Carlos Alcaraz defeated Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday to win the BNP Paribas Open title and regain the world No. 1 ranking.
The 19-year-old Spaniard climbs from second to first place in the ATP Tour ranking on Monday, beating Novak Djokovic. The Serb withdrew from Indian Wells before the start of the tournament when he was unable to enter the United States because he had not been vaccinated against COVID-19.
In the women’s final, Elena Rybakina defeated Aryna Sabalenka 7:6 (11), 6:4 to give the world number two her second loss this year.
Last year, Alcaraz became the youngest man to reach No. 1 in ATP history after his US Open title.
He scored another point in the third round at Indian Wells. At the time, Alcaraz scored his 100th career game win, the second fastest player behind John McEnroe to do so.
Alcaraz and Rybakina each earned $1,262,220 for their wins.
Rybakina carried the momentum from her semifinal loss in straight sets to go into the final as top Iga Swiatek, defeating Sabalenka for the first time in five career meetings.
For the first time in their burgeoning rivalry, the match did not go beyond three sets. Sabalenka went the distance to defeat Rybakina in the Australian Open final in January. In that match, Sabalenka fired 17 aces to win her first Grand Slam singles title.
This time, tenth-seeded Rybakina had seven aces and second-seeded Sabalenka had 10 double faults. Sabalenka won only 11 of 35 second save points.
“I would say I was very disappointed with my serve, so I fell back into my old habits,” she said. “I exaggerated a bit and wasn’t there in the first two games in the second set.”
Rybakina took a 2-0, 5-2 lead in the second set before Sabalenka closed 5-4. But Rybakina served up the win in just over two hours.
“Hopefully I’ll come back next year and repeat that result,” said Rybakina.
Rybakina improved her game record to 16-4 this year; Sabalenka fell 17-2.
During the awards ceremony, Rybakina, the reigning Wimbledon champion, told the audience that she had beaten Sabalenka for the first time.
Sabalenka stepped forward, picked up the microphone, and said, “I’ll make sure that’s the last one.”
Then she smiled.
Source: LA Times