Daniil Medvedev stopped in California

The decisive match of the BNP Paribas Open, the Masters 1000 tournament of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) with a prize fund of $8.8 million, ended with a convincing victory in two games between Carlos Alcaras and Daniil Medvedev. Thus, the Russians’ unbeaten streak of 19 matches, which lasted more than a month, was interrupted. The 19-year-old Spaniard, in turn, was able to return to first place in the world classification, ahead of Serbian Novak Djokovic.

Before the meeting between Carlos Alcaras and Daniil Medvedev on the center court of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden stadium, in the decisive match of the women’s tournament, Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan in an equal and incredibly nervous fight took revenge from Belarusian Arina Sobolenko for her defeat in the title battle of the Australian Open.

In the men’s final, the chances of the opponents were also quoted about the same, but it turned out to be surprisingly fast, ended with a score of 6:3, 6:2 and lasted only 70 minutes – less than the first set of the women’s final.

After last September Alcaraz won US Open and led the world rankings, it became clear that three factors could interfere with the protracted hegemony of this incredibly talented Spaniard with excellent physical data – the presence of an equally strong and stable competitor, the psychological pressure that any young tennis player inevitably faces, or possible injuries . Actually, that’s how it happened. First, the nervous system of Alcaras failed, losing a couple of offensive matches against the background of fatigue, and then, due to a rupture of the internal oblique muscle of the left side of the abdomen at the Paris Masters, he had to miss not only the end of last season, but also the beginning of this one. As for the competitor, he was quickly found in the person of Novak Djokovic, who returned to first place in the rankings at the end of January thanks to his triumph at the Australian Open. It might even seem to someone that Carlos Alcaraz is a temporary leader, an upstart who could not stand the first serious test of fame.

But this, of course, was not the case. It’s just that the Spanish tennis player was in no hurry to go anywhere. Taking a vacation that lasted from early November to mid-February, he thoroughly healed, after which he quickly regained his former condition, winning one clay tournament in Buenos Aires and reaching the final on another, in Rio de Janeiro. The next match, in which the participation of Alcaraz was planned, in the Mexican Acapulco, he missed, citing a slight sprain of the hamstring. But most likely the Spaniard’s personal trainer, the former world number one and great clever Juan Carlos Ferrero, simply understood that his ward needed a little respite, because much more important competitions in Indian Wells and Miami were further on the calendar.

As a result, the decision about the weekly pause turned out to be absolutely correct.

Perhaps in Indian Wells, Alcaraz appeared to be an even more perfect champion than he looked six months ago in New York.

His style of play, which combines softness and aggressiveness, virtuoso short shots and spectacular exits to the net, perfectly suited the relatively slow surface laid in the California desert. In six matches, he did not give up a single game, only twice allowing his opponents to bring matters to tie-breaks. And in the final, he didn’t give Medvedev a single chance.

Sunday’s failure of the Russian, who had previously issued a brilliant series of three titles and 19 matches won in Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai and Indian Wells, was unconditional. Medvedev not only did not earn a single break point, but also suffered a complete collapse on his pitch, now and then missing Alcaraz’s sharp counterattacks. To what extent this was facilitated by the strong wind that shook the microphone during the Spaniard’s championship speech, it is not entirely clear. But it is obvious that Medvedev’s classic tactics, which, as usual, went far beyond the back line, the opponent successfully countered the game all over the court, responding either with powerful twists or cunning undercuts from all possible angles.

This fiasco will remind someone of last year’s finals at the grass tournaments in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Halle, which were also lost by Medvedev in just over an hour. However, it is difficult to draw semantic parallels between them and the current failure, since then the Russian was only in search of his best game after a hernia operation. Now the situation is quite different. Having gained good speed, Medvedev was stopped by the young tennis king, a phenomenal master who is preparing to dictate his terms to his opponents for many years. And it is very important that the confidence that allowed the Russian to demonstrate a magnificent game in recent weeks does not evaporate overnight. That could be facilitated by the Miami tournament starting on Wednesday, where Medvedev reached the quarterfinals last year.

Evgeny Fedyakov