Carlos Alcaraz set up his second career meeting with Rafael Nadal with a high-quality and intense 6-4, 6-3 win over Cameron Norrie in the Indian Wells quarter-finals on Thursday night.

Already the youngest BNP Paribas Open men’s quarter-finalist since a 17-year-old Michael Chang in 1989, Alcaraz is now the second-youngest semi-finalist in tournament history behind only Andre Agassi, also 17, in 1988.

The 18th-seeded Spaniard hit 31 winners to just 14 unforced errors to knock off the in-form Briton, who was a plus-eight in the winners to errors count himself. A cleanly played and tightly contested matchup saw 10 breaks of serve and five in each set, with Alcaraz falling behind early in both. 

“It’s so special to be able to play my first semi-final in a Masters1000 here in Indian Wells, in Tennis Paradise,” Alcaraz said post-match. “I’m enjoying every single second. I have no words to describe my feelings right now.”

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After twice trailing by a break in the opener, the 18-year-old won the last three games and pocketed the set by taking his third break point in a five-deuce game — the longest of the night.

Alcaraz again erased Norrie’s strong start in set two as he broke in each of his last three return games before serving out the match to love. On the whole, Alcaraz broke six times in nine return games.

THAT is how you break, folks 💥@alcarazcarlos03 #IndianWells pic.twitter.com/CaGRGnEkzi

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 18, 2022

He has now earned a rematch against Nadal, after his compatriot won their first ATP Head2Head meeting, 6-1, 6-2, in Madrid last spring.

That first meeting came on Alcaraz’s 18th birthday on the Spanish clay. Now on the American hard courts, the youngster feels ready to give the 36-time Masters 1000 champion a bigger challenge.

“I remember that I played really, really nervous,” he said of the Madrid matchup. “I think this time I trained with him a couple of times, I know more how to play against him. I think now it’s going to be a little bit different this match. Obviously he can destroy me again, but I doin’t know what is going to happen.”

Alcaraz and Nadal are a combined 31-1 in 2022, with Alcaraz at 12-1 and Nadal a perfect 19-0. The younger Spaniard won the Rio de Janeiro title in February, while Nadal has won three tour-level titles on the year, including the Australian Open.

Are you ready for this?@RafaelNadal v. @alcarazcarlos03 @BNPPARIBASOPEN | #IndianWells pic.twitter.com/w4YpOi5x3S

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 18, 2022

When both men reaching the Indian Wells quarter-finals, it gave Spain multiple men at that stage of the BNP Paribas Open for the first time since 2015, when Nadal and Feliciano Lopez lost in the last eight. Alcaraz and Nadal are the first Spanish pair to reach the Indian Wells semi-finals in the tournament’s 46-year history.

“It’s tough to play against Rafa but at the same time I will enjoy the moment, I will enjoy the match,” Alcaraz previewed. “It’s not every day you play against your idol. I’m going to be happy even if I lose that match. but I am focused right now to play my best against Rafa and be able to take my chances.”

Nick Kyrgios has already beaten Rafael Nadal three times in their now nine-match ATP Head2Head history. But this one would have been special, given Nadal’s perfect start to the 2022 season.

Instead, after serving for a one-set lead and creating two break points early in the final set, he dropped a heartbreaking 7-6(0), 5-7, 6-4 decision to the Spaniard, who improved to 19-0 on the season.

“That one hit pretty hard. I felt like, honestly, I was the one to end the streak,” Kyrgios reflected in his post-match press conference.

The Aussie entered the match full of confidence following his first Top 10 win in more than two years against Casper Ruud. He had not dropped a set or a service game on the way to the quarter-finals, and had no problem keeping up that form at the start of the match against 21-time Grand Slam champion Nadal.

“I felt like I was playing well. I felt like I did everything right in the first set that I planned to do. I sat down with my coach—myself—and I had a game plan, and everything was working,” said Kyrgios, who does not travel with a coach. “Two points away from the first set, I don’t know how he got out of that game. 5-4, 30/15, just kept replaying that point over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again.”

Kyrgios was on the verge of two set points before Nadal stayed alive with a desperate scramble, floating a hopeful lob just inside the sideline to get back in the rally. That was the start of three straight points for the Spaniard, who ended a run of 30 consecutive holds and nine straight break points saved for Kyrgios at the tournament. 

After a late-set collapse that culminated in a point penalty to close a shutout tie-break loss, Kyrgios regrouped admirably to force a decider. Despite the result, Kyrgios took pride in his performance and his part in a marquee matchup on one of the game’s biggest stages.

“That’s what you dream about as a little kid, to play these events against Nadal and the hype around it,” he explained after “episode nine” of their rivalry. “I don’t see any other matches getting this kind of hype. As soon as we matched up against each other, social media’s going nuts… I think it lived up to it.

“And it was an amazing atmosphere. I knew the crowd was obviously, every time you play against Rafa, Roger, or Novak, the crowd’s going to be heavily in their favour, and I know that, and I’m not asking them to go for me. I like that kind of villain, underdog-type feeling. But again, it was an amazing atmosphere. I’m never going to take that for granted. Rafa’s a champion. So, you know, I think we’ve got an enormous amount of respect for each other. At the net, we said words, and I can feel it. We respect each other and he’s a hell of a player.”

Kyrgios later elaborated on that mutual respect, alluding to some past barbs exchanged between the two:

“I feel like we respect each other. I think he’s the greatest of all time as of now,” he said. “I really in this game have never said anything that bad, compared to if I went through my

comments right now, like that’s what I’m getting on a daily basis.

“I’ve never said anything like that to Rafael Nadal. I’ve had a couple comments and he’s had a couple comments back. And, you know, it’s good for the sport, that rivalry. Like, I’m Nick Kyrgios and I’m a rival to Rafael Nadal. How? Like how is that possible?

“And I think it’s exciting for the sport, do you know what I mean? Like that’s what people should be talking about. And my career’s 1/40th of what he’s done and we’re rivals because of that little back and forth that was nothing.”

Perhaps it’s Kyrgios’ recognition of Nadal’s greatness that will make this loss sting so much. In press, he recalled watching the Spaniard win Grand Slams as a kid, and getting autographs from the likes of Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Now that he’s become accustomed to competing against those legends, the 26-year-old relishes his role as one of the great entertainers in the modern game — even if some purists bristle at his brash attitude. Who else would get into a spat with Ben Stiller at deuce in a deciding set, as Kyrgios did with the actor sitting front and center on Thursday in Indian Wells?

And even though Kyrgios had his customary ‘dialogue’ with the chair umpire and some issues with the crowd in the quarter-final matchup, he never lost focus in the contest and forced Nadal to come up with another classic comeback to advance.

“I feel like I’m helping the sport, I’m creating more attention and everyone who thinks that I’m bad for the sport is just an idiot,” he snapped. “Like they have obviously got no idea. No idea.”

Kyrgios, who will move to the brink of the Top 100 with his quarter-final result, will again compete as a wild card in Miami next week.

Rafael Nadal overcame a monstrous start and a measured comeback attempt from Nick Kyrgios with an assured finish on Thursday in the BNP Paribas Open quarter-finals.

With the 7-6(0), 5-7, 6-4 victory, Nadal extends his perfect season to 19-0 and improves his ATP Head2Head record against Kyrgios to 6-3, including wins in their past three meetings. A three-time champion in Indian Wells, Nadal returns to the semi-finals for the 11th time in the desert.

Down an early break in the opening set, Nadal broke the Kyrgios serve for the first time in the tournament as the Aussie served for the set at 5-4. The Aussie wild card had held in each of his 30 previous service games, saving nine break points on the way to the quarter-finals.

That break changed the colour of the match, as Kyrgios grew frustrated and Nadal began to repel his opponent’s power with greater success. A shutout tie-break ended on a point penalty for an audible obscenity, Kyrgios’ late outburst underscoring the extent of the turnaround to close the set. 

But the Aussie steadied impressively in the second, dominating on serve and worrying Nadal by taking the initiative on the return throughout the set. The first break point of the set doubled as a set point for Kyrgios, who tracked down a drop shot and flicked a high backhand volley past Nadal to level the match in style.

A tight start to the final set included a short but testy exchange between Kyrgios and actor Ben Stiller, who was sitting front row center: “Are you any good at tennis?” Kyrgios remarked.

Soon after, Nadal earned his second break of the match on a double fault to lead 4-3. Two love holds gave him the victory in two hours and 46 minutes.

Nadal will next face the winner of the evening quarter-final between 12th seed Cameron Norrie and 19th seed Carlos Alcaraz.

More to follow…

Few doubted Carlos Alcaraz would force his way to the top of the men’s game. But the pace of his progress – and rise inside the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings – continues to surprise to the upside.

And the 18-year-old Spaniard is already building a case to be known as one of the game’s best returners, especially in the key metric of breaking serve.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of breaking serve from specific point scores from 2015-2022 identifies that Alcaraz is already leading the Tour in several key categories that highlight his penchant for breaking serve. The data set includes players who have played 30 or more matches from the 2015 season up to Indian Wells in 2022.

Breaking From 0/15
1. C. Alcaraz = 51.8%
2. R. Nadal = 51.2%
3. D. Schwartzman = 50.0%

Alcaraz is one of only three players who is statistically favoured to win the game as the returner after winning just the opening point of the game. It’s a stunning statistic, especially considering that the Tour average sits at just 38.4 per cent. Alcaraz, Nadal and Schwartzman are the only three players to sit above 50 per cent in this specific match metric.

Breaking From 0/30
1. C. Alcaraz = 77.8%
2. R. Nadal = 72.9%
3. D. Schwartzman = 69.0%

When Alcaraz wins the first two points returning, he goes on to break serve more than three out of four times. He is the only player on tour to sit above the 75 percentile threshold (77.8%) breaking serve from 0/30. The Tour average, at just 59.4 per cent, is far below Alcaraz’s lofty number.

Breaking From 30/30
1. C. Alcaraz = 38.5%
2. R. Nadal = 38.3%
3. D. Schwartzman = 36.9%

Alcaraz narrowly edged Nadal breaking from 30/30 at 38.5 per cent. He also sits more than 10 percentage points above the Tour average at 27.8 per cent.

Breaking From 15/30
1. R. Nadal = 58.7
2. C. Alcaraz = 57.8%
3. D. Schwartzman = 55.1%

The Tour average for breaking from 15/30 is 45.2 per cent. Alcaraz sits second in this category at a lofty 57.8 per cent, which is less than one percentage point behind Nadal. When Alcaraz gets his teeth into a return game, he is very efficient at closing it out.

Breaking From 15/40
1. R. Nadal = 80.6%
2. C. Alcaraz = 80.3%
3. M. Kecmanovic = 80.3%

This is another clear example of Alcaraz finishing what he started. When he reached 15/40, he broke 80.3 per cent of the time, which is almost exactly the same as Nadal (80.6%), and well above the Tour average of 72.4 per cent.

Breaking From Deuce
1. R. Nadal = 40.5%
2. C. Alcaraz = 40.3%
3. S. Korda = 38.1%

Alcaraz (40.3%) and Nadal (40.5%) are once again neck-and-neck in this return statistic, significantly outperforming the Tour average of breaking from deuce at 28.7 per cent. It turns out the server only enjoys a 60-40 advantage serving at Deuce against these two Spaniards.

At just 18 years of age, Alcaraz is just beginning to build his statistical resume on tour. The fact that he is so often mentioned in the same breath as Nadal when returning serve – and sometimes superior to him – speaks volumes to his prowess on the return side of the equation.

In 1989, Michael Chang won the first and only major tournament of his career, Roland Garros. Three years later, the pride of Hoboken, N.J., did something that may have been even more difficult: He won the coveted Sunshine Double, taking the titles in both Indian Wells and Miami.

“Coming into Indian Wells [in 1992], I was actually not playing that well,” Chang told ATP Uncovered. “So really, just kind of struggling through my matches and all of a sudden something just clicked. My timing clicked, my movement clicked.

“The tide completely shifted.”

Lacking the conventional weapons – a big serve and a forehand to match – Chang had two other vital attributes, brains and quickness. He leveraged those advantages, winning all six matches at the BNP Paribas Open. He dropped a single game in the semi-final over Francisco Clavet and beat Andrei Chesnokov in the final 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.

“Miami’s a little different,” Chang said, “it’s a different flavour. I was really, really pumped to play Jim [Courier]. He’d reached No. 1.”

Indeed, after beating World No. 4 Pete Sampras in the quarter-finals, Chang drew Courier in the semi-finals at the Miami Open presented by Itau. That, too, was a straight-sets victory and only Alberto Mancini stood in his way.

“I had a good record against Alberto Mancini,” Chang said. “I felt like if I played good, solid tennis, I felt like I had a great chance to win that match.”
Chang needed only two sets to lift his second trophy in three weeks, following Courier (1991) as a Sunshine Double champion. Sampras (1994), Marcelo Rios (1998) and Andre Agassi (2001) would follow.

Eventually, Novak Djokovic (four doubles) and Roger Federer (three) would join them in that elite group.

“I think all the players realise you’ve got two huge, back-to-back tournaments,” Chang said. “I think for me to win both Indian Wells and Miami, I think it’s always been a special feat.

“I knew after it was done it was something I’d remember for a while.”

After two years waiting for the next instalment of the Rafael Nadal v Nick Kyrgios rivalry, the stars have finally aligned in the California desert.

The pair’s ninth tour-level meeting headlines the quarter-final action at the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday. Nadal leads 5-3 in the ATP Head2Head series between the two, but the Australian has settled into some vintage form in California and is yet to drop a set this week.

Three-time champion Nadal may have dropped a frame when being pushed to the brink by Sebastian Korda in the second round in Indian Wells, but the legendary Spaniard is still perfect in 2022 in the only department that really matters – winning matches. With every victory extending his personal-best start to a season, a win over Kyrgios would take him to 19-0.

“[I’m] happy to win, [it] doesn’t matter how many sets,” said Nadal after coming through two tie-breaks to oust Reilly Opelka in the fourth round on Wednesday. “Of course, I’m happy to be in the quarter-finals. That’s my best match of the tournament. I did what I had to do against a very difficult player like Reilly.”

Previous encounters with Kyrgios mean the 21-time Grand Slam champion is more than wary of the threat the wild card poses to his unbeaten run. The Australian has excelled in seeing off Sebastian Baez, Federico Delbonis, and World No. 8 Casper Ruud on his way to the last eight, and has a habit of raising his game even further when facing off against Nadal.

“Nick is playing great,” said Nadal. “He is one of the toughest opponents on Tour. Everyone knows how good he is when he is motivated. It is going to be a good test for me and good challenge.”

Kyrgios’ fourth round opponent Jannik Sinner withdrew from their clash on Wednesday due to illness, but the Australian will still carry the momentum of his opening three straight-sets victories with him into the quarter-final matchup. The wild card has spoken openly about the positive mindset powering his performances in Indian Wells as he hunts a maiden ATP Masters 1000 title, and his first at any level since 2019.

“I know what I’m capable of,” said Kyrgios after his third-round win over Ruud. “I think everyone does as well. It’s whether I put my mind to it. I feel rejuvenated. I just feel like I’m here, I’m happy, and I’m just ready to give my all every match.”

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The victor will be handed a semi-final assignment against either defending champion Cameron Norrie or Carlos Alcaraz. The second quarter-final in the top half of the draw is intriguingly set as two of the form players on Tour meet for the first time since the Spaniard ran out a straight-sets winner at the 2021 US Open.

Having turned his season on its head after kicking 2022 off with four straight defeats, Norrie was glad to return to the scene of his most famous victory for Wednesday’s fourth-round win over dangerous American Jenson Brooksby. The memories of his previous match on Stadium 1, in which he beat Nikoloz Basilashvili to clinch a maiden Masters 1000 title in the 2021 final, appeared to boost the Brit but he is ready for another tough fight against Spanish prodigy Alcaraz.

“I love playing on this court, obviously,” said Norrie after seeing off Brooksby. “I’m feeling good physically and I like the conditions here, but I got absolutely whacked by him [Alcaraz] last time. He’s one of the best up-and-coming players, really solid both sides, he won [an ATP 500 event] earlier this year. So he’s confident, and it’s going to be a tough one, but [I am] looking forward to hopefully getting some revenge on him.”

A task made all the more difficult given that Alcaraz’s level only appears to have risen since that meeting in New York in August. The Rio Open presented by Claro champion attributes that improvement to intense off-court fitness work, allowing him to stay at the top of his game for longer.

“My team and I know how important it is to be strong physically,” the 18-year-old said earlier this week. “It was one thing we knew I had to improve a lot. It was a great focus during preseason. I am really happy. It gives me more confidence. I have more of a chance to keep my level high during a three or four-hour match against the best players.”

This consistency will be put to the test against the rock-solid game of Norrie. “I’m going to be happy if I keep the level [from tonight],” Alcaraz said after beating Gael Monfils in straight sets in the fourth round. “But I always say that you can improve every day, you can do better every day.”

Second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury face their first seeded opponents of the tournament when they take on No. 7 pairing Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski as the doubles quarter-finals are rounded out on Thursday.

Ram and Salisbury are looking to add to their maiden Masters 1000 title together, won in Toronto last year. The American-British pairing followed that run with a US Open triumph in September but have not reached the quarter-finals in two previous appearances together in Indian Wells. Ram has had success in the California desert before, however, lifting the trophy with Raven Klaasen in 2017.

Awaiting in the semi-finals will be an unseeded pairing. Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin take on Aslan Karatsev and Andrey Rublev in Thursday’s other quarter-final, the latter duo flying high after it took out third seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in the second round.

ORDER OF PLAY – THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2022

STADIUM 1 start 11:00 am
WTA – [6] M. Sakkari (GRE) vs [17] E. Rybakina (KAZ)
WTA – [5] P. Badosa (ESP) vs [21] V. Kudermetova

Not Before 3:00 pm
ATP – [4] R. Nadal (ESP) vs [WC] N. Kyrgios (AUS)

Not Before 6:00 pm
ATP – [19] C. Alcaraz (ESP) vs [12] C. Norrie (GBR)
ATP – [7] W. Koolhof (NED) / N. Skupski (GBR) vs [2] R. Ram (USA) / J. Salisbury (GBR)

STADIUM 2 start 3:00 pm
ATP – [PR] S. Gonzalez (MEX) / E. Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs A. Karatsev / A. Rublev

Not Before 5:00 PM
WTA – [5] G. Dabrowski (CAN) / G. Olmos (MEX) vs [7] A. Muhammad (USA) / E. Shibahara (JPN)

Not Before 7:00 PM
WTA – Y. Xu (CHN) / Z. Yang (CHN) vs A. Cornet (FRA) / L. Fernandez (CAN)

Andrey Rublev is a winning machine.

The World No. 7 has triumphed in his past 12 matches and will aim to keep his career-best run going when he faces Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals at the BNP Paribas Open on Friday.

The 24-year-old has been a dominant force on the ATP Tour over recent weeks and is bidding to capture his third consecutive title, after lifting trophies in Marseille and Dubai in February.

“When you win two tournaments, it gives you great confidence that you don’t need to stress,” Rublev said earlier this week when discussing his strong start to the season. “You are more relaxed when you train and you train in a more positive way and with good intensity. The main thing is to keep this form going now.”

Rublev is a nine-time tour-level titlist, with five of his victories coming at ATP 500 tournaments. However, the seventh seed is yet to crack the code at an ATP Masters 1000 event, with his best results at this level coming in Monte-Carlo and Toronto last season, where he reached the championship match.

Rublev looks like he might change that record this weekend though as the action in Indian Wells hits fever pitch. He has earned straight-sets wins over Dominik Koepfer, Frances Tiafoe and Hubert Hurkacz so far in the California desert, but faces a tricky test against an opponent who has fond memories at the hard-court tournament.

View Schedule | View Singles Draw | View Doubles Draw

Dimitrov soared to the semi-finals in Indian Wells in 2021, earning standout wins against Top 10 stars Daniil Medvedev and Hurkacz. Like Rublev, the Bulgarian is yet to drop a set at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden this week, coming into the clash off the back of a victory over American John Isner.

Little has separated Dimitrov and Rublev in the past, with the pair locked at 2-2 in their ATP Head2Head series, with three of their four meetings coming on outdoor hard. However, they have not met since Beijing in 2019, when Rublev was the World No. 35, the same ranking Dimitrov is currently.

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Friday’s other singles quarter-final will see American Taylor Fritz continue to fly the flag for the home crowd when he takes on Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.

There is something in the Indian Wells air that brings the best out of the World No. 20, with Fritz reaching his maiden Masters 1000 semi-final at the event last October, when the tournament was played outside its regular March slot due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The 24-year-old, who upset Matteo Berrettini, Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev en route to the last four in 2021, has showcased his fighting qualities this week, edging Jaume Munar and Alex de Minaur in third-set tie-breaks. 

Fritz will carry a 1-0 ATP Head2Head series lead into his match against Kecmanovic, who is enjoying a dream run in the California desert.

The Serbian earned just his second Top 10 win when he overcame World No. 6 Berrettini on Wednesday. With his standout triumph, the World No. 61 booked his place in the last eight at a Masters 1000 for the second time, after also advancing to the same stage in Indian Wells on his tournament debut in 2019.

“He is playing really well,” Fritz said when asked about facing Kecmanovic. “He’s a really good ball-striker and I think it’s going to be a lot of big hitting probably.”

Kecmanovic will be aiming to reach the semi-finals at a tour-level event for the first time this year after losing in the last eight in Rio de Janeiro and Santiago in February.

In the doubles, Americans John Isner and Jack Sock will look to advance to the final when they take on Andrey Golubev and Alexander Zverev. Isner and Sock soared to the title in Indian Wells in 2018, defeating Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the final. Meanwhile, second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury will play Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin as they aim to win a second Masters 1000 crown as a team this week.

SCHEDULE – FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2022

STADIUM 1 start 12:00 noon
ATP – [7] A. Rublev vs [33] G. Dimitrov (BUL)
ATP – M. Kecmanovic (SRB) vs [20] T. Fritz (USA)

Not Before 6:00 PM
WTA – [24] S. Halep (ROU) vs [3] I. Swiatek (POL)
WTA – [5] P. Badosa (ESP) vs [6] M. Sakkari (GRE)

STADIUM 2 start Not Before 6:00 pm
ATP – [WC] J. Isner (USA) / J. Sock (USA) vs A. Golubev (KAZ) / A. Zverev (GER)
ATP – [PR] S. Gonzalez (MEX) / E. Roger-Vasselin (FRA) vs [2] R. Ram (USA) / J. Salisbury (GBR)

Did You Know?
Rublev earned 11 straight victories in 2020, collecting titles in St. Petersburg and Vienna, before he lost to former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka in the third round at the Rolex Paris Masters. He has now bettered that run here in Indian Wells, with his fourth-round win over Hurkacz his 12th in a row.