‘It’s been troublesome’, Alcaraz all smiles once more after Indian Wells triumph

Carlos Alcaraz stated his profitable Indian Wells title defence was all of the sweeter as a result of he felt he had discovered himself within the California desert after a troublesome few months.

The Spaniard, nonetheless solely 20, had not gained a title since clinching his second main crown eventually yr’s Wimbledon till he beat Daniil Medvedev 7-6(5) 6-1 on Sunday in a rematch of final yr’s remaining.

Alcaraz stated the title drought had not bothered him however, combating harm, he felt he had misplaced his means a bit and was not having fun with being on court docket.

“It’s difficult to put it into words, because I had really difficult months,” he advised reporters. “Let’s say the final two months it was troublesome for me to seek out myself. I did not get pleasure from stepping on the court docket. I wasn’t myself on the court docket the final two months, three months, so it was troublesome for me.

“It means so much to me, lifting this trophy as a result of I overcome a number of issues in my head, a number of issues bodily. It was so particular for that.

“That’s why I’m really, really happy to lift this trophy, because I found myself at this tournament, and I felt really, really good.”

Alcaraz began the yr with a quarter-final exit on the Australian Open earlier than being knocked out within the semi-finals in Buenos Aires and retiring from his first match in Rio de Janeiro with an ankle harm.

“I was struggling to enjoy being on the court,” he added. “My family, my team, people close to me were telling me that I was not smiling as much as I was doing before.”

Enjoying his tennis was necessary to Alcaraz, he stated, and nothing was extra more likely to carry out his trademark grin than profitable some extent with the form of “special shot” he produced to get previous Jannik Sinner within the semis and Medvedev on Sunday.

“I always say that I’m playing better with a smile on my face,” he stated.

“And points like this one, doesn’t matter if I win it or lose it, it puts a smile on my face anyway.”

The world quantity two stated he would take a beneficial lesson in problem-solving away from Indian Wells together with the trophy and a cheque for $1.1 million.

“It doesn’t matter what problems you have. If you believe in yourself, you have a really good team around you, you work hard, everything can turn around,” he stated.

“I think that’s the biggest lesson that I take from this tournament.”