The men’s singles tournament of the Indian Wells Masters is going down to the wire. One-half of the semi-finals is already set with Daniil Medvedev facing off against American Frances Tiafoe, who dispatched British No 1 Cameron Norrie to reach his first career Masters semi-final.
Tiafoe will meet the in-form Daniil Medvedev, who has overcome an ankle injury to reach his fourth consecutive semi-final.
And on the other side of the bracket, former world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz continues to add to his tally of wins after reaching his first century at just 19 years of age.
Read on below as SBOTOP breaks down all the biggest Indian Wells Masters 2023 news.
Frances Tiafoe reaches first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final
Frances Tiafoe reached a career milestone as he made his first ATP Tour Masters 1000 semi-final at the Indian Wells Masters.
After a rain delay, the 25-year-old American rolled past British No 1 Cameron Norrie 6-4 6-4 to claim the quarter-final win after just an hour and a half.
“I am really happy. I feel like when I am there mentally, I am one of the best players in the world,” Tiafoe said. “Today it is not just about getting to the semis, I am happy to beat a guy like that, who has been playing so well. To be able to come out here and beat him in straight sets, is relatively comfortable. At the end, it got a little tricky, but it was pretty one-way traffic and I am really happy with where my game is at.”
Tiafoe, who reached the semi-finals of the US Open last year, is on another terrific run on home soil. He has yet to drop a single set in his first four matches of the tournament and has converted an impressive 14 of 26 break points.
Tiafoe will now face off against No 5 seed Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals.
Medvedev overcomes ankle injury to stroll to semis
Daniil Medvedev moved on to the Indian Wells Masters semi-finals after a routine 6-3 7-5 win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the quarter-finals.
It was yet another decisive performance by Medvedev, who did not seem to be too impacted by the ankle injury he sustained in his fourth-round win over Alexander Zverev.
“I’m actually happy the ankle didn’t hurt much because when I warmed up, it was hurting pretty bad,” Medvedev said post-match. “I knew I was going to play, I knew I was going to try. But I couldn’t move well on the warm-up. I tried to warm it up as long as possible, took one painkiller so that probably helped. I was actually feeling better and better during the match.
“The match was absolutely crazy. I could talk about this for 15 minutes, but just really happy to go through such a tough match with such tough conditions with the wind.”
Medvedev, who came into Indian Wells on the back of three straight title wins in Rotterdam, Doha, and Dubai, is now on an incredible 18-match winning run.
And the Indian Wells Masters 2023 betting odds will have Medvedev favoured to top Tiafoe. The Russian is a perfect 4-0 in career head-to-heads against the American.
Carlos Alcaraz claims 101st ATP Tour win
Carlos Alcaraz is still in the running to win the Indian Wells Masters after a walkover victory over Jack Draper. Alcaraz was leading 6-2 2-0 before the Brit was forced to retire with an abdominal injury.
While Alcaraz only spent less than an hour on the court, he was pleased with his overall play.
“I felt the ball really well. I’m really happy with that part,” Alcaraz said. “I would say I returned well, I hit great shots. I finished the match with confidence in my shots, to come into the next round with more confidence.”
That was Alcaraz’s 101st career ATP Tour win; he crossed the century mark in the previous round with his 7-6(4) 6-4 victory over Tallon Griekspoor.
Alcaraz needed just 132 matches to reach a century of wins, which is only one match more than John McEnroe for the fastest in ATP Tour history.
Alcaraz will now face off against No 8 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime for a place in the semi-finals. Alcaraz has yet to defeat the Canadian in four previous attempts.
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