Men's semifinals on the schedule this Saturday at the Indian Wells tournament
After the women's final four, it's time for the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters 1000 this Saturday. The evening will begin at 9:30 PM French time with the first match between Holger Rune and Daniil Medvedev. The two men will face each other for the fourth time.
So far, the Russian has a slight advantage, leading two victories to one. This encounter will be a rematch of last year's quarterfinal in the same tournament, where Medvedev won in two tight sets (7-5, 6-4). Since then, Rune and Medvedev have not faced each other in official competition.
Medvedev, a two-time defending finalist in California, will aim for a third consecutive final, having lost the last two editions to Carlos Alcaraz. Coincidentally, the Spaniard is still in contention to achieve a triple, a feat not seen at Indian Wells since Novak Djokovic, who won the tournament three times in a row in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
Alcaraz, benefiting from the absence of Jannik Sinner and the early eliminations of Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic, among others, will start as the favorite in the second semifinal against Jack Draper. The British left-hander will play his first semifinal in this category of tournaments.
The world number 3 leads three victories to one against his opponent of the day but won two of his matches due to Draper's retirements, including during the Australian Open earlier this season.
With this impressive run in California, Draper is already guaranteed to reach at least the 11th spot this Monday, marking the best ranking of his career. This will be the third encounter between the two men on hard courts, but the only one that went the distance took place in Basel in 2022, when the Spaniard, trailing one set to zero, managed to turn the tide.
Indian Wells 
