Tag Archives: Indian Wells Open

Carlos Alcaraz Defeats Daniil Medvedev to Successfully Defend Indian Wells Title

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Carlos Alcaraz is celebrating a special repeat..

The 20-year-old Spanish tennis player, who arrived at Indian Wells full of doubt about his twisted right ankle, has left a two two-time champion.

Carlos AlcarazAlcaraz defeated Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (5), 6-1 for the second straight year in the men’s final on Sunday, earning his first title since winning Wimbledon last year.

Alcaraz sprained his ankle at the Rio Open in late February. His first practice at Indian Wells lasted 30 minutes without any movement. His first practice with his fellow pros “was really tough for me,” he said in a Tennis Channel interview.

Alcaraz outlasted Jannik Sinner in a three-set semifinal after needing three sets to get out of his second-round match.

“After every match I was feeling better,” Alcaraz said. “I was getting more confident after every match. Winning a Master 1000 again, a really important tournament to win, gives you motivation to keep going.”

Alcaraz became the first man to defend his Indian Wells title since Novak Djokovic won three in a row from 2014 to 2016. He beat Medvedev 6-3, 6-2 last year in the Southern California desert.

“It’s definitely your court, you like it here,” Medvedev told Alcaraz during the victory ceremony. “Hopefully you can one day let me play a little bit better here.”

Medvedev led 3-0 in the first set while Alcaraz had eight unforced errors over those games. The Spaniard won three games in a row to tie it 3-3.

The players held serve the rest of the set, with Alcaraz serving a love game to get into the tiebreaker. He led 3-0 and 5-2 before Medvedev tied it 5-5. Alcaraz won the next two points to close it out.

Alcaraz got the only two breaks in the second set, when Medvedev had one winner and nine errors.

For the match, Alcaraz hit 25 winners and had 26 unforced errors, while Medvedev had 11 winners and 23 unforced errors.

Alcaraz is the second player to win five or more ATP Masters 1000 titles before their 21st birthday since the series began in 1990. The other is Rafael Nadal.

Alcaraz earned $1.1 million for his win. That’s less than the $1.26 million the men’s champion received in 2023. This year more prize money was allocated to the earlier rounds, reducing the champions’ prize money by nearly 13%.

Carlos Alcaraz Defeats Jannik Sinner to Reach Indian Wells Men’s Final

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Carlos Alcaraz is one step closer to defending his title…

The 20-year-old Spanish professional tennis player outlasted Jannik Sinner 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 to end the Italian’s 19-match winning streak and advance to the Indian Wells Open final on Saturday night.

Carlos Alcaraz, Alcaraz retained his world No. 2 ranking with the victory and extended his winning streak to 11 matches at Indian Wells, where he’ll play fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev in Sunday’s title match.

It’s a rematch of last year’s final, won by Alcaraz in straight sets.

Sinner led 2-1 in the first set when the match was suspended for more than three hours because of rain in the Southern California desert.

Sinner went on to dominate the first set before Alcaraz changed his tactics. The Spaniard started coming to the net more and moving Sinner up and back.

“I had to change my game a little bit in the second set, that was a good thing for me, to change my style a little bit,” Alcaraz said. “I changed the return position, and that’s why I gave myself a chance to put more balls in play so I could wait for my chances (to attack).”

Sinner could have knocked Alcaraz out of the second spot with a win. He had won 19 matches in a row dating to last year, including 16 straight this year.

Alcaraz earned the only break of the second set in the fourth game with a forehand drop volley winner. He faced a break point on his serve in the seventh game, but shook it off eventually served out the set.

Alcaraz broke Sinner in the third and fifth games of the third. The players were blasting the ball from both sides and attacking the net, which made for several entertaining and sharply angled volley exchanges.

Alcaraz led 40-love on his serve for his first match point when he netted a backhand. Sinner’s smash dashed Alcaraz’s second match point before the Spaniard closed it out with a forehand crosscourt winner.

Sinner had 38 unforced errors to 24 for Alcaraz and the Italian had 21 winners to 19 for Alcaraz.

“I was too predictable at some points,” Sinner said. “I think that’s the lesson for today. We will work on certain things, and hopefully I will get better.”