The last time Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner squared off, sleep was lost and records broken. Memories of their five-set, five-hour thrill-fest at last year’s US Open, a two-man reimagining of the New York marathon that rumbled on until 2.50am, the latest finish in the tournament’s history, meant expectations were high as the pair prepared to renew their rivalry in Indian Wells.
As with so many sequels, however, Alcaraz’s 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 victory was something of an anti-climax. The spellbinding level on display at Flushing Meadows was only sporadically evident, and there were rarely passages where both men produced their best at the same time. A combined total of 55 unforced errors tells it own story. Neither was the scoreboard drama of the same order.
There was one common denominator, however, and that lay in Alcaraz’s courage when crisis came calling. In New York, that moment arrived late in the fourth set, when the Spaniard saved a match point. Here it came at 6-5 in the opener, as he fought off a set point against his serve by closing down the net behind an audacious drop shot to stab away a volley. Alcaraz, who stumbled into error towards the end of a set he had led 4-2, was at his most vulnerable in that game, but held his nerve to force a tiebreak, where he did what Sinner had been unable to do by punishing some untimely mistakes from his rival.
“Against Jannik, it’s never easy,” said Alcaraz, who has now won three of his five meetings with Sinner. “I had to overcome problems, I saved one set point and I knew that I had to increase my level.
“It was a really close first set, but in the second set, let’s say I pulled out of the nerves and played a little more relaxed. It was the key [to] everything.”
Central to that improvement was Alcaraz’s ability to make an early break stick, something he was unable to achieve after a pair of Sinner double faults handed him the initiative in the fifth game of the match. On that occasion, the 19-year-old gifted the advantage back amid a flurry of mistakes. This time, having backed up a sizzling forehand pass with a pair of forceful returns to claim a 2-0 lead, Alcaraz consolidated his hold on the contest with some trademark wizardry, flicking an outrageous topspin lob over the stranded Sinner after the Italian had turned defence into attack with a perfectly measured lob of his own. Raise your glass, as the American singer Pink, a lively presence in the stands, would say.
Serving for a place in his first Indian Wells final, Alcaraz crashed down a 137mph ace and followed up with three monstrous forehands to move within one victory of reclaiming the number one ranking from Novak Djokovic.
Awaiting the teenager will be Daniil Medvedev, the fifth seed, who earlier extended his winning streak to 19 matches with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Frances Tiafoe. Medvedev, seeking a fourth title in a row following his successes in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai, led by a set and 5-3 and held three match points on Tiafoe’s serve before the American launched an unlikely comeback, forcing a tiebreak after saving seven match points.
“It was a crazy match,” said Medvedev. “I mean, the ending, tough.
“Always better to finish on your first match point and not on the eighth. But that’s what makes tennis also a fun sport, and I’m just really happy that I managed not to lose this match and not to have regrets, nightmares, whatever.”
Medvedev won their only previous meeting, at Wimbledon in 2021, in straight sets. But Alcaraz was just beginning his professional journey at the time, while the Russian was No 2 in the world and only weeks away from claiming a maiden grand slam title at the US Open. As Medvedev acknowledged, it is not a result that will have any bearing on the outcome of Sunday’s final.
“I would say our [previous] match, for sure it counts in head to head,” said Medvedev. “It has to count, that’s how tennis works. I also have my matches which I lost when I was not at the top.
“But he was definitely not the same player as he is right now. So in a way, it’s going to be like a first match between us in terms of how we are going to go tactically, or physically, or tennis-wise.
“I mean, he’s amazing, he has amazing skills.”
The admiration is mutual.
“He’s a wall,” said Alacaraz. “He returns every ball, impossible shots.
“He’s an amazing runner, an amazing player.”
The Spaniard could almost have been describing himself. It should be quite a final.