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Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz put up a masterful display as he outplayed and eventually beat Daniil Medvedev to the BNP Paribas Open title in a Sunday Indian Wells final.
The 19 year old, who was also clinching it for the first time in history, stunned the Russian to a 6-3, 6-2 victory in successive sets.
Following the impressive win at a tournament, Alcarez played six matches without losing a single set; he will return to World Number One in the Monday Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
And his opponent, Medvedev, asserted the youngster fully deserves his Number One status, never mind the absence of stars Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
"Carlos is deservedly World's number one. He has won more points than everybody else in the last 52 weeks, and that's how rankings work," Medvedev said in the post-match press conference.
"It is what it is, you know. If you get injured, I don't know; Rafa has been injured for some time. If Rafa were not injured, he would be number one. Well, we cannot know because he's injured."
"Same about Novak. If he could play last year and all the tournaments this year, there is a possibility that the rankings would be different. But... But, there shouldn't be no "buts," Medvedev explained.
While Nadal missed the Masters through a long injury layoff, Djokovic was denied entry to the United States as he refused to get vaccinated for COVID-19.
Alcaraz has won three ATP Masters in his young career after the titlist in Miami and Madrid.
In winning his third Masters, whilst as a 19 year old, he joins the legendary Nadal as the only players to reach the feat as teenagers.
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