March 12 (Reuters) – World number one Carlos Alcaraz charged past Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-4 on Thursday to set up an Indian Wells semi-final with Daniil Medvedev after the Russian ended Jack Draper’s title defence with a 6-1 7-5 win following a controversial umpiring call.
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka also reached the last four in the women’s draw with a 7-6(0) 6-4 victory over 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko but Iga Swiatek was unable to find her way past Elina Svitolina and fell 6-2 4-6 6-4.
Australian Open champion Alcaraz improved his record to 16-0 to start the year with a solid display against a tricky opponent in the final contest of the evening to remain on course for a third Indian Wells crown.
The Spaniard eased through the opening set and though he was briefly in trouble at 0-2 down in the second he quickly regained the momentum to see off Briton Norrie and set up a meeting with twice runner-up Medvedev.
“It was really difficult, I struggled with Cameron’s style,” Alcaraz said.
“His forehand has super top-spin and his backhands are flat so it’s tricky to play against him and find the correct shots. I played solid and aggressive when I could and I’m happy to be at this level.”
Russian 11th seed Medvedev was also in impressive form against Briton Draper, who had little time to recover after his stunning three‑set win over Novak Djokovic on Wednesday.
Draper raised his level in the second set and stayed with his opponent up to 5-5 but Medvedev secured a late break after a controversial hindrance call from chair umpire Aurelie Tourte.
Medvedev was awarded a point to go 30-0 up following a late video review request after the Russian said he was distracted by Draper’s raised arm during the rally when the Briton thought the ball went out.
Draper insisted he had not caused a major distraction but the umpire stuck with her decision to award Medvedev the point, prompting jeers from the crowd when the call was made.
“If you look at the first forehand I did after it happened, I think I could have done a better shot if there was no gesture from Jack,” Medvedev told reporters.
“Was I distracted big time? No. Do I feel good about it? Not really. But I also don’t feel like I cheated or something. I got a bit distracted. I let it go and I let the umpire decide.”
Fourth seed Alexander Zverev beat Frenchman Arthur Fils 6-2 6-3 to make the semi-finals for the first time and become only the fifth man to complete the set of last-four appearances at all nine ATP Masters 1000 events.
The German faces a big challenge in the next round, however, as he takes on world number two Jannik Sinner after the Italian made light work of American Learner Tien 6-1 6-2.
SVITOLINA UPSETS SWIATEK
World number two Swiatek struggled early against Svitolina, with the Ukrainian capitalising on five double faults to secure three breaks and take the opening set in 38 minutes.
She found her rhythm in the second to force a decider, but Svitolina regained the upper hand by securing the only break in a tight third set before confidently closing out the match to return to the semis for the first time in seven years.
Belarusian Sabalenka had a battle on her hands against Mboko and the top seed was taken to a first-set tiebreak which she won to love – a career first.
The second set followed a similar script with Mboko clawing her back to 5-4 and threatening another tiebreak but four-times Grand Slam champion Sabalenka held firm.
“She’s a future Grand Slam champion,” Sabalenka said. “It’s incredible to see how brave these young girls are these days.”
Sabalenka next plays Linda Noskova, who ended Australian qualifier Talia Gibson’s fairytale run 6-2 4-6 6-2, the Czech reaching her second WTA 1000 semi-final.
Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina advanced with a 6-1 7-6(4) victory over Jessica Pegula to reach another Indian Wells semi‑final where she will play Svitolina.
Victory ensured Rybakina will leapfrog Swiatek and reach a career-high world number two when the WTA rankings are updated on Monday.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina and Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City and Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Peter Rutherford)
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