Here comes Carlos Alcaraz again. Next stop: Miami.

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – The sun was setting in the desert and dark clouds were gathering, but Carlos Alcaraz happily walked down a corridor in Stadium 1 at the BNP Paribas Open.

He had finished ahead of the storm and everything else on his way to the trophy in Indian Wells, securing the title without losing a set, not even against tennis’ best hand Daniil Medvedev, in an unexpectedly lopsided final on Sunday.

His 6-3, 6-2 victory – full of beautifully disguised drop shots, lashing out volley winners and other dazzle – not only did Medvedev’s 19-game winning streak come to a hurried halt. It also gave Alcaraz a return to the No. 1 singles ranking on Monday, replacing Novak Djokovic, the Serb banned from entering the United States because he has not been vaccinated for the coronavirus.

Djokovic, a five-time Indian Wells singles champion, is the most successful men’s hard court player in tour history. But his decision to forego vaccination has meant he missed a series of important events, including last year’s US Open, which Alcaraz, a Spaniard, won to move into first place in the world for the first time at age 19. to rise the ranking.

“Look, the truth is that I am a player, but I am also a fan of tennis,” Alcaraz said in an interview on Sunday. “And at the end of the day, it’s always good to have the best players in each tournament and be able to compete with the best. Nobody wants people to miss tournaments, especially me. I wish Djokovic was there at every event and I could play against him and share the dressing room with him and learn from him up close.”

It is the tennis duel many would like to see most, and it did not happen in January at the Australian Open, which Djokovic won for the 10th time. Alcaraz missed it due to a leg injury he suffered after jumping for a shot in practice shortly before he was about to leave Spain for Australia. He had already missed the end of the 2022 season due to a torn abdominal muscle.

“That was tough: missing Australia, a Grand Slam I really wanted to play and thought I would have my chances of winning,” said Alcaraz. “But it made me learn from the things I didn’t do well. You can be on the track for two or three hours a day, but it’s also about how you take care of yourself off the track: rest, eat well, take the right supplements.”

While the leading men haven’t all gathered in the same place this season, the leading women reunited in the desert to produce a replay of the high-speed Australian Open final between six-foot-tall powerhouse Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. Russia and Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan via Moscow.

While Sabalenka won in a three-set classic in Melbourne, Rybakina triumphed 7-6 (11), 6-4 on Sunday, saving two set points in a nervous opening set in which even the standalone Rybakina struggled to get a hold poker game. sight.

Sabalenka’s stumbling block was a well-known one: double fouls. They ruined much of her early 2022 season, but she worked her way through the problem with the help of a biomechanic and served well under duress in Australia. On Sunday, she fell back and committed 10 double faults – all in the first set and three in the tiebreak – and was clearly upset by it.

“There will be days when old habits come back, and you just have to work through them,” she said of what she learned from the defeat.

Rybakina, the reigning Wimbledon champion who is now No. 7 in the rankings, has beaten No. 1 Iga Swiatek twice this year, including beating her in the semifinals on Saturday.

So far, Alcaraz and Djokovic have only faced each other once, with Alcaraz winning on clay in three tight sets on his way to the title in Madrid last May. It’s hardly Alcaraz’s fault that they missed each other here in the desert, even if it’s his problem to some extent as he’s back at No. 1 under unusual circumstances. Djokovic received no ranking points for winning Wimbledon last year after the tours stripped the venerable tournament of points due to bans on Russian and Belarusian players, including Medvedev.

But Medvedev, after being thrashed on Sunday, said Alcaraz deserved first place and there would be no buts, even if the ranking could have been different if Djokovic had been able to play a full schedule.

“Carlos is rightly number 1 in the world,” he said. “He’s won more points than anyone else in the last 52 weeks, and that’s how rankings work.”

Monday also brought bad news for Spanish tennis: Rafael Nadal dropped out of the top 10 for the first time since April 25, 2005, ending a record streak of nearly 18 years. It’s hard to imagine Alcaraz or anyone else matching that kind of consistency, but Alcaraz is clearly a glowing talent: an acrobat in sneakers capable of dominating and hypnotizing.

That’s a rare combination reminiscent of Roger Federer, the 20-time Grand Slam champion and serial crowd pleaser whose photo was once in Alcaraz’s bedroom at his family’s home in Murcia, Spain. Like Federer, who retired last year at the age of 41, Alcaraz is a fantastic and feline mover who loves variety and the element of surprise with his abrupt changes of pace and quick forays into the net.

“I think he’s much more like Roger than Rafa,” said Paul Annacone, a Tennis Channel analyst who coached Federer. “Because Rafa couldn’t get the ball that early when he was 19, and Rafa couldn’t come forward like that. Roger could always stay on the baseline and always look like he had time, and that’s what this kid looks like.

Neither Federer nor Nadal (nor Djokovic) were No. 1 as a teenager. For Annacone, Alcaraz is “the most complete 19-year-old men’s player” in memory, with consistency and decision making not typically seen in young players.

“The interesting thing for me is watching someone who is so athletically talented with his running, jumping, explosiveness and flexibility, but also has the hand-eye coordination to pick up the ball early, come forward and volley.” Annacone said. “He can also back up and change pace. He can do anything.”

Medvedev certainly looked understaffed on this blustery Sunday: unusually erratic from the baseline and often too late to react to Alcaraz’s tactical shifts and to his daring attacks from within.

Alcaraz served and volleyed effectively, but also beat Medvedev in his own game – baseline tennis – with his powerful groundstrokes and deft touch (hitting three straight forehand drop shot winners late in the game).

While doubts remain about his staying power, it’s been a convincing comeback. Last month, Alcaraz won on clay in Buenos Aires before reaching the final in Rio de Janeiro, where he injured his leg again in a loss to Cameron Norrie. But after a few days of rest and therapy, he looked as agile as ever in Indian Wells.

Next stop in this sunny swing on American hard courts: the Miami Open, which starts on Friday and where Alcaraz will have to successfully defend his title to prevent Djokovic, who is still absent, from regaining the number 1 spot.

Their rematch will have to wait until the European clay court season and hopefully no later than that.