Daniil Medvedev has become the first player this season to beat Carlos Alcaraz after downing the world No.1 in straight sets at the BNP Paribas Open.
The Russian produced an impressive 6-3, 7-6(3) win over an in-form Alcaraz, who had won 16 matches in a row prior to the clash. Medvedev broke the top seed twice and capitalised on his 30 unforced errors. It is the eighth time in his career that he has beaten a current world No. 1 player, and his first since Wimbledon 2024.
“It’s an amazing feeling to beat someone like Carlos, No. 1 in the world,” said Medvedev.
“In a way, when you play him, Jannik (Sinner), Novak (Djokovic), it doesn’t matter the ranking. It’s just a great feeling to play them and to beat them is even better.”
Medvedev has reached the final in Indian Wells without dropping a set and has now won nine matches in a row. Prior to the tournament, he won the Dubai Tennis Championships, the first ATP event he has won multiple times. As a result of his run, he will return to the world’s top 10 on Monday for the first time since July.
Reacting to his defeat, Alcaraz admitted he is getting tired of being the person with a target on their back due to his status as world No. 1. Although the 22-year-old insists the pressure of trying to maintain his winning streak played no role in his performance against Medvedev, who he still leads 6-3 in their head-to-head.
“I said it when I played against [Arthur] Rinderknech [in Round 3], for example, that what I’m just getting tired a little bit is to get that target on my back all the time. I have never seen Daniil playing like this before,” Alcaraz commented.
“But I have to accept it. I have to accept it, keep it going. But after everything I just realised what I had to do and what I have to think before every match and before every tournament, and it is just playing for me, playing for my team, and for my close people.
“I’m not thinking about I need to win, or I have to win. It’s just about chasing my goals, chasing what I just set up before every tournament.
“That’s my mindset, so I’m not getting tired of the people thinking I have to win every match.”
Sinner awaits
Standing in the way of Medvedev winning his first Indian Wells title is Jannik Sinner, who dismissed Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-4 to reach his 10th masters 1000 final and become the first Italian man to reach the title match at the tournament. Sinner won 83% (24/29) of his first serves against the German and didn’t get broken throughout the 84-minute encounter.
The world No.2 currently boasts a winning 8-7 record against Medvedev. However, they haven’t played against each other since the 2024 season, when they met six times, with Sinner winning five of them.
“He’s back to a very high level. Very big serve, I feel like. He’s returning very well, very deep,” Sinner said of Medvedev.
“Everyone’s trying to be slightly more aggressive. Sascha (Zverev) tried to be more aggressive. He didn’t play his best, but everyone is trying to push.
“I think Daniil has again found a good balance on court, winning a title in Dubai, coming here, making great results again.”
Like his rival, Sinner has also reached the final without dropping a set and is yet to win the Indian Wells trophy. It is the only Masters 1000 event on a hard court that he hasn’t won.
“I feel like I’m trying to serve a little bit better, and, until now, it has worked very well.” Sinner said about the challenges of playing in Indian Wells.
“There are two scenarios. With new balls, it’s quite fast, and with used balls, it’s a little bit slower. It’s not as bouncy anymore.
“It’s quite a positional game at some point where you try to stand on court, and I think this is a bit of the main key here on this surface.”
According to OptaAce, Medvedev and Sinner are the only players to have recorded 200 or more hardcourt wins at ATP events since the start of 2020. Medvedev has 239 victories compared to 231 for Sinner.
