INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Carlos Alcaraz defeated Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (5), 6-1 for the second straight year in the BNP Paribas Open final on Sunday, earning his first title since winning Wimbledon last year.

Medvedev lost 6-3, 6-2 last year in the Southern California desert. Alcaraz is the first man to defend his Indian Wells title since Novak Djokovic won three in a row from 2014 to ’16.

Alcaraz is the second player to win five or more ATP Masters 1000 titles before their 21st birthday since the series began in 1990. The other is Rafael Nadal.

“It’s definitely your court, you like it here,” Medvedev told Alcaraz during the victory ceremony. “Hopefully you can one day let me play a little bit better here.”

Medvedev led 3-0 in the first set while Alcaraz had eight unforced errors over those games. The Spaniard won three games in a row to tie it 3-3.

The players held serve the rest of the set, with Alcaraz serving a love game to get into the tiebreaker. He led 3-0 and 5-2 before Medvedev tied it 5-5. Alcaraz won the next two points to close it out.

Alcaraz got the only two breaks in the second set, when Medvedev had one winner and nine errors.

For the match, Alcaraz hit 25 winners and had 26 unforced errors, while Medvedev had 11 winners and 23 unforced errors.

Alcaraz earned $1.1 million for his win. That’s less than the $1.26 million the men’s champions received in 2023. This year more prize money was allocated to the earlier rounds.

ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.