Alcaraz vs Sinner: Spanish sensation sets new records after ending Italian’s 16-0 streak

Carlos Alcaraz has made it to consecutive finals at the BNP Paribas Open after defeating Jannik Sinner in Saturday's semi-final in three sets.

The 20-year-old secured a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph over the Italian, who went into the Indian Wells semis unbeaten in 2024 after racking up 16 straight victories (19 in total), thus ending a two-match losing streak against the 2024 Australian Open champion to level their head-to-head 4-4.

There was a rain delay early in the match, forcing play to be suspended for three hours, and Sinner powered through after the restart to claim the opening set 6-1.

Alcaraz slowly improved after that disastrous opening set to level the match before overpowering Sinner, whose level dropped significantly in the third set as the world No. 2 raced into a 5-1 lead in the decider before closing it out on serve 6-2.

Victory for the Spaniard in consecutive semis over Sinner means the two-time Grand Slam champion holds onto the world No. 2 ranking heading into the Miami Masters 1000 event.

In his post-match court-side interview, Alcaraz credited his improved mentality and willingness to accept longer rallies as pivotal in turning the match around.

“I stayed strong mentally,” a pleased Alcaraz said after the semi-final win. "I think that's a really important part in this game. You have to be strong mentally if you want to overcome these kinds of matches, a set down against someone who's playing an unbelievable game. I'm really happy with the things that I've done after that.

"I changed my style a little bit, I changed my game a little bit and I think it worked very well. I'm really happy to beat Jannik and be in the final again.”

Elaborating on the in-game changes he made to stimulate a comeback, Alcaraz said: “I had to defend better than I did in the first set. I had to put more balls in, try to stay strong on the court... I changed my return style. I was more on the back of the court, putting some returns in, getting myself more in the rallies.”

Unexpectedly, the 20-year-old achieved new feats in the win over Sinner. According to Opta, the 20-year-old is the youngest player (20y 316d) to secure 11 consecutive men's singles victories at Indian Wells in the event's history.

Furthermore, Alcaraz became the third player under 21 to advance to back-to-back finals at Indian Wells after Boris Becker (1987-88) and Novak Djokovic (2007-08).

He is the sixth U21 player to claim 25 ATP top 10 wins after Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker, Mats Wilander, Lleyton Hewitt and Rafael Nadal since the ATP rankings were first published in 1973 and the first man to secure a comeback win against a top five-ranked opponent at the Indian Wells semi-finals since Juan Martin del Potro overturned a losing start against Djokovic to advance to the final.

Alcaraz will play the winner of the other semi-final between Danil Medvedev and Tommy Paul as he seeks back-to-back titles at Indian Wells.