World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz stated that winning the Indian Wells means a lot to him. The Spaniard defeated Daniil Medvedev in the summit clash by 7-6, 6-1 on Sunday to retain his title of BNP Paribas Open.

Alcaraz had suffered an ankle injury in the opening round at the Rio Open and admitted he had doubts if he could go all the way at Indian Wells. However, the youngster defeated players like Alexander Zverev, Jannik Sinner, and Daniil Medvedev.

Alcaraz had to fight it out in the opening set against the Russian but dominated the second set to win his first title after winning Wimbledon last year.

“Winning this tournament means a lot to me because the week before it began, I had a lot of doubts about my ankle,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. “I remember my first practice here was just 30 minutes with no movement and probably the first practice with really good tennis players was really tough for me, because I thought I was not going to play my best.

”I was not feeling well with my ankle, so a lot of doubts for me. But once I stepped on the court, the first round, I started to feel better.”

Alcaraz revealed he was feeling better and better and grew in confidence as the tournament progressed.

”As I said after every match, I was feeling better and better,” Alcaraz said. “I’m really, really happy to be able to win this tournament again.”

Alcaraz will next take part in Miami Open and he will look to carry his winning momentum in Florida.

”Obviously winning tournaments helps a lot coming to to the next ones,” Alcaraz said. “Obviously winning a Masters 1000 again — it is a really difficult tournament to win — gives you extra motivation to keep going, extra confidence for Miami right now and for what’s next. For me it’s it’s amazing to lift this amazing trophy again, a really beautiful one.”