With Indian Wells win, Carlos Alcaraz shows he is back to his best

It’s like he’d never gone away. Although he did, as the freshly-minted Grand Slam champion, as the world No. 1, as 2022’s five-time titlist, as tennis' teenaged breakout face at the very top of his game.

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And so when Carlos Alcaraz came back to the tour after nearly four injury-hit months across the end of last season to the start of this, the probability of the Spaniard taking some time to find his feet again would have been high.

But, it’s like he’d never gone away.

On Sunday, Alcaraz added the ATP Indian Wells Masters to his fast-growing bag of trophies, sweeping aside the lately-indestructible Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-2 in the final. The Spaniard’s blazing run in the Californian desert not only earned him a second title triumph three tournaments into his injury return but also the top spot in the world rankings again displacing Novak Djokovic for whom the US remains out of bounds (more on that a bit later).

Alcaraz brought to a grinding halt the in-form Russian’s 19-match and three-tournament win streak, shattering the lanky Medvedev’s towering defence and baseline play with his trademark game variety—he won 10 of 13 points at the net—and the renowned drop shot. All through the two weeks, the 19-year-old's level and court presence has been unmatched, a throwback to last season when he destroyed pretty much anyone that came his way including Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic on consecutive days in Madrid. At Indian Wells, Alcaraz did not drop a single set, the first player to do so playing the six matches of the event since Rafael Nadal in 2007.

Speaking of Nadal calls for another of those parallels in the careers of the two Spanish sensations. Rewind to 2005, when a teenaged Nadal captured his first Grand Slam title at the French Open. After winning the Madrid hard-court title in October, Nadal suffered a foot injury that sidelined him for four months. Back in action in February 2006, Nadal took little time in getting back into the groove, winning his second tournament upon return in Dubai.

Ditto with Alcaraz, who, in fact, won his first. Coming off an abdominal injury from the Paris quarter-finals mid-match retirement last October and a separate leg injury that forced him to skip this Australian Open, Alcaraz went all the way in Buenos Aires last month for his first title since the 2022 US Open. However, he was pulled back by another hamstring issue in his leg during his Rio de Janeiro march to the final, which he lost. The youngster subsequently withdrew from Acapulco, only to come roaring back in Indian Wells.

"I began the season well but struggled a lot with injuries," Alcaraz told Tennis Channel after beating Medvedev. "Two injuries in the legs in about four months, it was tough to stay strong mentally. I missed some tournaments I wanted to play, but I worked really hard with my team.

"It means a lot to recover the No. 1 ranking. I'm not going to say it was easy, but it was easier because Djokovic was not playing."

Alcaraz was crowned No. 1 after winning last year’s US Open while Djokovic was away. The 35-year-old Serb snatched away the tag from the Spanish teen by winning the Australian Open while Alcaraz was away. Alcaraz has got it back by winning the Indian Wells while Djokovic, still unvaccinated and unwelcome in the US, was away. Alcaraz will have to defend his Miami Masters crown starting this week to keep it with him while Djokovic continues to be away.

The cat and mouse between the two has been going on for a while. Why, Djokovic and Alcaraz haven’t played each other since that Madrid Masters semi-final in May last year. Alcaraz had beaten the 22-time Grand Slam champion in three tight sets a day after ousting Nadal from the quarters. Djokovic hasn’t yet had a chance to have his say against the teen. It may well soon arrive as the European clay-court swing gets kicks off next month.

“Yes, of course," Alcaraz said when asked if he was looking forward to taking on Djokovic again. “I mean, Novak is one of the best players in the world. That’s obvious. You know, I will say that if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.

“I really wanted to play against Novak again. We miss him on tour, and hopefully to have him back very, very soon. But yeah, of course it could be amazing to play against him again.”

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