Indian Wells (United States) (AFP) – Carlos Alcaraz extended his unbeaten season and got revenge over Cameron Norrie on Thursday to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fifth straight year. The world number one from Spain emerged from a see-saw battle with 29th-ranked Norrie with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. He will meet Russian Daniil Medvedev, who pushed his own ATP winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper.
World number two Jannik Sinner powered past Learner Tien 6-1, 6-2 to line up a semi-final with fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Arthur Fils. Alcaraz, 22, became the youngest player to complete a career Grand Slam with his victory in the Australian Open and followed up with a title in Qatar. He pushed his 2026 season record to 16-0 with the win over Norrie, who beat him in the Paris Masters in November.
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“I struggle a lot with his style,” Alcaraz said of heavy-hitting left-hander Norrie. “Every time I play against him it’s always really tough for me. It’s a little bit confusing with his style, his topspin forehand, super high. And then the backhand, really flat and really low.” Trailing 4-2 in the opening set Norrie broke Alcaraz at love for 4-3. Alcaraz regrouped with another break and pocketed the set in 31 minutes. Norrie broke again for a 2-0 lead in the second, but Alcaraz won the next four games. Norrie saved two match points on his serve before Alcaraz efficiently served out the win.
“I’m finding the right shot,” Alcaraz said. “I played well. I played solid. I played aggressive when I could.” Medvedev, coming off a title run in Dubai last month, seized control early against Draper, who had pulled off a gritty win over Novak Djokovic on Wednesday night. “The first set was unreal, I couldn’t miss a ball,” Medvedev said. “It was an unbelievable level.”
In the second set, he noted that Draper tried to give everything he had and had an opportunity, but the Russian saved the only break point he faced with an ace. Medvedev then secured the lone break of the second to lead 6-5. Draper was irked early in that 11th game when the chair umpire, queried by Medvedev, ruled the Briton had caused a hindrance with a raised arm gesture during a point. Medvedev said he was distracted and the umpire told him it could go to video review, and subsequently awarded the Russian the point.
“Was I distracted big time? No,” Medvedev said, but added he thought Draper’s gesture affected the quality of one of his forehands in the rally. “Do I feel good about it? Not really,” he stated. “But I also don’t feel like I cheated or something.”
In the other half of the draw, Sinner kept his bid for a first Indian Wells title on track with a straightforward victory over 20-year-old American Tien. Sinner capitalized on a double fault from Tien for a break in the second game and cruised from there, breaking Tien four times and saving all four break points he faced. Tien, who saved a pair of match points in his quarter-final win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, appeared to be hurting in the second set.
Sinner, who had trouble himself in the steamy conditions at the Australian Open, said the hot afternoon weather wasn’t an issue. “Today I felt really good on court,” he said. “It’s for sure an area where I’m trying to improve given the problems I’ve had in Australia.” Zverev reached the Indian Wells semi-finals for the first time with a similarly comfortable victory over France’s Fils. Zverev became just the fifth player to reach the semi-finals of all nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments.
© 2024 AFP
