‘This means a lot’

Carlos Alcaraz defended his Indian Wells title after beating Daniil Medvedev 7-6(5) 6-1 in the final in California on Sunday.

After a tight opening set which Medvedev led 6-5, Alcaraz forced a tie-break which he edged 7-5 to take the advantage in the contest.

In the second set it was a different story as Alcaraz steamrolled the world No. 4 to clinch his first title of the year – and first since Wimbledon last summer.

“I’m feeling great right now, this tournament means a lot to me,” said Alcaraz, who is the first man to win back-to-back at Indian Wells since Novak Djokovic in 2016.

“Playing here is so special to me but I think this year is a bit more special because before the tournament I was thinking about whether I could play my best or not.”

Alcaraz has been nursing an ankle issue lately, and added: “I was not feeling well with my ankle.

“Weeks before the tournament I was hitting for 30 minutes with no movement, so there was a lot of doubt for me, but I was really happy to be able to overcome those problems and at the end feel better.”

Alcaraz started the match on the back foot with Medvedev breaking early on, but recovered excellently to fight back into the contest which he finished strongly.

“Not just a little bit, there were a lot of nerves,” Alcatraz admitted.

“It was difficult to start to the match, I was not feeling good with the ball, and it was a little bit tough for me but anything can happen.

“In three games you can turn it around and start to play better and that’s what I did, I started to calm myself and control my emotions and started to feel better.”

Medvedev started the match strongly, breaking Alcaraz in the second game of the first set to stamp his authority on the match.

Alcaraz broke back in the fifth game to close the gap to 3-2, roaring back into contention following a brilliant rally.

The players could not be separated and required a tie-breaker as the set went to 6-6.

Alcaraz took an early 3-0 lead as Medvedev saw the early advantage slip through his fingers.

The Russian clawed the tie-break back to 3-2, but Alcaraz was too strong as he mastered a beautifully sliced forehand to move further clear and regain his three-point lead.

Medvedev once again rallied back to keep the exciting opener alive, but Alcaraz finally moved a set ahead when Medvedev went wide at set point.

Just like Medvedev had in the first set, Alcaraz broke in the second game for an early 2-0 lead.

The 20-year-old got into his groove in the second set and smashed a fantastic shot past his opponent before holding to love for 4-1.

He crucially broke Medvedev for the second time in the set for 5-1, and from there was able to cruise to victory for his second Indian Wells title.

Alcaraz is only the sixth player to successfully defend the Indian Wells crown.

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