Carlos Alcaraz matches incredible Rafael Nadal ATP record after beating Daniil Medvedev at Indian Wells

Carlos Alcaraz swatted away Daniil Medvedev to record his first title win of the season.

Carlos Alcaraz matches incredible Rafael Nadal ATP record after beating Daniil Medvedev at Indian Wells

Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz (Image via: Imago)

Chapter one of the Sunshine Double ends as defending champion Carlos Alcaraz emerges victorious against Daniil Medvedev today. It was just another match for the in-form Spaniard, who continued with his Houdini acts. 

After a weary start to the season, Alcaraz found his mojo and has been impressive. Closing out the gap in the first set, he produced some incredible backhand shots in the tiebreak to win the set comfortably. Well, it seems like the young sensation is indeed back after a long poor run.

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Having had no aces in his semi-final match against Jannik Sinner, the Spaniard hit two in the first set of the finals. Soon, what started as unforced errors became winners for the defending champion, and he was already a set away from a victory. 

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Interestingly enough, the second set was a reverse in terms of set leads. While Daniil Medvedev took an early lead in the first, it was Alcaraz who took an early break in the second. The Russian stood no chance against Alcaraz, who continued with his dominant form. 

In the blink of an eye, Alcaraz also had a major lead in the second set and closed out the match in style. He beat Medvedev 7-6(5), 6-1, to win his first title of the season. On the other hand, Medvedev is still in search of a maiden 2024 title, despite some amazing performances. 

That’s not all; the World No. 2 became the only second player to win 5 Masters titles before the age of 21. The first to achieve this feat is none other than his idol, Rafael Nadal himself.

He also moved ahead of Novak Djokovic to win five or more 1000 titles before turning 21. The young Spaniard will now move on to the Miami Open to try to complete the Sunshine Double.

Carlos Alcaraz was crowned the champion of Tennis Paradise as he repeated his 2023 performance

Carlos Alcaraz became the eighth man to win back-to-back Indian Wells titles since Boris Becker did it for the first time. After a slow start in 2024, the Spaniard was back on top of his game. 

Carlos Alcaraz
Carlos Alcaraz (Via Imago)

For a second straight year, he was crowned the champion at Indian Wells, where he recorded his 13th ATP title. It was a repeat of 2023 for the Spaniard who managed to bring out the same result. He beat Medvedev again, who was denied a win in the desert. 

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Notably, Indian Wells remains the hard-court title that Medvedev could not win, as he was arguably not in the game. Though Medvedev tried to change his gameplay, he could not match Alcaraz’s flexibility and speed. 

With this, Alcaraz won his first title since Wimbledon and revealed that this win gave him immense confidence as he rewrote the books of history. Alcaraz is also the youngest to successfully defend his title at Indian Wells.

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