Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday enjoyed a dream return to action after more than three months out due to abdominal and hamstring injuries as the world No. 2 claimed the Argentina Open title by beating Cameron Norrie 6-3, 7-5 in the final, while Daniil Medvedev hoped his run to the title at Rotterdam and a return to the top 10 would be the perfect launchpad for the rest of the season after a disappointing Australian Open last month.
Top seed Alcaraz won the US Open in September last year and became the youngest player to top the world rankings at 19 years old, but suffered an abdominal issue at the Paris Masters in November before pulling out of the Australian Open with a leg injury.
Having been leapfrogged by Melbourne winner Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz began his quest to regain top spot with his debut appearance in Buenos Aires, where he lost only one set in his four matches.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“It’s been a great week for me, a dream week after a long time with no competition. Coming to Buenos Aires and showing the level I showed is amazing and really special. It has been an emotional week, too,” Alcaraz said.
The Spaniard’s seventh ATP Tour title and first since Flushing Meadows last year was never in doubt, despite a minor blip in the second set against Norrie when he dropped his serve.
“I had the chance to win the match at 5-3 and he broke my serve easily, but I knew I had to be calm and try to wait for my moment, and it came at 6-5. It was a great match,” Alcaraz said.
Alcaraz, who moved to within 590 points of Djokovic in the rankings, said he was happy with his level.
“I felt very comfortable playing the final,” Alcaraz said. “I knew it was going to be really difficult. I started really focused on what I had to do at the beginning, my game, my level. This is the level that I have to play in finals.”
Medvedev had slipped to world No. 12 following his third-round defeat by Sebastian Korda at Melbourne Park, but the 27-year-old Russian rediscovered his rhythm in Rotterdam and beat Jannik Sinner 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 for his first title of the year.
“It’s great, because it’s still the beginning of the year,” said Medvedev, who is now ranked eighth in the world. “It’s my third tournament of the year and already a title. Last year I probably needed 12 tournaments or something like this. Beating great players, playing great here.”
“In Adelaide I was playing great, but lost to Novak Djokovic. The Australian Open was really disappointing ... mentally, it’s tough to come back after you go out of the top 10 and lose in the third round of a Grand Slam you were hoping to win,” he said. “I’m happy to find my form, and I’m looking forward to the next tournament and hopefully I can continue this way.”
Montpellier champion Sinner looked on course for back-to-back titles after claiming a tight opening set, but Medvedev was not to be denied a 16th ATP Tour crown.
“It was a tough match mentally for both of us,” Medvedev said. “Jannik was on top of me, especially in the first part of the first set. I managed to come back even though I was playing worse than him. Maybe that gave me some time to find my rhythm.”
“I started playing a little bit more offensive on a few shots and it managed to work well at the beginning of the second set,” he said. “I managed to continue pushing him mentally down until the end of the match.”
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