For the second consecutive year, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev faced off for the BNP Paribas Open championship at Indian Wells, and once again, Alcaraz emerged victorious, securing the trophy with a 7-6(5) 6-1 victory in Sunday’s final.
After relinquishing his opening service game of the match, the Spaniard crafted his way back into the set, eventually claiming it via a tiebreak.
From there, he never looked back, freewheeling to the title by breadstick-ing Medvedev in the second set with a high-paced display to claim his fifth career Masters 1000 title in 1 hour and 44 minutes.
Match Stats
| Daniil Medvedev | Carlos Alcaraz | |
|---|---|---|
| Aces | 3 | 3 |
| Double Faults | 3 | 1 |
| 1st Serve Percentage | 61% | 65% |
| 1st Serve Points Won | 63% (30/48) | 75% (30/40) |
| 2nd Serve Points Won | 45% (14/31) | 68% (15/22) |
| Break Points Saved | 70% (7/10) | 50% (1/2) |
| 1st Return Points Won | 25% (10/40) | 38% (18/48) |
| 2nd Return Points Won | 32% (7/22) | 55% (17/31) |
| Break Points Converted | 50% (1/2) | 30% (3/10) |
| Winners | 11 | 23 |
| Unforced Errors | 14 | 11 |
| Net Points Won | 60% (12/20) | 50% (9/18) |
| Max Points In Row | 4 | 7 |
| Service Points Won | 56% (44/79) | 73% (45/62) |
| Return Points Won | 27% (17/62) | 44% (35/79) |
| Total Points Won | 43% (61/141) | 57% (80/141) |
| Max Games In Row | 3 | 5 |
| Service Games Won | 67% (6/9) | 90% (9/10) |
| Return Games Won | 10% (1/10) | 33% (3/9) |
| Total Games Won | 37% (7/19) | 63% (12/19) |
Highlights
Thoughts on the Final
Alcaraz headed in as the big betting favourite, and after a slow start, when his footwork looked slightly out of canter, he pulled it together and reeled Medvedev in.
I thought the Russian did a pretty good job in the first set of keeping it close and forcing a tiebreak, but he never really had a route to win easy points.
Meddy started the match with a clear tactic of sticking tight on the baseline and trying to go big on his forehand, which was not too dissimilar to how he played the Australian Open final.
That tactic worked well for three games. However, once Alcaraz got going, the writing was on the wall. Medvedev could not find a way through him, so points were all on the Spaniard’s racket.
Based on that, I don’t think Medvedev can leave too disappointed. He showed at the US Open that when conditions are more favourable and his game is on song, he can more than compete. But Indian Wells is Alcaraz’s domain, as the desert conditions and gritty surface favour his game.
The only real thing for his team to look at would be his serve, which has been a bit of a liability this season. En route to the final in Australia and Indian Wells, he dropped serve 39 times 😲 which is too frequent.
There were three more breaks today, and Alcaraz took his second serve to the cleaners, winning 55% of second-serve return points, which was one key to the outcome. Alcaraz also returned 84% of Medvedev’s first serves.
From Alcaraz’s side, he started poorly, making too many unforced errors, but once he settled, he was superior in all areas, winning 68% behind his second serve, which shows he dominated virtually all the rallies.
His athleticism and court coverage are always the standout parts of his game, and you’ll see them in the highlight reel, but he played a tactically astute match by varying his return position and switching the speeds on his groundstrokes.
His average forehand speed was only 69mph, eight mph slower than Medvedev’s, which showed how much he mixed it up, throwing in the slower top spin balls and even going for the forehand slice to try and draw the unforced error.
Winning this tournament meant a lot to me because the week before it began, I had a lot of doubts about my ankle. I remember my first practice here was just 30 minutes with no movement and probably the first practice with really good tennis players was really tough for me, because I thought I was not going to play my best. I was not feeling well with my ankle, so a lot of doubts for me. But once I stepped on the court, the first round, I started to feel better. Alcaraz in his on court interview.
Alcaraz leaves California as only the second player ever to win 5+ Masters 1000s before the age of 21, and he pockets a cool $1,100,000 in prize money (much less after taxes, of course). He’s also the red-hot favourite to capture his first Sunshine Double in Miami, which starts later this week.
What did you make of the final? Let me know in the comments.
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