Daniil Medvedev stuns Carlos Alcaraz and sets up Jannik Sinner final at 2026 Indian Wells - 'He was unreal'

There will be no Carlos Alcaraz v Jannik Sinner final at Indian Wells after Daniil Medvedev forced himself into contention with an eye-catching win over the world No. 1. The Russian won 6-3 7-6 (7-3) to set up a final against Sinner, who got the better of Alexander Zverev in his semi-final. Alcaraz, who has won the Australian Open and Qatar Open this season, praised Medvedev's performance.

Carlos Alcaraz admitted Daniil Medvedev was "unreal" as the Russian beat the world No. 1 to reach the final at Indian Wells.

The tournament's top speed was expected to set up yet another final with Jannik Sinner in California, but his 16-match winning streak came to an abrupt end.

Medvedev won 6-3 7-6 (7-3), comfortably winning an impressive first set before grinding out the second as Alcaraz improved.

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The 30-year-old, who lost to Alcaraz in both the 2023 and 2024 finals at Indian Wells, will face Sinner in this year's final, after the Italian beat Alexander Zverev.

"It's an amazing feeling to beat someone like Carlos - the No. 1 in the world," Medvedev said.

"In a way, when you play him or Jannik (Sinner) or Novak (Djokovic) it doesn't matter the ranking. It's just a great feeling to play them, and to beat them, of course, is even better."

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Alcaraz was magnanimous in defeat, praising the performance of his opponent.

"I just have to give credit to Daniil," he said.

"I think he just played an amazing match. Since the start of the match until the end of the match, he was playing unreal, I got to say. I have never seen, to be honest, Daniil playing like this."

Medvedev started strongly in the match, taking the first set in 35 minutes having won both of his break point opportunities.

He needed to be at his battling best in a more challenging second set as Alcaraz forced a tie-break, but Medvedev prevailed to win his ninth match in a row.

Dominant Sinner cruises past Zverev

Medvedev will face an ominously in-form Sinner in the final, after the world No. 2 swept Zverev aside in his semi-final.

The 24-year-old, who is aiming to become the third man after Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic to win all six ATP Masters 1000 hard-court titles, beat Zverev 6-2 6-4.

Sinner produced some exceptional shots on his favourite surface as he took just one hour and 23 minutes to secure victory.

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"It was a great performance - very solid from the back of the court. I tried to go for shots and that felt like one of the keys," he said.

"He has a huge serve, so I tried to mix it up. From my side, I was very precise and it was a solid performance.

"I thought the match would be more physical but when both serve well it's difficult to get into a rhythm with short points."

Sinner will be the favourite against Medvedev in Sunday's final, although the Italian has yet to win a title in a frustrating start to 2026.

He looked at his best against Zverev, though, dropping just four points on his serve and breaking twice in the first set.

The German was better in the second set but could not prevent another break of serve and eventual defeat.

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