Carlos Alcaraz easily disposed of Daniil Medvedev in the Indian Wells Masters 1000 final (6-3, 6-2). The 19-year-old Spaniard thus won the eighth title of his career and became world No. 1 again for at least two weeks.
Never in history has such a young player won the three biggest American tournaments! Carlos Alcaraz will only celebrate his 20th birthday in May, and he already has the US Open, Miami and now Indian Wells on his list, thus erasing from the shelves Pete Sampras, who had achieved the hat-trick at 22. Winner in Florida and New York last year, Carlos Alcaraz was aiming for the Californian trophy this Sunday, against the man in form of the moment, Daniil Medvedev, who remained on 19 victories in a row. In just 71 minutes, the Spaniard settled his account: 6-3, 6-2, for an eighth career title and a return to world No. 1!
Alcaraz perfect in service
The second confrontation between the two men (Medvedev had easily won the first at Wimbledon in 2021) did not keep all its promises, as the young Spaniard proved to be superior. Impeccable on his serve (76% of first serves, no break point to defend), Carlos Alcaraz was extremely sharp as soon as the Russian found himself in difficulty on his face-off, converting the three break points he obtained. The first came in the second game of the match (2-0), and the Spaniard managed to maintain his lead until the end of the set, then losing only four points on his serve. In the second set, Alcaraz broke from the start on a white game, then again at 2-0 on a longer game. Trailing 4-0, Medvedev was unable to come back, and so it was the Spaniard who won the third Masters 1000 of his career.
And now, Miami?
This success allows him to become world No. 1 again, to the detriment of Novak Djokovic (for 260 points), for at least two weeks. The native of Murcia will now head to Miami, where he will defend his title won last year (and the 1000 points that go with it). The Serb was not allowed to go there because he is not vaccinated against covid and could therefore regain the place of world No. 1 if the Spaniard does not shine in Miami. But given what he has shown in the last ten days, it is hard to imagine him going through…