Alcaraz crushes Medvedev to win Indian Wells and regain number one
Carlos Alcaraz will dawn again today as number one in the world. He prevailed in the final of Indian Wells to Daniel Medvedev and he is once again the leader of world tennis, unseating Djokovic from the highest. The final? A walk for the Murcian. In front was the only top 10 that he had not yet been able to defeat. There was a player who had 19 victories in a row and who had consecutively lifted the titles in Rotterdam, Doha and Qatar. He gave her the same. Alcaraz was on the hunt and devoured the Muscovite 6-3, 6-2 in 72 minutes as if he had any random guy in front of him. The thing about Alcaraz is from another planet. He has played in three Masters 1,000 finals and has won all three: to the titles in Miami and Madrid last year he has already added the one in Indian Wells. And now he has to face the Florida state tournament again. To his particular collection of feats, he has added the record for precociousness in winning the first two Masters 1,000 of the season. Chang, Courier and Djokovic took Miami and Indian Wells in their twenties. Alcaraz is already two and a half months old before turning 20 on May 5.
Alcaraz appeared in the final being true to himself and Medvedev did it with his B-side. Everything came together for the Russian: a rival that makes your life impossible; a 19-win streak that brought tons of pressure; the wind that appears frequently in the Californian desert and the usual cable crossing when he is not comfortable on a track that was not exactly fast for him. Carlitos was a steamroller. In front of him he expected a "wall" as he himself defined his rival. But none of that. He added a break on the Muscovite's first serve and went on to dominate the final as if it were the first round of any tournament. The Spanish racket cocktail was perfect. Good serves, deep forehands, judicious climbs to the net, classy volleys and drop shots that paralyze the opponent. Before that, a collection of errors that the Russian had not committed in the five previous games.
It was all too simple for what was at stake. In Indian Wells and with the possibility of recovering number one, the game was even peaceful. The first eight points of the second set also went to Carlitos. When the Russian tried to get up in his second serve, he found that Alcaraz had no intention of lifting his foot. He smelled blood, took the lead and on Medvedev's second serve hit a lethal return to open the difference to 3-0. Daniil's analysis of the final couldn't have been more accurate: "Alcaraz's talent is hard to compare to anyone's. Once he hits from the right, it's incredible to see. I don't think there's anyone who can hit him so strong and also with so much spin. That's why he was the youngest number one in history and I also think that the surface is better for him. When I see him I am very surprised sometimes that you see stellar moments when he runs down everywhere and then manages to find the best shot at the best time". Thus came 4-0. The resolution was a matter of minutes. And he came doing it nice, having fun. The collection of drops in the sixth game were mouthfuls of unique tennis. The final seemed eternal to Medvedev and that only lasted 72 minutes.
