Kim Clijsters explains mindset shared by Serena Williams and Alcaraz

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Both Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz have spoken about how players often seem to step up their game when facing them.

Williams, during Wimbledon in 2018, said that she ‘plays everyone at their greatest’.

This year, Alcaraz made a similar comment, saying opponents play like ‘Roger Federer’ when they face him.

Former world number one Kim Clijsters has now explained how she approached the same situation during her career.

Kim Clijsters says she treated every match like a Grand Slam final

Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Speaking on the latest episode of ‘Love All’, Clijsters explained how she approached matches against lower-ranked opponents.

“My mindset was, every match starts 0-0, and you have a 50% chance,” she said.

“That’s what I always told myself. Also, when you get to the situation, we’ve seen Serena [Williams] and [Carlos] Alcaraz talk about it. When you play a lot of lower-ranked players, which they play most of the time when you’re ranked number one in the world, everybody can have their best match of the year when they play against you.”

Clijsters won four Grand Slam titles during her career and spent 20 weeks as world number one. Williams and Alcaraz have also found success despite often facing opponents playing at their absolute best.

But how has Alcaraz performed specifically against lower-ranked opposition?

Carlos Alcaraz has lost 24 matches to players ranked outside the top 10 since winning his first Grand Slam

Alcaraz clinched his first major title at the US Open in 2022. Since then, Alcaraz has only lost 41 matches.

Of those 41 defeats, Alcaraz has lost to Novak Djokovic five times and Jannik Sinner five times.

But that’s not to say he doesn’t lose to lower-ranked players, too.

Carlos Alcaraz’s defeats since 2022 US Open win

2026 – 3

2022 – 4

2023 – 12

2024 – 13

2025 – 9

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