After some exceptional tennis and dominant displays, Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek are the Indian Wells Champions.
No wonder there’s such a buzz around these two.
Alcaraz defends his Indian Wells title, despite some bad beehaviour
Heeee’s back!
After a minor layoff from an ankle injury that some people feared may be serious, Carlos Alcaraz has won his first title of the season, and in devastating style.
This wasn’t before he had perhaps his toughest test on court, against thousands of swarming bees, which stung Alcaraz in his quarter-final victory over Alexander Zverev.
Alcaraz’ quarter-final was delayed for over two hours while authorities tried to get the buzzing creatures, much like the tennis world seemingly obsessed with Alcaraz, away from Indian Wells’ centre piece stadium.
Once the yellow storm had settled, Zverev, who has often posed problems for Alcaraz, put up little resistance as the Spaniard dispatched of him 6-3, 6-1.
Alcaraz’s toughest opponent holding a racket, came in the semi-finals against the man set to be his generational rival, Jannik Sinner.
After a tough first set, which saw Sinner dominate to take it 6-1, Alcaraz took control of the match and handed the Australian Open champion his first defeat of 2024.
It was déjà vu for Alcaraz in the final as he met his opponent from last year’s Indian Well’s final, Daniil Medvedev.
Unfortunately for Medvedev, it was repeat rather than revenge, as Alcaraz prevailed as champion again.
After a tight first set, Alcaraz was in immense form, dominating a man very difficult to dominate and taking it 6-1.
You start to get the sense that this may be a frustrating few years for Daniil Medvedev. Even though he has already won a Grand Slam, it feels as if he has gone from the generation of Nadal and Djokovic to a new generation of Alcaraz and Sinner.
Medvdev’s recent losses in Finals will be starting to wane on his mind, but as long as he stays positive, the hard courts will always provide an avenue for future Grand Slam success.
Victory in Indian Wells marks the end of a relatively long dry spell for Alcaraz, as he wins his first tournament since Wimbledon.
And with all the (rightful) recent excitement around Sinner, this victory has come at the perfect time for Alcaraz, as he reminds us all that he is still as good as ever.
With Djokovic falling in the early rounds, is the new dynasty upon us?
The goal for Alcaraz in 2024 will of course be to win as many Grand Slams as possible, but we all know the one he wants most starts in May…
Swiatek continues monster 2024 with second WTA 1000 title of the year.
This will more than likely go down as one of the most dominant displays in the history of the WTA.
We all knew that Swiatek was good. But the level that the world number one reached during Indian Wells was astonishing.
Throughout the course of the tournament Swiatek played six matches, raking up three bagel sets, not dropping a single set, and having a maximum of four games won against her in the entire match.
Swiatek crushed her opposition in a fashion of dominance not seen in the WTA since the days of the William’ sisters.
Her unfortunate opponent in the final was Maria Sakkari, who had also been her final opponent when she won in 2022.
Sakkari did produce the best performance of the tournament against Swiatek, only losing the first set 6-4. But as she so often does, Swiatek upped her level in the final set, blasting through Sakkari 6-0.
Swiatek has once again demonstrated her limitless talent and continues to impress every time she steps on court.
With two master’s titles already under her belt, Swiatek heads to Miami for the next WTA master’s event. To go through such a quick turnaround is a testament to Swiatek’s stamina (perhaps one of her most crucial weapons). For most player’s such a turnaround would rarely lead to victory, but Swiatek is a different beast.
Her battle for world number 1 status with Aryna Sabalenka will hopefully enthral for years to come as both push each other towards new levels of excellence.
Barring any injuries, Swiatek will be nailed on favourite to win her fourth Roland Garros title in five years when Grand Slam tennis returns in May.
If Swiatek continues this form, she is going to be very hard to beat.
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