Carlos Alcaraz successfully defended his Indian Wells title with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 win over Daniil Medvedev in the men’s singles final on Sunday.
Alcaraz started sloppily, spraying errors around the court to fall 3-0 down but raised his level and captured the first set when his Russian opponent’s forehand went wide in the tiebreak.
The Spaniard romped through the second set, raising his arms in the air and letting out a roar when Medvedev missed another forehand wide on match point.
“I enjoy playing these kind of matches with you,” Alcaraz told Medvedev during the trophy ceremony. “Hopefully more finals ahead.
“I enjoyed playing in front of you [spectators] and I’ve felt the love since the first day. I love this beautiful court and playing in front of you.
“Thanks for bringing the energy and all the support.”
Medvedev, who briefly lost his temper with some fans in the Alcaraz-friendly crowd in the second set, was gracious in defeat.
“I’d like to congratulate Carlos,” Medvedev said during the trophy ceremony.
“It’s definitely your court, you like it here. Congrats to you and your team. You are doing a great job so continue this way and hopefully one day you can let me play a little bit better here,” he said.
“Amazing job today and amazing job throughout the two weeks.”
Tale of the Tape
Record-breaking Alcaraz
Henman: He was born to win these big titles
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Tim Henman hailed Alcaraz’s impressive career run as the Spaniard has made five ATP Masters 1000 titles before turning 21
“He looks like he was born to win these big titles. He looks so motivated. He’s putting in the hard work,” said two-time Indian Wells finalist Tim Henman on Sky Sports Tennis.
“It’ll be interesting to see how many of these Masters 1000 titles and Grand Slams he can win in the future.”
Navratilova: This guy is only going to get better
“You can see that he has an amazing talent from the get-go. He was number one in the world and won a major and people are writing him off at 20? This guy is only going to get better,” said Martina Navratilova.
“He’s not going to get worse, so it’s not a fluke what he has done.
“He’s solid as a rock and he moves better than anyone I have ever seen. He’s so strong, there are no weaknesses and he can still get better so watch out world.”
Robson: Scary to watch how good he gets
“I feel the serve can get better but he’s been working on that in the last 18 months,” Laura Robson said.
“And then you think he’s going to get stronger, get faster. Even more physical in the next five, eight years or so.
“It’s going to be scary to watch how good he gets because even now he’s working on the shot selection and once he masters that tennis IQ and makes small adjustments when facing different opponents, he’s pretty much sorted.”
Alcaraz loves Indian Wells
Welcome to Miami
The ‘Sunshine Double’ concludes at the prestigious Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium with Simona Halep set to make her return to tennis following the reduction in length of her doping ban against Paula Badosa.
Britain’s Emma Raducanu will face China’s Wang Xiyu after the women’s singles draw, with compatriot Katie Boulter – who won the San Diego Open earlier this month – handed an opening-round bye as 24th seed.
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