Carlos Alcaraz clinched his first trophy since Wimbledon last year by successfully defending his Indian Wells title against Daniil Medvedev. This victory marked a repeat of last year’s final, where Alcaraz emerged victorious with scores of 7-6(5), 6-1 in California on Sunday. Despite an early setback of 3-0 in the first set, he managed to win the 13th ATP Tour title of his young career.
At 20 years old, the Spaniard has become the first player to secure back-to-back Indian Wells titles since Novak Djokovic did in 2016. Alcaraz shared in his on-court interview that this year’s win felt particularly special. He had been uncertain about his performance due to an ankle issue that limited his practice time before the tournament.
Despite these challenges, Alcaraz expressed his happiness in overcoming these obstacles. The tournament was not without its difficulties for him. His quarterfinal match against Alexander Zverev was disrupted by a swarm of bees, and he had to recover from a set down against Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner in the semifinals.
In the final, Alcaraz faced adversity early on when Medvedev broke his first service game. However, Alcaraz quickly responded with a break of his own and narrowly won the tie-break, which was closely contested at 5-5 at one point. The second set saw Alcaraz gaining a stronger foothold, breaking Medvedev twice before sealing the victory in an hour and 42 minutes when Medvedev’s cross-court forehand went wide.
Alcaraz finished the match with 23 winners, 19 of which came from his forehand, compared to Medvedev’s 11. He won 73% of his service points, outperforming Medvedev’s 56%. With this win, Alcaraz joins Rafael Nadal as the second male player to win five Masters 1,000 tournaments before turning 21.
On the same day, Iga Świątek also secured her second Indian Wells title by defeating Maria Sakkari of Greece with scores of 6-4, 6-0. The Polish World No. 1, who had previously beaten Sakkari in the final two years ago, did not lose a single set throughout the tournament. She needed only 68 minutes to claim the title, winning eight consecutive games across the first and second sets. This victory marked Świątek’s 19th WTA Tour title and her second this year, following her win at the Qatar Open last month.