Carlos Alcaraz, who took first place, defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime for the first time in his career and held the semi-final match with Yannick Sinner in Indian Wells.
Women’s top seed Iga Swiatek played the last four against Jelena Rybakina, who stunned Poland’s world No. 1 in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January.
Alcaraz announced his first victory over Auger-Aliassime in four meetings with a score of 6:4, 6:4 to maintain his ambition to regain the world number one spot.
“It’s great to finally beat Felix, and the way I did it, playing at a great level,” said the 19-year-old Spaniard Alcaraz, calling this match perhaps his best match of the season.
The Italian Sinner advanced to the final four with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory over defending champion Taylor Fritz and now has a chance to avenge his loss to Alcaraz in a thrilling quarter-final at the US Open last year.
This five-set battle lasted five hours and 15 minutes, finishing at 2:50 am the last in US Open history. Alcaraz lifted the trophy to become the youngest world number one in ATP ranking history.
“We played several times and all the matches were very difficult,” said Alcaraz. “I like this challenge, I will enjoy it.”
Alcaraz dropped no sets to reach the quarter-finals, but Auger-Aliassime was the first top 10 player he faced this year.
Alcaraz was up for it this time around, saying his previous losses to the Canadian had taught him to “stay there”.
The two-hour clash was a breathtaking display of both players’ athleticism and precision.
Alcaraz saved the first break point he faced when he bowled the first set, but after he made a break to open the second Auger-Aliassime, who saved six match points in a fourth-round win over Tommy Paul, quickly returned to setu. tone of tense battle back and forth.
Auger-Aliassime had already saved two break points in Game 10 when Alcaraz hit himself with another winning volley and, with a break in hand, delivered it confidently.
Sinner defied tight, windy conditions to outplay Fritz with a game-tying break in the ninth game of the third set when his right hand into the corner forced the American to miss.
The sinner finished it lovingly in two hours and 17 minutes.
“I knew it would be difficult to shut him down in the last games,” Sinner said. “I was just trying to play pretty aggressive, which I did.”
– Svyatek is ready –
Swiatek, the reigning Indian Wells champion and winner of the French and US Opens last year, edged out No. 83 Romanian Sorana Kirstea 6-2, 6-3.
Wimbledon champion Rybakina, who lost to Arina Sobolenko in the final of the Australian Open, beat the 76th Czech Karolina Muchova with a score of 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 6-4.
“She is playing very well and in the semi-final you will always play against the best players, so I will be ready,” Sviatek said of the meeting with Rybakina.
Swiatek, in her 50th week at number one, is vying to become the second woman after Martina Navratilova in 1990-91 to win back-to-back Indian Wells titles.
Kirstja did her best to stay with Swiatek, playing back an early break and deflecting a break point to tie the first set at 2-2.
But Swiatek, having adapted to warm daytime conditions after two consecutive night matches, won the next eight games and became a stranglehold in the competition.
Down 4-0 in the second, Cirstea scraped one back and held up a 4-2 pitch in a spirited display before Swiatek shut him out.
“The most important thing for me is that I came back in the second set to finish it properly,” Swiatek said.
Rybakina got everything she could from the often injured Muchova. She needed three match points, two of which she lost to a couple of left errors, before sealing the result with her sixth ace of the day.
Other places in the semi-final were determined on Wednesday, when Daniil Medvedev, chasing a fourth consecutive ATP title after victories in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai, beat Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokin to set up a bout with American Frances Tiafoe.
Sobolenko also moved forward, beating American Coco Gauff to meet 2022 finalist Maria Sakkari.
bb/pst
Source: sports.yahoo.com
