carlos alcaraz defeated daniel medvedev 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday to win the Open BNP Paribas title and regain the world No. 1 ranking.
The 19-year-old Spaniard will move from second to first in the ATP Tour rankings on Monday, displacing Novak Djokovic. The Serb withdrew from Indian Wells before the tournament began when he was unable to enter the US because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19.
In the women’s final, Elena Rybakina defeat Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (11), 6-4 and handed the world’s No. 2 player 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 set another mark in the third round at Indian Wells. It was then that Alcaraz notched the 100th win of his career, 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 of her straight-sets semifinal win over top-ranked Iga Swiatek to the final and beat Sabalenka for the first time in five career meetings.
Elena Rybakina returns a shot during her victory over Aryna Sabalenka in the women’s singles final of the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday.
(Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)
For the first time in their fledgling rivalry, the match did not go to three sets. Sabalenka went the distance to beat Rybakina in the Australian Open final in January. In that match, Sabalenka fired 17 aces and rallied from a set down to win her first Grand Slam title.
This time, 10th seed Rybakina hit seven aces and No.2 seed Sabalenka hit 10 double faults. Sabalenka won just 11 of 35 second serve points.
“I would say I was super disappointed in my serve, so I went back to the old habits,” she said. “I was kind of over the top on things, and I wasn’t there in the first two games in the second set.”
Rybakina broke for a 2-0, 5-2 lead in the second set before Sabalenka closed at 5-4. But Rybakina achieved victory in just over two hours.
“I hope to come back next year and repeat this result,” Rybakina said.
Rybakina improved her match record to 16-4 this year; Sabalenka dropped to 17-2.
During the victory ceremony, Rybakina, the reigning Wimbledon champion, told the crowd that it was the first time she had beaten Sabalenka.
Sabalenka stepped forward, took the microphone, and said, “I’ll make sure it’s the last one.”
Then she smiled.
