With a 6-3 6-2 demolition in the Indian Wells final on Sunday, top seed Carlos Alcaraz ended Daniil Medvedev’s 19-match winning streak. With this victory, Alcaraz will overtake Novak Djokovic and reclaim the top spot in the global rankings.
Alcaraz played in six matches and did not lose a set during the competition. His accomplishment in the California desert has given him extra confidence going into his Miami Open title defence.
“I’m playing great. Of course today, the conditions today were pretty tough. Of course, Daniil didn’t play at his best, obviously,” said Alcaraz.
“All I can say is I’m really happy with my performance, the way that I was playing this tournament. I’m looking forward to playing this level in Miami as well.”
With an early break for a 2-0 lead and just six points lost on serve, Alcaraz had a fantastic start to the showdown of first-time Indian Wells finalists, completing the first set in just 36 minutes.
The fifth-seeded Russian Medvedev, who was attempting to add to the titles he had already won in Rotterdam, Doha, and Dubai during the previous month, was unable to stem the bleeding and was unable to respond to the Spaniard’s brilliance for the remainder of the match.
In the opening game of the second set, Alcaraz broke to love and held at that position to take a 2-0 lead as a dejected Medvedev scored 10 straight games going back to the opening frame.
The hard-hitting Spaniard finished off a triumph that appeared to be stress-free in 70 minutes without having to face a break point by dragging Medvedev from corner to corner and consolidating another break for a comfortable 4-0 lead while barely breaking a sweat.
After rolling his right ankle in the fourth round and cutting open his thumb in the quarter-finals, Medvedev was clearly not at his best. He also struggled to cope with the windy circumstances during the final.
“It was a surprising week in many aspects,” said Medvedev. “The ankle, the thumb, the tennis, wind, whatever. But we almost made it. … I will try to be better next time.”
The win was Alcaraz’s third ATP Masters 1000 title. He became the youngest world number one in September when he won the US Open and kept that position for 20 weeks until Djokovic reclaimed it in January.
Djokovic withdrew from the Indian Wells tournament draw, implying that his application for a COVID-19 vaccine waiver to enter the United States may have been denied. The Serbian has also pulled out of the Miami Open.
