The men’s semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open will be played Saturday, with fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia playing 12th-seeded Holger Rune of Denmark, followed by second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain taking on 13th-seeded Jack Draper of Great Britain.
Alcaraz, the No. 3-ranked player in the world behind Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev, beat Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, 6-3, 7-6, on Thursday to punch his ticket to the semifinals, while Draper, ranked No. 14, beat American Ben Shelton, 6-4, 7-5.
The sixth-ranked Medvedev defeated Arthur Fils, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 on Thursday, while Rune dispatched Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, 5-7, 6-0, 6-3.
Alcaraz, who has already won four Grand Slam titles at the age of 21, has beaten Medvedev in the finals of the Indian Wells tournament each of the past two years.
“His talent is really strong. I feel like he has every shot,” Medvedev said of Rune. “Probably he knows that sometimes he’s not consistent in the beginning of tournaments, but when he’s deep [in the draw], he’s a tough player to beat.”
Saturday’s first match is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
The women’s finals will be played Sunday, with top-seeded and top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus squaring off against ninth-seeded Mirra Andreeva of Russia, who is ranked No. 11 in the world by the Women’s Tennis Association.
Sabalenka, who lost the 2023 finals at Indian Wells to Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, has yet to lose a set in the tournament. She crushed American Madison Keys, who had a 16-match winning streak, 6-0, 6-1 on Friday.
“I didn’t expect this match to be that fast,” Sabalenka said. “I’m super happy with the way I played today — much-needed revenge.”
Keys defeated Sabalenka in this year’s Australian Open final.
Andreeva earned her spot in the finals by defeating defending BNP Paribas Open champion Iga Swiatek of Poland, the No. 2-ranked player in the world, 7-6, 1-6, 6-3 on Friday.
“After she literally killed me in the second set, I was just, well, `Okay, might just try to fight”’ Andreeva said after the match. “There is not much I could do about it. She was playing amazing. And I just kind of decided to grind and fight for every point. It doesn’t matter how I put the ball in. But I have to put it in. So I just try to do everything and in the end, it was not too bad.”
The men’s finals will also be played on Sunday.
More information can be found at bnpparibasopen.com.