Alcaraz wins Indian Wells and number one

Neither a man with twenty consecutive victories behind him nor the responsibility and pressure of having the number one two sets ahead of him. Nothing could stop a Carlos Alcaraz who defeated Daniil Medvedev (6-3 and 6-2) and won his first title in Indian Wells and that after a month and a half he would return to number one in the world.

Alcaraz, showing maturity and seniority, even though he was not even 20 years old, became the fourth Spanish in history (in the men’s category) to win in the California desert, after José Higueras (1983), Alex Corretja (2000) and Rafael Nadal (2007, 2009 and 2013) and the youngest tennis player to win Double sunthat is, the double that consists of Indian Wells and Miami and that has been tied by only seven men in history.

Murciano needed only an hour and 10 minutes to get rid of Medvedev who came with 19 consecutive victories and three titles in his pocket (Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai). He nibbled on one of the best on the hard courts with an amount rarely seen at Coachella.

A partial 3-0 and 12-3 start on points heralded a good afternoon for Spanish tennis, but not the magnitude and dominance seen. Medvedev, with no signs of physical problems or wear and tear, was a broken toy in the hands of a very serious Alcaraz, more than usual, aware that he had the fifth so-called. grand slams.

His right provided some of the best moments of the day, but so did his head and his tenacity to move Medvedev who needed 18 minutes to win his first game. Neither his powerful serve, nor his impeccable physique, nor his robot mentality earned Medvedev enough to scratch the surface of Alcaraz, who was advancing miles at cruising speed and entertaining himself between winning forehands, chopping serves and treacherous lefts.

Russian, excluded

This was also contributed by the Russian, who was completely excluded after losing the first set. He made unforced error after unforced error and gave away his empty serve in the first game, a call for thrashed.

Medvedev was a ghost, a shadow, a player who he never fully confronted Alcaraz, since their only clash was at Wimbledon in 2021, when the Spaniard was still very immature. He suffered the ravages of players eager for triumph and defeat; He suffered the hunger of a champion.

Alcaraz, sweetly, reached three consecutive eliminations, despairing Medvedev who threw the racket and left the Moscow player in five games, which is his worst result in the final since 2019.

With this victory, Alcaraz is back at number one, a position he left on January 29 after 20 weeks at the top. The one from El Palmar overthrew Novak Djokovic, who is the best at 380 weeks. But the overtake could only be temporary, as Alcaraz is defending 1,000 points this week in Miami, where he won the first Masters 1,000 of his career last year. Djokovic will not be there either, due to his decision not to get vaccinated, so the Serb can take back the throne without having to play.

At this point, Alcaraz secured his second title of the year, after Buenos Aires, and the third Masters 1000 of his career, the same as Carlos Moyá, Thomas Enqvist and Nikolay Davydenko. He is only one away from matching his coach Juan Carlos Ferrer. And he is not even 20 years old.

Alcaraz: “I know I’m very young and I have a lot to learn”

Carlos Alcaraz was very happy and proud of the title at the so-called “fifth Grand Slam” and thanked his team for their “amazing work” because they supported him all the time.

“Thank you very much for everything. I know that I’m very young and that I have a lot of things to learn and that it’s not easy (…) but thank you for your work,” said the Spaniard on the track as soon as he won the desert tournament in California.

“I started the year very well, but I had problems with injuries, so I want to thank you for being by my side the whole time, for your patience and hard work,” he added, talking about the team led by his coach, former tennis player Juan Carlos Ferrero.

There is no feeling of victory! 😠VERY HAPPY to win Indian Wells and get back on top! 🠆🌴 Thank you for your continued support! â ¤ï¸ Let’s go!!! 💪🠻 @BNPPARIBASOPEN

📸 Getty

– Carlos Alcaraz (@carlosalcaraz) March 20, 2023

After a great tennis lesson in the final, Alcaraz also congratulated Medvedev for a great race that ended this afternoon.

“I want to congratulate you on your work in the last two months. “To win three tournaments in a row and reach the final here is an incredible achievement,” said the 19-year-old.

Alcaraz already said this at the press conference returning to number one “is like a dream come true again” and pointed out that he wants to play again against Djokovic, whom he has not met since the quarter-finals in Madrid in 2022.

Novak is one of the best players in the world. That’s obvious. If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. I want to play with Novak again. We miss him on the track and hope to be back very soon. Of course, it would be incredible to play against him again,” he said, reports Efe.

Russian tennis player Daniel Medvedev assured that the Spanish it deserves “one hundred percent” to be the new number one world rankings. “Carlos is deservedly number one in the world. He’s scored more points than anyone else in the last 52 weeks and that’s how the rankings work,” he said at a press conference when asked if he was “the real number one” given that Djokovic can’t play in the U.S. because he hasn’t been vaccinated

“Of course it’s unfortunate that Novak can’t play in every tournament and I’m sure we’d all like to see him play (…). But it is what it is. I don’t know, Rafa Nadal has been injured for a while. We can also say: ‘If Rafa hadn’t been injured, he would have been number one’. Well, we can’t say because he’s injured. And it’s the same with Novak,” he exemplified, reports Efe.