Carlos Alcaraz overpowered Daniil Medvedev and became two-time champion of the Indian Wells Masters 1000

The Spanish Carlos Alcaraz He gave another signal that being number two in the world doesn’t weigh on him and moreover he will have to face the challenge of dethroning the Serbian again. Novak Djokovic at the top of the rankings. This Sunday he defeated the Russian Daniel Medvedevfourth in the table, 7-6 (7-5) and 6-1 in an hour and 42 minutes, and lifted the trophy Indian wells.

He thus became the first two-time consecutive champion of the first Masters 1000 of the season since Djokovic chained three consecutive titles between 2014 and 2016.

The 20-year-old Murcian appeared in his splendor when he could have lost the number two: in the semi-final he got rid of the Italian Jannik Sinnerwho was undefeated and if he had won he would have replaced Alcaraz in second place in the rankings. That temperament works in his favor at key moments.

Finalist in January Australian Open that Sinner won, Medvedev, 28, could not win the only Masters 1000 he misses on hard courts, after his triumphs in Miami 2023, Canada 2021, Paris 2020, Cincinnati 2019 and Shanghai 2019.

At Indian Wells, Alcaraz and Medvedev played the sixth match of their careers and the record is now 4-2 for the younger one.

The Russian won for the first time in the second round of Wimbledon 2021 in three sets and the Spaniard took revenge by winning in the final of the Masters 1000 in Paris 2023 and in the semi-final of Wimbledon 2023, in three sets. Medvedev leveled at 2-2 thanks to a four-set victory in last year’s US Open semifinal. And the Murcian lost the doubles 6-4 in the group stage of the ATP Finals.