verdasco 6–3, 6–2 in the showpiece match.
Speaking to reporters after the final, Murray said: “Yeah, it’s obviously nice to win. You know, I played much better as the match went on. Obviously started a little bit slow.
“Yeah, I mean, I was solid. You know, I wasn’t afraid to sort of attack his forehand side. He’s got one of the best forehands, but, you know, I tried to, you know, I tried to move him around the court as much as I could.
| Tournament | Opponent in Final | Score |
| 2009 Rotterdam Open | Rafael Nadal | 6–3, 4–6, 6–0 |
| 2009 Valencia Open | Mikhail Youzhny | 6-3, 6-2 |
| 2011 Japan Open | Rafael Nadal | 3–6, 6–2, 6–0 |
| 2014 Valencia Open | Tommy Robredo | 3–6, 7–6, 7–6 |
| 2015 Queen’s Club Championships | Kevin Anderson | 6–3, 6–4 |
| 2016 Queen’s Club Championships | Milos Raonic | 6–7, 6–4, 6–3 |
| 2016 China Open | Grigor Dimitrov | 6–4, 7–6(7–2) |
| 2016 Vienna Open | Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | 6-3, 7-6 |
| 2017 Dubai Tennis Championships | Fernando Verdasco | 6-3, 6-2 |
“I defended pretty well. Moved well. Served a lot better as the match went on. It was obviously good to win the first tournament here.”
Like Alcaraz, Murray also won the Qatar Open, defeating Stan Wawrinka in the 2008 final.
Andy Murray’s Alcaraz prediction came true
Speaking to the ATP Tour in 2021, Andy Murray predicted that Carlos Alcaraz would become the world number one.
Alcaraz had yet to win his first Grand Slam, which he captured at the 2022 US Open.
Murray said: “Of the current ones, [Daniil] Medvedev would be the guy I would expect to get there first [achieve the world number one ranking].
Stan Wawrinka or Andy Murray… who is the greater player? Let us know why below 👇
“I think maybe he will need to be a little bit more consistent on the clay to get there, but I think he’s got a good chance.
“From the young, young ones, I think [Carlos] Alcaraz is really, really good. I think he’s got a good chance at it.”
