Carlos Alcaraz defeats Daniil Medvedev to retain his Indian Wells championship.

California’s Indian Wells — Carlos Alcaraz was doubtful about his twisted right ankle before he arrived at Indian Wells. As a two-time champion, he is retiring.

In the BNP Paribas Open final on Sunday, he triumphed over Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (5), 6-1 for the second year in a row, securing his first trophy since winning Wimbledon the previous year.

In late February, Alcaraz suffered a sprained ankle at the Rio Open. His first practice at Indian Wells was motionless for thirty minutes. According to him, practicing with other pros for the first time “was really tough for me,” during a Tennis Channel interview.

Alcaraz, who needed three sets to win his second-round match, defeated Jannik Sinner in a three-set semifinal.

Alcaraz remarked, “I felt better after every match.” “I was becoming more assured following each game. Regaining victory at a Master 1000, an extremely significant competition, inspires you to keep going.”

After Novak Djokovic won three straight Indian Wells titles from 2014 to 2016, Alcaraz became the first person to defend the championship. In the desert of Southern California last year, he defeated Medvedev 6-3, 6-2.

“You like it here, it’s definitely your court,” Medvedev said to Alcaraz at the winning ceremony. “Hopefully you can one day let me play a little bit better here.”

In the first set, Medvedev enjoyed a 3-0 lead as Alcaraz committed eight unintentional errors. To tie things 3-3, the Spaniard won three straight games.
For the remainder of the set, the players held serve, and Alcaraz served a love game to start the tiebreaker. Before Medvedev knotted it 5-5, he had leads of 3-0 and 5-2. The final two points were won by Alcaraz.

In the second set, Medvedev had one winner and nine errors; Alcaraz had the only two breaks.

Alcaraz had 25 winners and 26 unforced errors during the match, compared to Medvedev’s 11 winners and 23 unforced errors.

Since the series started in 1990, Alcaraz is the second player to win five or more ATP Masters 1000 titles before turning twenty-one. Rafael Nadal is the alternative.

Alcaraz’s winnings came to $1.1 million. That is less than the $1.26 million that the 2023 men’s champion was awarded. This year, the prize money for the winners was decreased by over 13% as more money was given to the earlier rounds.