Carlos Alcaraz recovered from a set down after a three-hour rain break to end Jannik Sinner’s 19-match winning streak and clinch a place in the final at Indian Wells. The Spaniard defeated Sinner 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the BNP Paribas Open decider, while the win also saw him retain his No. 2 position in the world rankings.
Alcaraz extended his own winning streak to 11 matches in Indian Wells as he advanced to the final, where he will meet the winner of the second semi-final between Tommy Paul and Daniil Medvedev.
Sinner was leading 2-1 in the first set when the match was halted for more than three hours due to rain in the Southern California desert. Rain had also affected the women’s semi-finals the day before.
Australian Open champion Sinner was the hottest player on tour this year and looked set to run away with the match after play resumed and the Spaniard sent a forehand long to end the 34-minute opening set.
But Alcaraz changed his tactics from then on, coming to the net more and moving Sinner up and down. Alcaraz earned the only break of the second set in the fourth game with a forehand drop volley winner. The right-hander faced a break point on his serve in the seventh game, but shook it off to eventually serve out the set.
The Spaniard broke Sinner in the third and fifth games of the third, as both players fired the ball from their side and attacked the net, making for several entertaining and sharp-angled volley exchanges.
Alcaraz led 40-love on his serve for his first match point when he scored a backhand. Sinner’s smash set up a second match point for Alcaraz, before the Spaniard closed the match with a forehand crosscourt winner.
“I stayed mentally strong and that is very important,” Alcaraz said. “I had to run more and defend better than in the first set. Put more balls in it. Stay strong on the field.”
Sinner paid the price for 38 unforced errors against 24 for Alcaraz, although the Italian also had 21 winners against 19 for Alcaraz.
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The Italian could have surpassed Alcaraz to second place in the world rankings with a victory, after winning 19 matches in a row this year, including 16 in a row.
In the women’s doubles final, top-seeded Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Elise Mertens of Belgium defeated third-seeded Storm Hunter of Australia and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4. The winners split $447,300.
