The talent and magic in the history of Carlos Alcaraz They make him caress an impressive record for the rest of the world: almost one ATP Tour title for every two years of his life. This average comes from the division between the eight crowns he achieved this weekend by defeating Daniil Medvedev (by partials of 6-3 and 6-2) in the Indian Wells 2023 final when he was barely 19 years old. .
Alcaraz shone from start to finish in the two weeks of the Californian Masters and confirmed his current level as a world tennis figure before he was two decades old. And to top it off, he beat a Medvedev who had just won 19 consecutive games and who had a 100% effectiveness in the last five finals he played in the ATP Tourwinning titles in Los Cabos, Vienna, Rotterdam, Qatar and Dubai between August 2022 and February 2023.
Showing security and a full state of health, the Spaniard beat the Russian with the same devastating pace with which he had already knocked out Jannik Sinner in the semifinals and Félix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals. Without losing a single set in the six matches he played in Indian Wells 2023, he needed just one hour and 10 minutes to close out the dispute against the experienced Medvedev.
This feat is not surprising: the victory in Indian Wells It was his third in a Masters 1000 and in the previous two he also took the trophy without losing a single set, both in Madrid 2022 against Alexander Zverev (6-3, 6-1) and in Miami 2022 against Casper Ruud (7-5 , 6-4). In the case of the Californian tournament, this feat had only been achieved by Roger Federer in 2005 and 2017, as well as Rafael Nadal in 2007.
But the taste of victory for Alcaraz comes twice, since the Indian Wells crown catapulted him once again to first place in the world ranking by reaching 7,780 points and leaving Serbian Novak Djokovic in second place, who could not participate in this tournament for the US government’s refusal to let him enter its territory without vaccines against covid-19.
Although his age is still too young to call him a legend, Alcaraz proved to be at the level of the beginnings of those who are already established as a figure, since he became the second most winning tennis player in the Masters 1000 before turning 20, only surpassed by his compatriot Rafael Nadal, who managed six in that age limit. With that statistic, Carlos left behind Andrei Medvedev with two trophies and Andre Agassi, Novak Djokovic and Holger Rune with one.
Another proof of Alcaraz’s toughness is that he achieved victory against Medvedev without having to face any break points, which will allow him to reach the Miami Masters as the best tennis player in the world today. In addition he improved his record to 8-3 as far as ATP tour finals and 14-9 against top 10 opponents, which had already reached a remarkable 9-3 last year.
Precisely his next test, the Miami Masters, adds another record to his already multiple statistics book: he is the ninth and youngest player to win both stages of the ‘Sunshine Double’, which includes Indian Wells and Miami . The Murcian thus surpassed the records established long ago by Michael Chang, Jim Courier and Novak Djokovic, who signed the milestone in both tournaments when they were already over 20 years old.
Concluding in good shape on Californian soil, Alcaraz’s winning resume looks like this: champion of the Croatia Open (ATP 250) in 2021; del Río Open (500), Miami (Masters 1000), Barcelona Open (500), Madrid (Masters 1000) and US Open (Grand Slam) in 2022; in addition to the Argentina Open (250) and Indian Wells (Masters 1000) in 2023.
