Daniil Medvedev stepped out onto Stadium 1 at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Sunday evening with a 19-match winning streak behind him, confidence flowing in his veins. He was the in-form player on the tour, a champion who has established himself as the best hard court player of his generation. And yet, in the end, none of that mattered. Forty-five minutes into the final, he was completely out of ideas.
That is simply the power of Carlos Alcaraz, a special generational talent who at 19 years old continues to produce greatness seemingly every time he steps on the court. After a brutal few months of injuries, Alcaraz re-established himself at the top with a statement victory, demolishing Medvedev 6-3, 6-2 to win the Indian Wells title and clinch his first big win since becoming US Open champion.
Alcaraz’s victory followed a maiden WTA 1000 triumph for Elena Rybakina, who also won her first important title since her maiden grand slam triumph, edging out Aryna Sabalenka 7-6(11), 6-4 in a tense, mentally exhausting tussle.
With his third career Masters 1000 title and eighth overall, Alcaraz will regain the ATP’s No 1 ranking, rising above Novak Djokovic, who is absent from Indian Wells and the Miami Open due to his vaccination status. This is the first time that Alcaraz has won a Masters 1000 title without dropping a set.
From the beginning, the Spaniard laid down a marker by stepping inside the baseline to obliterate the ball off both wings, using his weapons to easily pick apart one of the best defensive players in the world. As Medvedev returned and scrambled from close to the back fence, Alcaraz took advantage of his deep court positioning by pairing his destructive, relentless shotmaking with constant forays to the net, serve and volley attempts and dropshots.
Medvedev tried hard to find a solution but he was simply outmatched. When he tried to break Alcaraz down with his consistency, he could only watch as the ball constantly flew past him. When he tried to attack, Alcaraz’s own supreme defensive skills broke him down. A 19-year-old player is supposed to have glaring weak points to their game but Alcaraz is already so complete that few players can stay with him.
After the euphoria of Alcaraz’s unprecedented breakthrough 2022 season, which culminated with a first grand slam title and the distinction of being ATP’s first ever teenage world No 1, he quickly faced the grim reality of professional tennis. His body crumbled, with abdominal and hamstring injuries forcing him to miss the ATP Finals and the Australian Open respectively. Yet he has been able to quickly recover both his level and aura, and this latest victory hints at a dominance that is only just beginning.
Even after finally breaking through at the top of the sport by winning Wimbledon last summer, Rybakina’s path remained complicated. Her ranking was still low, she faced tough draws and dispiriting court assignments all while trying to come to terms with her new status as a grand slam champion. She struggled to perform.
This season, though, everything is coming together. On Sunday, Rybakina bolstered her status as one of the very best players in the world by winning her first WTA 1000 title in Indian Wells. Two days after she dismantled Iga Swiatek, the world No 1 and defending champion, Rybakina remained composed in the face of suffocating pressure to overcome Sabalenka.
This marks her fourth career title, her first since Wimbledon, and the Kazakh will rise to a new career high of No 7. It also saw her clear a massive mental hurdle by defeating Sabalenka for the first time in five meetings, quickly avenging her loss in the Australian Open final.
Although it lacked the quality of their spectacular battle in Melbourne, the first set was bruising and nervy in the swirling wind. The tension peaked in an excruciating tiebreak as both struggled to close out the set and Sabalenka’s serve, which has driven her success this year, capitulated. She struck 10 double faults in the set alone, including on her set point, and Rybakina eventually remained solid enough to take advantage. With the first set secured, Rybakina relaxed and eased to victory.
After the many years of unpredictability on the tour followed by Swiatek’s singular dominance last year, the past 10 days in Indian Wells have further shown how the landscape has changed. Rybakina, Sabalenka and Swiatek are the winners of the last three grand slams and are the top three in the WTA race rankings. With the focus quickly shifting to the Miami Open, they are the three players to beat.
As they addressed the crowd during the trophy ceremony, both players acknowledged the significance of their match-up and the start of what feels like a new rivalry.
“It’s actually the first time it went my way, so we’ll see. Hopefully we’re gonna play many more finals,” said Rybakina. Sabalenka then stepped up to the mic and interjected with a smile: “I’ll make sure it was the last one.”
