Sawt Falasteen - Desert domination: Alcaraz tops Medvedev to repeat as Indian Wells champion

Alcaraz captured his first title since Wimbledon last July and became the first repeat winner at Indian Wells since Novak Djokovic won three straight titles from 2014-16.

For the 20-year-old Spaniard, 12 days in the California desert proved just what he needed after a stuttering start to the season, which included an ankle injury that forced him out of his opening match at Rio de Janeiro in February.

"A lot of doubts for me," he said of his mindset coming in. "But once I stepped on the court the first round, I started to feel better and after every match I was feeling better and better.

"Really happy to be able to win the tournament again."

As he did last year, Alcaraz denied Medvedev's bid to capture the only one of the ATP's six hardcourt Masters 1000 titles he has yet to win.

More importantly, after a week in which he ended Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner's 19-match winning streak, Alcaraz was looking forward with "extra, extra confidence" to next week's hardcourt tournament in Miami and beyond.

Medvedev, who was hindered by an ankle injury in their 2023 title clash, got off to a hot start in this one, parlaying a service break into a 3-0 first-set lead.

But Alcaraz produced a blazing forehand passing shot to break Medvedev in the fifth game and from there they dueled to the tie-breaker with entertaining rallies spiced by drop shots, volleys and lobs.

Trailing 5-2 in the tiebreaker, Medvedev battled back to 5-5, but Alcaraz claimed the set when the Russian sent a forehand wide and from there he was in complete control.

K.Hassan--SF-PST