Carlos Alcaraz beat Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-2 in the Indian Wells final, 2023 on hard court
It was both players first final at the event. Medvedev would win the title in Miami shortly after
Alcaraz won 59 points, Medvedev 38
Serve Stats
Alcaraz...
- 1st serve percentage (37/49) 76%
- 1st serve points won (30/37) 81%
- 2nd serve points won (7/12) 58%
- Aces 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (12/49) 24%
Medvedev...
- 1st serve percentage (31/48) 65%
- 1st serve points won (19/31) 61%
- 2nd serve points won (7/17) 41%
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (7/48) 15%
Serve Pattern
Alcaraz served...
- to FH 43%
- to BH 51%
- to Body 6%
Medvedev served...
- to FH 63%
- to BH 37%
Return Stats
Alcaraz made...
- 39 (25 FH, 14 BH)
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 7 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (2 FH, 2 BH)
- 3 Forced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (39/46) 85%
Medvedev made...
- 37 (15 FH, 22 BH), including 1 runaround BH
- 11 Errors, comprising...
- 5 Unforced (3 FH, 2 BH)
- 6 Forced (4 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (37/49) 76%
Break Points
Alcaraz 3/3
Medvedev 0
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Alcaraz 17 (9 FH, 2 BH, 4 FHV, 2 BHV)
Medvedev 5 (3 FH, 1 BH, 1 OH)
Alcaraz' FHs - 2 cc (1 pass), 1 cc/inside-in, 1 inside-out, 5 drop shots
- BHs - 1 cc, 1 inside-in return
- 4 from serve-volley points (2 FHV, 2 BHV), all first volleys
- 1 other FHV was a non-net, swining longline shot
Medvedev's FHs - 1 cc, 1 inside-out, 1 inside-in
- BH - 1 running-down-drop-shot drop shot at net
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Alcaraz 26
- 20 Unforced (14 FH, 6 BH)
- 6 Forced (3 FH, 2 BH, 1 FHV)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49
Medvedev 28
- 20 Unforced (11 FH, 7 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 8 Forced (7 FH, 1 BH)... with 1 FH at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 48
(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)
(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Alcaraz was...
- 10/12 (83%) at with, including...
- 9/10 (90%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves
Medvedev was 6/11 (55%) at net, with...
- 0/1 forced back
Match Report
Alcaraz’ returning and exploitation of his opponents backward court position is particularly good in this one sided match. Medvedev has a bad day, with his own return being a bit off, as well as shot resistance. Court is normal, quicker than the venue’s norm and both players able to trouble the other with well hit, slightly wide shots
Alcs breaks first chance in both sets and doesn’t face break point himself. Stats have come out nicely in illuminating action
Freebies - Alcs 24%, Med 15%
Med with 0 aces (Alcs has 1). According to commentary, this is the first time in 3 years that Med has gone a match without an ace. He serves his usual big at 65% in count. Generally, Alcs is as good as they come in his movement and anticipation on the return - and both are in evidence in keeping the fat serving Med with such a low yield of freebies
Where he can be loose is in missing regulation returns. Not here. Just 7 return errors. Regularly takes second returns early and smacks them deep, with fair few right back to the baseline. Pick of ‘em is a BH inside-in winner, his favourite, aggressive return
Med’s general strength on the return is iron consistency, at cost of court position. Here, the cost is there, the benefits not what he would have liked
5 UEs, 6 FEs on return by Med, which speaks to quality of both Alcs’ serve and Med’s return. From the extreme backward position Med takes on the return, its usually case that he has time to be in perfect position for almost everything. In stats terms, if he misses a return, it’ll be marked UE, not FE. Plus, he usually makes whatever is strong (some combo of wide and powerful, depth isn’t a factor from where he’s standing) enough to potentially be marked FE anyway
For Alcs to force 6 return errors says something good about his serve. And Med with the 5 UEs, the opposite for this return
Gist - large lead in serve-return complex for Alcs - serving particularly well of force and direction, with Med a little off in his returning. And Med serving his usual, but Alcs not only typically fleet in of movement, but extra consistent and damaging with his returns
Then they rally. With Med miles behind the baseline to start his return points, Alcs either in standard position or even on baseline. Advantage Alcs right there and -
Winners - Alcs 17, Med 5
Errors Forced - Alcs 8, Med 6
UEs - both 20
Errors and they’re breakdown are virtually same (the UEs so being is a win for Alcs), so winners is the big difference. That difference is due to Alcs exploiting Med’s court position, not overpowering him
5 of Alcs winners are drop shots. 4/5 are third balls, with Med rubbing elbows with the line judges
4 are from serve-volley points, all of them first volleys. Alcs wins 9/10 serve-volleying. He's only at net twice other than serve-volleys (once drop shot related)
Sans those 9, he’s still leading winners 8-5, which is good to be going on with his lead in freebies. That lot of 9 is what turns ‘good to be going on’ into ‘walk-in-the-park’ and one-sided - and they’re all about taking advantage of where Med plays from
Perfect drop shots from Alcs. He’s in a class of his own on them. Med’s footspeed his fine, but not up to reaching such shots from where he’s chosen to be
Serve-volleying, he’s met with surprisingly good returns from Med, who can see the play and react accordingly, but from as far back as he is, still a task to get a troubling return off. He’s able to hit such returns harder, but Alcs is neatly controlled in dealing with the volley. All his 4 winners are first volleys. Not difficult because Med’s not in the picture, but not easy gimmes either due to strength of the returns. Wouldn’t be a surprise to see many players of this period make a mess of such volleys, so credit Alcs for execution here
Baseline rallies are otherwise competitive. Alcs has slightly more powerful FH but not to overpowering Med’s extent. It’s the drop shots that give him big lead there
FH UEs - Alcs 14, Med 11
Non-drop shot FH winners - Alcs 4, Med 3 (with 1 of Alcs’ being a pass)
Things are evenly matched on the BH too. Alcs’ hitting is excellent, enough to rush and trouble the rock Med, but Med’s upto handling it. His ability to direct BHs where he wants is curbed a bit but does respond by upping his own hitting and not being pushed around
BH UEs - Alcs 6, Med 7
BH winners - Als 2, Med 1 (Alcs has a return, Med’s is a running-down-drop-shot shot)
If Alcs has power advantage, its not by much. But remaining as steady as Med is a relative win for him - credit to him for that, not discredit to Med. Something Alcs does well is unleash extra powerfully off a random ball. Does it off both sides and well enough to ruffle Med, if not win the point
And all the damage he does serve-volleying and with perfect drop shots raising him well above
Match Progression
Alcs breaks and is 3-0 up at the first sit-down. A Return error drawing serve-volley in each of his holds, and the break is a particularly strong one - beginning with a FH inside-out winner and ending with a particularly good BH cc one from routine position
Med’s taken to 10 points game after too, but gets himself on the board without facing break point in error dominated game. Signs not good for Med - he’s passed first time he comes to net, is forced into error by a big FH cc, misses his own drop shot attempt and can draw just 1 return error (he makes 7/10 first serves), but ekes out UEs from the back
Routine holds from thereon, with both players commanding their service games aggressively. Alcs serves out to 15 with 3 net points - the last 2 serve-volleys
Horrendous game from Med to be broken to love to start the second set - a ground UE of either side sandwiching an easy BHV miss to go down 0-40, and a double fault to follow. Alcs with some excellent serves to consolidate to love - an ace and forcing 2 return errors
Great returns from Alcs secures him another break in 8 point game for 3-0. Starts game with winning return to baseline, ends game with winning wide return, and smacks a BH inside-in return winner just before that. In moving to 0-30, Alcs wins 12 points in a row starting from previous set
2 breaks to the good leaves Alcs room to play. He has 4 FH winners in holding for 5-1 - the last 3 drop shots in succesion, the last 2 of them third balls, though the one before is even better shot
Med’s finally able to to run down a drop shot to hit a drop shot winner of his own in following game. And as Alcs serves for match, he’s able to reach another one and end up winning the point with an OH winner with both players at net. Takes Alcs to deuce for only time in the match, but Alcs finishes up with a nice, stretch FHV winner serve-volleying to raise his second match point, on which Med misses a regulation return
Summing up, good showing from Alcaraz, blending solid hitting off both wings with beautiful touch on the drop shot. And more importantly still, serving very well in his placement and still more, returning superbly (both in moving to meet the ball and striking it damagingly)
Medvedev is a little off in his returning consistency and his habit of starting points from such a backward position gets ruthlessly exposed by Alcaraz’s serve-volleys and drop shots
It was both players first final at the event. Medvedev would win the title in Miami shortly after
Alcaraz won 59 points, Medvedev 38
Serve Stats
Alcaraz...
- 1st serve percentage (37/49) 76%
- 1st serve points won (30/37) 81%
- 2nd serve points won (7/12) 58%
- Aces 1
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (12/49) 24%
Medvedev...
- 1st serve percentage (31/48) 65%
- 1st serve points won (19/31) 61%
- 2nd serve points won (7/17) 41%
- Double Faults 2
- Unreturned Serve Percentage (7/48) 15%
Serve Pattern
Alcaraz served...
- to FH 43%
- to BH 51%
- to Body 6%
Medvedev served...
- to FH 63%
- to BH 37%
Return Stats
Alcaraz made...
- 39 (25 FH, 14 BH)
- 1 Winner (1 BH)
- 7 Errors, comprising...
- 4 Unforced (2 FH, 2 BH)
- 3 Forced (2 FH, 1 BH)
- Return Rate (39/46) 85%
Medvedev made...
- 37 (15 FH, 22 BH), including 1 runaround BH
- 11 Errors, comprising...
- 5 Unforced (3 FH, 2 BH)
- 6 Forced (4 FH, 2 BH)
- Return Rate (37/49) 76%
Break Points
Alcaraz 3/3
Medvedev 0
Winners (including returns, excluding aces)
Alcaraz 17 (9 FH, 2 BH, 4 FHV, 2 BHV)
Medvedev 5 (3 FH, 1 BH, 1 OH)
Alcaraz' FHs - 2 cc (1 pass), 1 cc/inside-in, 1 inside-out, 5 drop shots
- BHs - 1 cc, 1 inside-in return
- 4 from serve-volley points (2 FHV, 2 BHV), all first volleys
- 1 other FHV was a non-net, swining longline shot
Medvedev's FHs - 1 cc, 1 inside-out, 1 inside-in
- BH - 1 running-down-drop-shot drop shot at net
Errors (excluding returns and serves)
Alcaraz 26
- 20 Unforced (14 FH, 6 BH)
- 6 Forced (3 FH, 2 BH, 1 FHV)
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 49
Medvedev 28
- 20 Unforced (11 FH, 7 BH, 1 FHV, 1 BHV)
- 8 Forced (7 FH, 1 BH)... with 1 FH at net
Unforced Error Forcefulness Index 48
(Note 1: all half-volleys refer to such shots played at net. Half -volleys played from other parts of the court are included within relevant groundstroke counts)
(Note 2: the Unforced Error Forcefulness Index is an indicator of how aggressive the average UE was. The numbers presented are keyed on 4 categories - 20 defensive, 40 neutral, 50 attacking and 60 winner attempt)
Net Points & Serve-Volley
Alcaraz was...
- 10/12 (83%) at with, including...
- 9/10 (90%) serve-volleying, all 1st serves
Medvedev was 6/11 (55%) at net, with...
- 0/1 forced back
Match Report
Alcaraz’ returning and exploitation of his opponents backward court position is particularly good in this one sided match. Medvedev has a bad day, with his own return being a bit off, as well as shot resistance. Court is normal, quicker than the venue’s norm and both players able to trouble the other with well hit, slightly wide shots
Alcs breaks first chance in both sets and doesn’t face break point himself. Stats have come out nicely in illuminating action
Freebies - Alcs 24%, Med 15%
Med with 0 aces (Alcs has 1). According to commentary, this is the first time in 3 years that Med has gone a match without an ace. He serves his usual big at 65% in count. Generally, Alcs is as good as they come in his movement and anticipation on the return - and both are in evidence in keeping the fat serving Med with such a low yield of freebies
Where he can be loose is in missing regulation returns. Not here. Just 7 return errors. Regularly takes second returns early and smacks them deep, with fair few right back to the baseline. Pick of ‘em is a BH inside-in winner, his favourite, aggressive return
Med’s general strength on the return is iron consistency, at cost of court position. Here, the cost is there, the benefits not what he would have liked
5 UEs, 6 FEs on return by Med, which speaks to quality of both Alcs’ serve and Med’s return. From the extreme backward position Med takes on the return, its usually case that he has time to be in perfect position for almost everything. In stats terms, if he misses a return, it’ll be marked UE, not FE. Plus, he usually makes whatever is strong (some combo of wide and powerful, depth isn’t a factor from where he’s standing) enough to potentially be marked FE anyway
For Alcs to force 6 return errors says something good about his serve. And Med with the 5 UEs, the opposite for this return
Gist - large lead in serve-return complex for Alcs - serving particularly well of force and direction, with Med a little off in his returning. And Med serving his usual, but Alcs not only typically fleet in of movement, but extra consistent and damaging with his returns
Then they rally. With Med miles behind the baseline to start his return points, Alcs either in standard position or even on baseline. Advantage Alcs right there and -
Winners - Alcs 17, Med 5
Errors Forced - Alcs 8, Med 6
UEs - both 20
Errors and they’re breakdown are virtually same (the UEs so being is a win for Alcs), so winners is the big difference. That difference is due to Alcs exploiting Med’s court position, not overpowering him
5 of Alcs winners are drop shots. 4/5 are third balls, with Med rubbing elbows with the line judges
4 are from serve-volley points, all of them first volleys. Alcs wins 9/10 serve-volleying. He's only at net twice other than serve-volleys (once drop shot related)
Sans those 9, he’s still leading winners 8-5, which is good to be going on with his lead in freebies. That lot of 9 is what turns ‘good to be going on’ into ‘walk-in-the-park’ and one-sided - and they’re all about taking advantage of where Med plays from
Perfect drop shots from Alcs. He’s in a class of his own on them. Med’s footspeed his fine, but not up to reaching such shots from where he’s chosen to be
Serve-volleying, he’s met with surprisingly good returns from Med, who can see the play and react accordingly, but from as far back as he is, still a task to get a troubling return off. He’s able to hit such returns harder, but Alcs is neatly controlled in dealing with the volley. All his 4 winners are first volleys. Not difficult because Med’s not in the picture, but not easy gimmes either due to strength of the returns. Wouldn’t be a surprise to see many players of this period make a mess of such volleys, so credit Alcs for execution here
Baseline rallies are otherwise competitive. Alcs has slightly more powerful FH but not to overpowering Med’s extent. It’s the drop shots that give him big lead there
FH UEs - Alcs 14, Med 11
Non-drop shot FH winners - Alcs 4, Med 3 (with 1 of Alcs’ being a pass)
Things are evenly matched on the BH too. Alcs’ hitting is excellent, enough to rush and trouble the rock Med, but Med’s upto handling it. His ability to direct BHs where he wants is curbed a bit but does respond by upping his own hitting and not being pushed around
BH UEs - Alcs 6, Med 7
BH winners - Als 2, Med 1 (Alcs has a return, Med’s is a running-down-drop-shot shot)
If Alcs has power advantage, its not by much. But remaining as steady as Med is a relative win for him - credit to him for that, not discredit to Med. Something Alcs does well is unleash extra powerfully off a random ball. Does it off both sides and well enough to ruffle Med, if not win the point
And all the damage he does serve-volleying and with perfect drop shots raising him well above
Match Progression
Alcs breaks and is 3-0 up at the first sit-down. A Return error drawing serve-volley in each of his holds, and the break is a particularly strong one - beginning with a FH inside-out winner and ending with a particularly good BH cc one from routine position
Med’s taken to 10 points game after too, but gets himself on the board without facing break point in error dominated game. Signs not good for Med - he’s passed first time he comes to net, is forced into error by a big FH cc, misses his own drop shot attempt and can draw just 1 return error (he makes 7/10 first serves), but ekes out UEs from the back
Routine holds from thereon, with both players commanding their service games aggressively. Alcs serves out to 15 with 3 net points - the last 2 serve-volleys
Horrendous game from Med to be broken to love to start the second set - a ground UE of either side sandwiching an easy BHV miss to go down 0-40, and a double fault to follow. Alcs with some excellent serves to consolidate to love - an ace and forcing 2 return errors
Great returns from Alcs secures him another break in 8 point game for 3-0. Starts game with winning return to baseline, ends game with winning wide return, and smacks a BH inside-in return winner just before that. In moving to 0-30, Alcs wins 12 points in a row starting from previous set
2 breaks to the good leaves Alcs room to play. He has 4 FH winners in holding for 5-1 - the last 3 drop shots in succesion, the last 2 of them third balls, though the one before is even better shot
Med’s finally able to to run down a drop shot to hit a drop shot winner of his own in following game. And as Alcs serves for match, he’s able to reach another one and end up winning the point with an OH winner with both players at net. Takes Alcs to deuce for only time in the match, but Alcs finishes up with a nice, stretch FHV winner serve-volleying to raise his second match point, on which Med misses a regulation return
Summing up, good showing from Alcaraz, blending solid hitting off both wings with beautiful touch on the drop shot. And more importantly still, serving very well in his placement and still more, returning superbly (both in moving to meet the ball and striking it damagingly)
Medvedev is a little off in his returning consistency and his habit of starting points from such a backward position gets ruthlessly exposed by Alcaraz’s serve-volleys and drop shots
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