A return trip to one of his favorite tournaments proved to be just what the doctor ordered for Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz, who had not won a tournament since Wimbledon last summer and had not reached a final since the Cincinnati Masters, successfully defended his BNP Paribas Open title by beating Daniil Medvedev 7-6(5), 6-1 on Sunday afternoon. The world No. 2 took a thrilling first set and then raced away with the second to triumph in one hour and 42 minutes.
Medvedev, who lost to Alcaraz in last year’s Indian Wells final, looked eager to turn the tide when he surged to a 3-0 advantage in the opening set. However, the fourth-ranked Russian could not maintain momentum. Alcaraz was quick to level the score at 3-3 before eventually seizing a 3-0 lead of his own in the ensuing tiebreaker. Medvedev tied it at 5-5, but Alcaraz won the next two points to edge ahead in the match.
From there it was pretty much all over, as Alcaraz broke right away in the second and never looked back.
It was an especially sweet title for the 20-year-old, and not just because of his relative drought that preceded it. Alcaraz had retired from his previous event in Rio de Janeiro, where he sustained an ankle injury just two games into his opening match.
“Winning this tournament means a lot to me because the week before it began, I had a lot of doubts about my ankle,” Alcaraz commented. “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 (there were) a lot of doubts for me. But once I stepped on the court (in) the first round, I started to feel better.”
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