Russia's Daniil Medvedev serves against Carlos Alcaraz of Spain during a semi-final match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, Calif., on Saturday.Mark J. Terrill/The Associated Press
Daniil Medvedev handed top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz his first loss of the year and advanced to the final at Indian Wells with a 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory Saturday.
The 11th-seeded Medvedev, from Russia, will face second-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy. Sinner beat Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-4.
Alcaraz had won 16 straight matches this year, including titles at the Australian Open and Qatar Open. But Medvedev ended the possibility of an Alcaraz vs. Sinner final. Medvedev had dropped his last four meetings against Alcaraz, including a loss in the Indian Wells final in 2024. This was Medvedev’s first victory over him since the U.S. Open semi-finals in 2023.
Carlos Alcaraz returns a shot against Medvedev on Saturday.Mark J. Terrill/The Associated Press
Sinner made quick work of Zverev, beating him in one hour, 23 minutes. Sinner notched six aces against the fourth-seeded Zverev.
Zverev won his first eight points on serve. But Sinner broke Zverev in both the fifth and seventh games to secure the first set. Sinner now leads the head-to-head series against Zverev 7-4.
In the women’s doubles final, Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova beat Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic 7-6 (4), 6-4. The victory marked Townsend’s first at Indian Wells and Siniakova’s second. Siniakova also won in 2023 alongside long-time partner Barbora Krejcikova.
Towsend and Siniakova defeated Danilina and Krunic in 94 minutes, thanks in large part to winning 80 per cent of their first-serve points and 82 per cent off their second serve.