Sinner Ends Wait For A Win With Indian Wells Success Over Medvedev

LOS ANGELES, March 16 (Bernama-PA Media/dpa) -- Jannik Sinner claimed his first title of the year with victory over Daniil Medvedev in Indian Wells, reported PA Media/dpa.

The four-time grand slam champion had had a slightly underwhelming start to the season by his stratospheric standards, but he was peerless in the Californian desert, not dropping a set through the fortnight.

A tight, high-quality encounter against a resurgent Medvedev looked like it would head to a decider when the Russian went 4-0 up in the second-set tie-break, but Sinner reeled off seven points in a row to clinch a 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-4) victory.

His first title at the BNP Paribas Open means Sinner has completed the set of all the biggest titles on hard courts, winning the Australian Open, US Open, ATP Finals and all six Masters 1000 events.

The 24-year-old told Sky Sports: "It has been a very, very tough tournament. In my mind, I knew it was the only hard-court tournament of the big ones I hadn’t won, so I'm very happy about how I handled it. Seeing Daniil playing this level again, it's important for tennis."

He is also the only player to win back-to-back titles at the Masters level – the pinnacle of the ATP Tour – without dropping a set, having done the same in Paris at the end of last season.

Medvedev was bidding to join Novak Djokovic by beating Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner at the same tournament, and he brought the same aggressive, precision tennis that had seen him stun the world number one in Saturday's semi-finals.

But Sinner served superbly in scorching conditions, not facing a break point throughout the match, and managed to come out on top in the crunch moments.

The consolation for Medvedev, who was close to missing the tournament after he was caught up in the travel chaos in the West Asia, is that he will return to the top 10 on Monday.

-- BERNAMA-PA MEDIA/dpa