Carlos Alcaraz fought back from a set down after a three-hour rain delay to end Janik Sinner’s 19-match winning streak and set up a final against Daniil Medvedev in Indian Wells Seats locked in.
The Spaniard defeated Sinner 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the BNP Paribas Open decider, and also retained the world’s second ranking with this victory. Alcaraz extended his winning streak to 11 games and reached the final.
Alcaraz will take on Medvedev after the world number four beat Tommy Paul 1-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 in the second semi-final. No. 17 seed Paul lost the second set in the tiebreak before a medical timeout, but Medvedev then took control of the situation and won the decider 6-2.
Sinner led Alcaraz 2-1 in the first set when play was paused for more than three hours due to rain in the Southern California desert. Rain the day before also affected the women’s semifinals.
Australian Open champion Sinner is the hottest player on this year’s tour. After the game resumed, Alcaraz sent a long forehand to end the 34-minute first set. He looked ready to win the game. .
But Alcaraz changed his tactics from there, coming to the net more and constantly moving Sinner. Alcaraz earned the only break of the second set in the fourth game with a forehand volley winner. The right-hander faced a break point on his own serve in the seventh game, but he eventually got rid of it to hold on to the set.
The Spaniard broke down Sinner on third-and-5 of the third frame, and both players blasted the ball from their sides and attacked the net, making for several interesting exchanges of volleys from sharp angles.
Alcaraz, who was serving for 40 points, converted a backhand on his first match point. Sinner’s smash smashed Alcaraz’s second match point, and the Spaniard ended the match with a forehand cross-court winner.
“I stay mentally strong, which is very important,” Alcaraz said. “I have to run more than I did in the first set, defend better. Put more shots in. Stay strong on the court.”
Sinner, who has won 19 straight matches, including 16 this year, would have leapfrogged Alcaraz into No. 2 in the world with a win. But the Italians paid the price for Alcaraz’s unforced errors, which went from 38 to 24, although Sinner also won 21-19.
Alcaraz and Medvedev will meet in a rematch of last year’s final in Indian Wells. The Spaniard won the title in 2023, sweeping Medvedev 6-3, 6-2.
Newsletter Promotion Post
“I saw Carlos today and he played very well, especially in the second and third sets,” Medvedev said. “I know what happened last year, so I’m going to do my best to turn it around, play better, play stronger, hit more baselines, hit more aces, that kind of thing. Hopefully I can do that. I will Recover and be ready for tomorrow’s game.”
Like Alcaraz, Medvedev struggled in the first set, but things didn’t go so easy for him in the second. Medvedev seemed to be in control when he led 4-0, and even more so when he led 5-2, but Paul’s counterattack forced a decider.
Paul quickly led 3-2 in the tiebreaker, but Medvedev scored five points in a row to avoid being eliminated. He then won easily in the third set.
“[Paul] Had an incredible first set. So I thought, okay, if I want to win, I just have to try to be a little better and find shots that will give him trouble,” Medvedev said. “I found some things, especially with my serve.
“Then the match started to be a long game. Even in the third set, the score was 6-2, but the match was very, very long and I thought it was a long set. So I’m really happy to be able to put it in take it out.”
In the women’s doubles final, Taiwan’s top seed Hsieh Su-Wei/Belgium’s Elise Mertens defeated Australia’s third seed Storm Hunt/Czech Republic’s Katrina Sinia 6-3, 6-4 Kova. The winners split $447,300.
