New world number one Carlos Alcaraz says he played "perfect" in Sunday's final demolition of Daniil Medvedev to cap a "perfect tournament" as he lifted the Indian Wells title for the first time.
Despite Medvedev coming into Sunday's decider on a 19-match winning streak, Alcaraz dominated 6-3 6-2 to win in 72 minutes.
Alcaraz's Indian Wells triumph was his third ATP Masters 1000 crown from three finals, not dropping a set in any of those deciders.
The 19-year-old Spaniard went through the Indian Wells Open without dropping a set and reflected that it was a "perfect" fortnight for him.
"It feels amazing to lift the trophy here [and] to recover the number one," Alcaraz told reporters, having reclaimed the top rank from Novak Djokovic due to his victory.
"It has been the perfect tournament. It was a goal for me, this tournament that I really wanted to win. For me, it's amazing."
The lopsided nature of Alcaraz's victory over Medvedev in the final caught many by surprise, hitting 19-4 winners against the in-form fifth seed.
"Honestly I didn’t expect that," Alcaraz said. "I expected a tough match but I played perfect. I said before against Daniil you have to play your best and tactically at your best level as well. I did perfect today. That's why it looks easy but it wasn’t."
Alcaraz added he was delighted to reclaim the number one rank which he had lost after Djokovic won the 2023 Australian Open which he missed due to injury.
Djokovic was unable to participate at Indian Wells due to being unvaccinated for COVID-19, with the pair actually not facing off at any events this year.
Alcaraz returned from abdominal and hamstring injuries last month at the Argentina Open and Rio Open before competing at Indian Wells, while Djokovic was in action at the Dubai Tennis Championships. The next opportunity for the pair to face off as at April's Monte Carlo Masters.
"Novak is one of the best players in the world," Alcaraz said. "That's obvious. I always say, 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."
Alcaraz added: "It feels great to be back on the number one. Of course, every player on the ATP wants to be the number one. For me, it's a dream come true again. Obviously being in front of such great players like Novak, the top player, it's an amazing feeling."
Despite Djokovic being unable to compete at Indian Wells, Medvedev said he felt Alcaraz's return to the top rank was a true number one.
"One hundred per cent," Medvedev said. "It's unfortunate Novak can't play all the tournaments. If you get injured, Rafa is injured for some time, we cannot say if Rafa isn’t injured he would be number one, because we cannot know. Same about Novak.
"For sure if he was able to play last year and this year all the tournaments there is a possibility that the rankings would be different but Carlos is deservedly number one, he won more points than everybody else in the last 52 weeks and he was also year-end number one last year."
Djokovic thrilled by prospect of 'one last dance' with Nadal
Novak Djokovic is thrilled by the prospect of meeting Rafael Nadal for "one last dance" at the Paris Olympics, if the Spaniard overcomes an injury setback to feature at Roland-Garros.
Thursday's men's singles draw saw Djokovic paired with Australia's Matthew Ebden in the first round, with Nadal taking on Marton Fucsovics.
The legendary duo – who have won 46 grand slam singles titles between them – will meet in the second round if they both advance through their openers this weekend.
Djokovic and Nadal have previously faced off on 59 occasions, with the Serbian winning 30 of those contests but losing four of the last six, the most recent being a Nadal victory in four sets in the 2022 French Open quarter-finals.
Nadal's participation at the Games was thrown into doubt when his coach Carlos Moya said he had suffered a "setback" on Thursday and required 48 hours of rest.
If Nadal – who is widely expected to retire later this year – does make the tournament, Djokovic is looking forward to the prospect of facing him for a 60th time.
"Obviously he hasn't played much. His ranking dropped, so there was always going to be that possibility of me meeting him in an early round and there we go," Djokovic said.
"It's going to be a spectacle, definitely, if we get to meet. We will spread some fireworks on the court, like the good old times.
"I hope we get to meet because it will probably be one last dance for the both of us."
Djokovic is set to appear at his fifth Olympics in the French capital, the joint-most by any male player since the sport returned to the Games in 1988 (with Yen Hsun Lu).
He is the player with the most matches played (19) and joint-most matches won (13, level with Roger Federer) at the Olympics since 1988.
However, his best result at the Games remains a Bronze medal at Beijing 2008, when he was beaten by eventual gold medallist Nadal in the semi-finals.
Djokovic lost the bronze medal match to Pablo Carreno Busta at the delayed Tokyo Games three years ago, also losing to Juan Martin del Potro at both London 2012 and Rio 2016.
Linette dominates first all-Polish WTA final to win Prague Open
Magda Linette rounded off her Olympic preparations in style as she claimed her third WTA title with a comfortable win over Magdalena Frech at the Prague Open.
Linette, who beat Viktoriya Tomova and Linda Noskova on her way to the final, won in straight sets 6-2 6-1 as she now heads to Paris to face Mirra Andreeva.
The world number 41 was in the ascendency from the off, forcing a break in the fourth game and never looking back.
Despite the best efforts of Frech, who saved one set point, Linette continued to apply the pressure and another break put her a set up.
Linette would again break in the fourth game of the second set, winning three games on the bounce to secure her first career win over her compatriot.
Data Debrief: Linette prevails in first all-Polish affair
The final in Prague between Linette and Frech was the first all-Polish WTA level final in the Open Era.
Linette's triumph over her opponent was her first, having lost in the pair's previous encounter in Saint-Malo back in 2022.
During the contest, the world number 41 gave nothing away, saving all four of the break points she faced while converting three of the seven she had against Frech.
Nadal suffers injury 'setback' as Olympics participation thrown into doubt
Rafael Nadal may be facing another injury setback at the Paris Olympic Games after his coach warned over the Spaniard's fitness.
The 22-time major champion is widely expected to retire at the end of this year, though is preparing for a final swansong at Roland-Garros, where he has won 14 titles.
Nadal is set to play in the singles and doubles tournaments of the Olympics, partnering current French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz for the latter competition.
Yet his participation has become doubtful after coach Carlos Moya confirmed Nadal had cancelled his training session on Thursday due to a hamstring issue.
"It was a setback and we decided that today Rafa would rest and not train to recover," Moya said, as quoted by Spanish journalist Rafael Plaza.
"We are going to give ourselves 48 hours, we have to wait."
The 38-year-old is reportedly feeling soreness in both his left and right hamstring having pulled out of a scheduled practice session with Alexander Zverev.
Alcaraz had been partnering Nadal throughout the week during training on the clay courts of Paris, though the veteran's feature has now been thrown under a cloud of doubt.
Nadal is one of just two players to have won Olympic gold in both singles and doubles since the sport returned to the Games in 1988, doing so at Beijing 2008 (singles) and Rio 2016 (doubles).
In the singles in the French capital, Nadal has been drawn against Hungary's Marton Fucsovics in the opening round, and the prize could be a second-round date with long-term rival Novak Djokovic.
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