Carlos Alcaraz extended his unbeaten start to the season and gained revenge over Cameron Norrie on Thursday, advancing to the semi-finals at the Indian Wells Open for a fifth consecutive year.

The world number one from Spain came through a fluctuating contest with the 29th-ranked Norrie, sealing a 6-3, 6-4 victory to maintain his perfect record in 2026.

Alcaraz will now face Daniil Medvedev, who stretched his own ATP winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 7-5 win over defending champion Jack Draper.

On the other side of the draw, world number two Jannik Sinner powered past Learner Tien 6-1, 6-2 to set up a semi-final meeting with fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev, who defeated Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-3.

Alcaraz, 22, became the youngest player to complete a career Grand Slam with his victory at the Australian Open earlier this year and followed it up with a title in Qatar Open. His win over Norrie improved his season record to 16-0, avenging a defeat to the Briton at the Paris Masters last November.

“I struggle a lot with his style,” Alcaraz said of the heavy-hitting left-hander.
“Every time I play against him it’s always really tough for me.

“It’s a little bit confusing with his style, his topspin forehand, super high. And then the backhand, really flat and really low.”

Norrie briefly threatened in the opening set, breaking Alcaraz at love while trailing 4-2 to pull back to 4-3. However, the Spaniard immediately responded with another break and wrapped up the set in 31 minutes.

The Briton again made a strong start in the second set, breaking for a 2-0 lead, but Alcaraz quickly regained control by winning the next four games. Norrie saved two match points on his own serve before Alcaraz calmly served out the match.

“I’m finding the right shot,” Alcaraz said. “I played well. I played solid. I played aggressive when I could.”

Medvedev, fresh from a title run at the Dubai Tennis Championships last month, dominated the early stages against Draper, who had beaten Novak Djokovic in a gruelling match the previous night.

“The first set was unreal, I couldn’t miss a ball,” Medvedev said. “It was an unbelievable level.”

Draper fought harder in the second set and had a break-point opportunity, but Medvedev saved it with an ace before securing the decisive break to lead 6-5.

The match also featured a moment of controversy when the chair umpire ruled Draper had caused a hindrance during a rally with a raised-arm gesture after Medvedev complained he had been distracted. The point was awarded to the Russian.

“Was I distracted big time? No,” Medvedev admitted. “But I thought the gesture affected the quality of one of my forehands in the rally.

“Do I feel good about it? Not really. But I also don’t feel like I cheated or something.”

Earlier, Sinner kept his hopes of a first Indian Wells title alive with a dominant display against the 20-year-old American Tien. The Italian broke four times and saved all four break points he faced.

Tien, who had saved two match points in his quarter-final win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, appeared hampered physically during the second set.

Sinner said the hot conditions were not an issue this time, despite the difficulties he experienced earlier in the year in Melbourne.

“Today I felt really good on court,” he said. “It’s for sure an area where I’m trying to improve given the problems I’ve had in Australia.”

Meanwhile, Zverev reached the Indian Wells semi-finals for the first time with a comfortable victory over Fils, becoming just the fifth player to reach the semi-finals of all nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments.