“Muchas gracias Carlos!,” Carlos Alcaraz receives heartwarming wishes on his Indian Wells victory from namesake F1 sensation Carlos Sainz

Alcaraz made a successful title defense in Indian Wells as he beat Daniil Medvedev in the finals for the second consecutive year.

“Muchas gracias Carlos!,” Carlos Alcaraz receives heartwarming wishes on his Indian Wells victory from namesake F1 sensation Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz and Carlos Alcaraz (Images via IMAGO)

World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz made one of his biggest career title defenses at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters. The Spaniard before Indian Wells had defended two titles in his career.

At the ATP-500 Barcelona Open in 2023 he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the finals. At the 2023 Madrid Masters, he beat Jan Lennard Struff in the title decider to retain his title. But the title in Indian Wells was comparatively difficult for the youngster.

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Alcaraz was coming fresh from an injury in Rio where he had rolled his ankle. He played cautiously in his first match of the title defense winning it in three sets. After that, he did not drop a single set on his way to winning the title yet again.

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He played Daniil Medvedev in the finals, a repeat of the 2023 finals. Medvedev was looking to win Indian Wells and complete the set of big titles on US soil having won the Cincinnati Masters, Miami Masters, and the US Open. But Alcaraz denied him yet again from winning the coveted ‘fifth Grand Slam’ of tennis.

The two contested a brilliant final with the first set tiebreaker going past the one-hour mark. Alcaraz narrowly edged out the Russian before steamrolling him in the second set. The World No. 2 won the finals 7-6(5), 6-1 to clinch his 13th career title.

Rafael Nadal was quick to congratulate Alcaraz for his feat but he wasn’t the only Spaniard to do so. Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz Jr. also sent his wishes. The Ferrari driver took to his Instagram stories to congratulate Alcaraz writing a small message in Spanish. 

Tremendo torneo enhorabuena (tremendous tournament congratulations)
Wrote Sainz.

Alcaraz reacted to it by resharing it on his Instagram story.

Muchas Gracias Carlos! (thank you very much)

Wrote Alcaraz.

Carlos Alcaraz leads the field at the Miami Masters

With one half of Sunshine Double finished, the focus is now on the second half. Following the withdrawal of World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz will now be the top seed for the Masters event. He had previously won the title in 2022, his first-ever Masters-1000 title.

Carlos Alcaraz
Carlos Sainz’s message to Carlos Alcaraz (Images via Instagram, IMAGO)

He returned to the tournament in 2023 but lost to Jannik Sinner in the semis failing to defend the title. But with Djokovic out and fresh from winning in Indian Wells, Alcaraz will be a big favorite for the tournament. He will also have the added motivation of reducing the gap with the Serb in rankings.

Nole currently tops the chart with 9725 points to his name. Alcaraz is second with 8805 points, a gap of 920 points. If the reigning Wimbledon champ wins the title in Miami, he will hold 9445 points, reducing the deficit to 280 points between them.

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