Carlos Alcaraz said his successful Indian Wells title defence was all the sweeter because he felt he had found himself in the California desert after a difficult few months.

The Spaniard, still only 20, had not won a title since clinching his second major crown at last year’s Wimbledon until he beat Daniil Medvedev 7-6(5), 6-1 on Sunday in a rematch of last year’s final.

Iga Swiatek dominated Maria Sakkari to win the final 6-4, 6-0 and claim the title for a second time in the California desert.

Alcaraz said the title drought had not bothered him but, struggling with injury, he felt he had lost his way a bit and was not enjoying being on court.

“It’s difficult to put it into words, because I had really difficult months,” he told reporters.

“Let’s say the last two months it was difficult for me to find myself. I didn’t enjoy stepping on the court. I wasn’t myself on the court the last two months, three months, so it was difficult for me.

“It means a lot to me, lifting this trophy because I overcome a lot of problems in my head, a lot of problems physically. It was so special for that.

“That’s why I’m really, really happy to lift this trophy, because I found myself at this tournament, and I felt really, really good.”

Alcaraz started the year with a quarter-final exit at the Australian Open before being knocked out in the semi-finals in Buenos Aires and retiring from his first match in Rio de Janeiro with an ankle injury.

“My family, my team, people close to me were telling me that I was not smiling as much as I was doing before.,” he added.

The world No. 2 said he would take a valuable lesson in problem-solving away from Indian Wells. “If you believe in yourself, you have a really good team around you, you work hard, everything can turn around,” he said.

‘Feels like home’

Earlier, in a rematch of the 2022 final, world No.1 Swiatek came out firing, building a 3-0 lead before Sakkari worked her way back into the set for 4-4.

But on her third set point, the Pole dragged Sakkari from one side of the court to the other before capturing the opener with a forehand winner.

Swiatek dominated the second as the outmatched Greek began to fade.

A backhand winner down the line put Swiatek a game away and the top seed sealed the win by breaking serve to love when Sakkari’s forehand sailed wide on match point.

“Thank you for making this feel like home,” Swiatek said. “Every year that I come here I feel really positive vibes because of you.”