The men’s singles semifinals will be played on Saturday, as will the women’s doubles championship match.
18 months ago at the US Open, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner contested one of the best matches in recent memory. After five hours and 15 minutes of scintillating rallies, Alcaraz would prevail 6-3 in the fifth, and go on to claim his first Major a few days later. On Saturday, they meet for the eighth time at tour level, in the most anticipated semifinal of the fortnight.
The other men’s singles semifinal sees last year’s runner-up, Daniil Medvedev, take on the No.2-ranked American, Tommy Paul.
Plus, the women’s doubles final features two of the top three seeds. At 11:00am local time, it will be Su-Wei Hsieh and Elise Mertens (1) vs. Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova (3). At January’s Australian Open, Su-Wei and Mertens defeated Hunter and Siniakova in the semifinals, before going on to win the title.
Jannik Sinner (3) vs. Carlos Alcaraz (2) – Not Before 1:30pm on Stadium 1
Sinner leads their head-to-head 4-3, and 3-2 on hard courts. They’ve met three times since the aforementioned 2022 US Open epic, including in the same round of this same event a year ago, when Alcaraz prevailed in straight sets. Two weeks later in the semis of Miami, Jannik claimed a three-hour three-setter. And six months ago in Beijing, the Italian won in straights.
These two phenomenal players have achieved contrasting results across the past six months. Sinner is now 36-2 since last summer’s US Open, with four singles titles. He also propelled Italy to the Davis Cup title. Jannik has beaten Novak Djokovic three times during this span, and also achieved his first Major championship. However, within that same time, Alcaraz has reached no tournament finals, and is 0-4 in his last four semifinals.
Jannik is an undefeated 16-0 in 2024, and has not dropped a set in Indian Wells. Carlitos is 10-3 this season, and has taken eight consecutive sets after losing the first set he played here last week. Based on recent form, Sinner is a considerable favorite to advance to his first championship match in the desert. And in doing so, he would take the No.2 ranking away from Alcaraz, reaching a new career-high.
Tommy Paul (17) vs. Daniil Medvedev (4) – Last on Stadium 1
Medvedev is 13-2 on the year, and has now appeared in the semifinals in all three tournaments he’s played this season. He dropped one set earlier in the event, to Sebastian Korda. Daniil is vying for his second consecutive final in Indian Wells, and his first Masters 1000 final since surprisingly winning a clay court title almost a year ago in Rome.
This is a second semifinal at this level for Paul, after first achieving this feat last summer in Canada, where he upset Alcaraz in the quarterfinals. The 26-year-old American had a poor ending to his 2023 season, going 6-8, but is now 14-4 in 2024 after reaching back-to-back finals last month in Dallas and Delray Beach. Like Daniil, Tommy has lost just one set this fortnight, in the quarterfinals to Casper Ruud.
Paul is extremely quick around the court, and likes to use his forehand to end points. Yet he has an 0-2 record against Medvedev, which includes a 6-2, 6-1 loss six months ago in Beijing. While the crowd will be solidly behind Tommy, Daniil’s hard court abilities are well-established, and the fourth seed should be favored on Saturday.
Saturday’s full Order of Play is here.
