Daniil Medvedev ended Carlos Alcaraz’s flawless start to the 2026 season with a commanding semifinal victory in Indian Wells. On Saturday, the Russian defeated the world number one 6:3, 7:6 (7/3) and moved into the fight for the title.
Alcaraz reached the semifinals with a perfect 16-0 record on the year and hopes to complete his third straight title in the California desert. But Medvedev produced a composed performance to stop the Spaniard’s onslaught and book a final against Jannik Sinner.
After the match, the former world number one was delighted to have overcome one of the toughest challenges on tour.
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“When you play someone like Carlos, you play a lot of times… you lose a lot of times. He’s an amazing player. You have to be at your best and that was me. Super happy to beat someone as strong as him.” Medvedev said.
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Medvedev acknowledged the difficulty of facing the reigning world number one and admitted that only a near-perfect performance can bring success.
“He’s an amazing player with amazing hitting, defense, offense, serve, return, everything. So you have to be at your best – and I was,” he added.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz praised Medvedev for an exceptional performance and acknowledged that the Russian deserved the victory.
“I have to praise Daniil. I think he just played an amazing game,” Alcaraz said in the post-match press conference. “From the beginning of the match to the end of the match, he played unbelievably. To be honest, I have never seen Daniil play like this. Today he fully deserves to win and play in the final here.”
The Spaniard also spoke about the pressure that comes with being world number one and the constant challenge of being the player everyone wants to beat.
“When I played against Rinderknech, for example, I said I was a little tired of always having that target on my back,” Alcaraz said. “Like I said, I’ve never seen Daniil play like that. But I have to accept it. I have to accept it, keep going.”
HOW DID THE BEAR GO ON ALCARAZ?
Medvedev relied on a mix of unrelenting basic aggression and powerful serving to control the rhythm of the match. The Russian broke early in the opening set and held on to seal the lead at 6-3.
The second set proved much more competitive as Alcaraz turned up the intensity and earned a break to take a 3-1 lead. However, Medvedev responded immediately and took advantage of several unforced errors by the Spaniard to level the match.
Long rallies became a feature of the match, with Medvedev’s control from the back of the court forcing Alcaraz to repeatedly hunt for points. One particularly grueling exchange at the end of the set left the Spaniard visibly struggling to recover.
Although Alcaraz held serve in that game and later won two set points, Medvedev held firm and pushed the match into a tiebreak. From there, the Russian completely dominated, winning six points in a row before sealing the victory with an ace.
The result extended Medvedev’s own winning streak to nine matches following his title triumph in Dubai last month. It also secured his third appearance in the Indian Wells final after finishing runner-up in 2023 and 2024 – losing to Alcaraz on those occasions.
MEDVĐEV will face JANNIK Hříšník in the final
Medvedev will now face Jannik Sinner in the final after the Italian produced an impressive semi-final performance against Alexander Zverev.
Sinner defeated the fourth seed 6-2, 6-4, firing eight aces and committing only 13 unforced errors. The world number two dominated the match with sharp returns and confident net play, winning seven of her eight net points.
Zverev mounted early resistance in the opening set but Sinner broke twice to take control before securing a decisive break at 4-3 in the second set to seal the match.
The 24-year-old did not drop a set during the tournament and will now look to cap off his dominant run with the Indian Wells title.
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Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
15 March 2026 07:57 IST
