Spain's Carlos Alcaraz will return to the summit of the world rankings if he triumphs in the BNP Paribas final against Daniil Medvedev; the Russian reached the final for the first time with victory against Frances Tiafoe
Sunday 19 March 2023 08:12, UK
Carlos Alcaraz is one win away from regaining his world No 1 ranking after defeating Jannik Sinner to secure a place in the final at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
The 19-year-old Spaniard overcame Sinner 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in a thrilling semi-final and will now take on Russia's Daniil Medvedev, who triumphed 7-5 7-6 (7-4) against Frances Tiafoe.
In a rerun of their epic US Open quarter-final clash last year, Alcaraz secured an early break to take a 4-2 lead before his Italian opponent won three games in a row.
However, Sinner squandered a set point opportunity and Alcaraz took him to a tie-break which he won, signalling a shift in momentum as the teenager cruised to victory inside two hours.
If he overcomes Medvedev in Sunday's final, Alcaraz will reclaim top spot in the rankings - having originally reached the summit after his US Open success six months ago.
World No 6 Medvedev eventually saw off Tiafoe in a gruelling encounter to record his 19th straight victory and reach the Indian Wells final for the first time.
Tiafoe - who had defeated Britain's Cameron Norrie in the previous round - managed to save seven match points before finally succumbing to defeat.
Meanwhile, Britain's Neal Skupski, partnered by Dutchman Wesley Koolhof, narrowly missed out on victory in the doubles final as they lost 6-3 2-6 10-8 to Rohan Bopanna and Matt Ebden.
