Neither a man with twenty consecutive victories behind him nor the responsibility and pressure of having the number one two sets ahead. Nothing could stop a Carlos Alcaraz who defeated Daniil Medvedev (6-3 and 6-2) to win his first title in Indian Wells and to return to world number one a month and a half later.
Alcaraz, in a display of maturity and seniority, despite not even being 20 years old, became the fourth Spaniard 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 achieve the ‘Double Sunshine’, that is, the double between Indianw Wells and Miami and that only seven men in history have fastened.
The Murcian only needed an hour and 10 minutes to get rid of a Medvedev who came with 19 consecutive wins and three titles in his pocket (Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai). He snacked on one of the best on hard courts with a sufficiency rarely seen at Coachella.
The beginning, with a partial of 3-0 and 12-3 in points, presaged a good afternoon for Spanish tennis, but not of the magnitude and superiority that was seen. Medvedev, without signs of physical problems or wear and tear, was a broken toy in the hands of a very serious Alcaraz, more than usual, aware of having the so-called fifth ‘Grand Slam’ before him.
His right gave away some of the best moments of the day, but also his head and his perseverance to move a Medvedev who took 18 minutes to win his first game.
Neither his powerful serve, nor his immaculate physique, nor his robot mentality earned Medvedev to scratch something on the surface of an Alcaraz who advanced miles at cruising speed and who entertained himself between winning forehands, chopped services and betrayal left.
The Russian, disconnected
The Russian also contributed to this, who, after losing the first set, was completely disconnected. He chained unforced error after unforced error and gave away his serve to love in the first game, an invitation to a ‘thrash’.
Medvedev was a ghost, a shadow, a player who had never fully faced Alcaraz, since their only clash was at Wimbledon 2021, when the Spaniard was still very immature. He suffered the ravages of a player eager for triumphs and overwhelming; he suffered the hunger of a champion.
Alcaraz, sweetly, came to win three consecutive dropoffs, made Medvedev desperate, who threw away the racket, and left the Moscow player in five games, his worst record in a final since 2019.
With this victory, Alcaraz returns to number one, a position he left on January 29 after 20 weeks at the top. The one from El Palmar overthrows Novak Djokovic, who stops in 380 weeks of him as the best.
But the overtaking may only be temporary, as Alcaraz defends 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 regain the throne without the need to play.
At the moment, Alcaraz secures his second title of the year, after Buenos Aires, and the third Masters 1,000 of his career, the same as Carlos Moyá, Thomas Enqvist and Nikolay Davydenko. He is just one away from matching his coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero. And he is not even 20 years old.
