The World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz reached the semifinals at the Indian Wells Open 2026 edging past Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-4 on Thursday, March 13, in a match that saw a drop shot winner by the Spaniard that left everyone including his opponent smiling. Watch the video below.
With this win, Alcaraz improved his unbeaten record of the season 16-0. The Spaniard eased through the opening set and though he was briefly in trouble at 0-2 down in the next he quickly regained the momentum to see off Briton Norrie and set up a meeting with twice runner-up Daniil Medvedev.
Meanwhile, the match witnessed a beautiful drop shot winner from Alcaraz ending a long rally.
WHAT A SHOT 😤 @BNPPARIBASOPEN | #TennisParadise | @carlosalcaraz pic.twitter.com/c6hnCe4qk6
— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 13, 2026
“Tennis is about choosing the right shot in about half a second,” said Alcaraz in the post match interview. “Sometimes I just miss the shot because I didn’t choose the right one. In my mind, I have like seven, five options, sometimes it’s tricky for me to pick the right one.”
Calros who is seeking for his third title at Indian Wells made it to his fifth consecutive semifinals in the tournament. He finished the one hour and 33 minutes match with 19 forehand winners.
“It was really difficult, I struggled with Cameron’s style,” Alcaraz said.
“I was trying to play my best but there was a little bit of confusion. His forehand has super top-spin and his backhands are very flat, so sometimes it’s tricky to play against him and find the correct shots.
“But I played solid and aggressive when I could. I’m happy to be at this level.”
In the semi-final Alcaraz is set to face Daniil Medvedev who is coming on the back of huge victory ending the title defense of Jack Draper 6-1 7-5.
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Russian 11th seed Medvedev was also in impressive form against Briton Draper, who had little time to recover after his stunning three‑set win over Novak Djokovic on Wednesday.
Draper raised his level in the second set and stayed with his opponent to 5-5, but Medvedev secured a late break before serving out the match.
“The first set was unreal, I couldn’t miss a ball. It was an unbelievable level,” said Medvedev, who made the semi-finals for the fourth consecutive year.
(With inputs from Reuters)
