Sinner Remains On Course To Win His First Indian Wells Title

Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner (photo: Jürgen Hasenkopf)

INDIAN WELLS/WASHINGTON, March 13, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

World No. 2 Jannik Sinner came into his quarterfinal match against 20-year-old American Learner Tien looking to equal his best BNP Paribas Open result by reaching his third semifinal in Indian Wells.

The second-seeded Sinner brought with him an eight-match winning streak at the ATP Masters 1000 level (16-0 in sets) after winning the Rolex Paris Masters last year in Paris. Now, he was seeking his 14th ATP Masters 1000 semifinal berth – and guess what? The 24-year-old Italian got the job done – and quickly, too. He relied upon a powerful, first-strike attack and it proved too much for Tien to handle.

Sinner marched to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over the 25th seed Tien in a brisk 66 minutes on Stadium 1. He hit 17 winners – 10 of them were service aces – and saved all four break points he faced. Sinner won 83 percent (25 of 30) of his first-serve points, converted four of five break points and outpointed Tien 60-37 to collect his 11th victory this season.

To his credit, Sinner has compiled an impressive 26-0 win-loss record versus Americans and is 20-0 versus left-handers since losing to Ben Shelton at the Rolex Shanghai Masters in 2023 as he aims to remain on the path to completing the set of titles at all six ATP Masters 1000 hard-court events.

“I feel like of course experience [of the matchup] helps you a bit,” Sinner said during his on-court interview with ATP Media, after defeating Tien for the second time in two career meetings. “In the other way, we tried to prepare ourselves in the best possible way. He is a very talented player. He will be here many times, but I’m happy how I reacted. I feel like he was very aggressive, especially in the beginning, so I tried to hold back. An important match for me of course.”

Tien, playing in his first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal following a pair of Top-20 victories over World No. 8 Ben Shelton of the United States and World No. 19 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, sought to equal the biggest win of his career after defeating then-No. 2 Alexander Zverev in Acapulco last year. However, he hit more double faults than aces (5-4), won just 48 percent (14 of 29) of his first-serve points and committed 28 unforced errors. Although he lost, Tien will head to the Miami Open ranked No. 21 on the PIF Live ATP Rankings, a career-best ranking.

On a sunny day in the Coachella Valley, where the temperatures soared into the mid-90s (Fahrenheit), Sinner said he was pleased with how he dealt with the heat. “Yeah, [it] was a hot day, obviously. Very happy about today’s performance. Yeah, felt like it helped a lot, you know, being up quite early breaks in the first and second set. So, very happy,” he said.

“About the heat, today I felt quite comfortable. I came here quite early, and the week before the tournament it was very hot, so that helps me or helped me for sure.

“And now, yeah, I try to be ready for the next match.”

Zverev completes set of ATP Masters 1000 semifinals

On Saturday, Sinner will face World No. 4 Alexander Zverev for the 11th time, owning a 6-4 head-to-head advantage. The fourth-seeded German rolled to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over No. 30 seed Arthur Fils of France in one hour and 22 minutes on Stadium 2 Thursday afternoon. Zverev struck 22 winners – including seven aces – and won 75 percent (27 of 36) of his first-serve points. He saved all three break points he faced from Fils and converted four of 10 break-point opportunities.

Zverev outpointed his opponent 68-52 to secure his 11th victory of the season and to reach his 80th tour-level semifinal – his 24th at ATP Masters 1000 level – and to become the first German to reach the Indian Wells semifinals since Rainer Schüttler in 2003.

Zverev has become the fifth man to complete the set of semifinals at all ATP Masters 1000 events in series history, joining Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray. His 166th career ATP Masters 1000 victory surpassed Stan Wawrinka for ninth-most all-time.

“It was definitely a very good match,” Zverev said during his on-court interview with ATP Media, after improving his head-to-head against Fils to 5-2. “Arthur is somebody who — when he’s healthy — is one of the best players in the world. He was on the way to the Top 10 last year, but an injury stopped him. I’m sure he’s going to be back at that level very soon.”

News & noteworthy

In a fourth-round match that delivered a point for the ages, defending Indian Wells champion Jack Draper of Great Britain fought past five-time champion Novak Djokovic, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5), in two hours and 35 minutes of tight and tense – but also entertaining – tennis on Stadium 1 Wednesday night.

The victory advanced the 24-year-old British No. 1, who is seeded 14th, into Thursday’s quarterfinal round against No. 11 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia, twice an Indian Wells semifinalist, on Stadium 2. However, it must have taken a lot out of Draper, who fell to Medvedev, 6-1, 7-5, in 75 minutes. Medvedev struck 10 aces and 23 winners overall, while Draper hit just 10 winners – three of them aces. Medvedev broke Draper’s serve three times in five opportunities and outpointed him 64-44.

In the first game of the Draper-Djokovic decider, with the score 30-all, Draper and Djokovic exchanged a 26-shot rally – won by the World No. 3 from Serbia, but which also left the 38-year-old exhausted. The point drew a standing ovation from the 16,100 fans who filled Stadium 1, the largest show court, at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

“I think it was a really important point, because I felt like it’s not easy to do four big sprints in a point,” Draper said afterward in his news conference. “You know, I think the drop shots I hit were decent. So dropshot-lob, it was like a conditioning session in that point, and it was already a physical match at that point.

“I felt the repercussions of that point, and I knew the next point again I had to be really, really solid to back it up. I felt like that set the tone for the set for me, for sure, even though I lost the point.

“Saying that, you never know. Novak, he’s going to come and, you know, he’s always going to be at you. It was a lot of fun, a lot of good points in there. Yeah, full respect for him, yeah.”

When Draper was asked to sum up the match, which was his ninth-straight victory at Indian Wells going back to his championship run last year, he said: “Yeah, it was a crazy match. I think both of us gave it our all. I think from my side, started off, like, a bit passive, and then as the match went on, I definitely was able to be more aggressive, you know, take control of the points on my terms.

“Just overwhelmed to obviously beat Novak, someone I have watched and admired and idolized since I was a kid. Just very grateful to be in this situation and go again tomorrow.”

Djokovic was asked about his perspective of the turning point26-shot rally point during his news conference. He said: “It was great winning that point in that game, but I just, like, ran completely out of the gas and just started to feel a bit better towards basically end of the third.

“He played a sloppy game to close it out 5-4, and, you know, I got the crowd, you know, backing me, and I felt the energy. It was, like, maybe I’m going to take this one.

“It was so close, so close. I mean, just unfortunate few mistakes from my side. Tiebreak, 4-3 up. 5-All, as well.

“That’s tennis.”

Around the Indian Wells Tennis Garden

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz sought his fifth consecutive semifinal at Indian Wells, after winning titles in 2023 and 2024, and advancing to the last four in 2022 and 2025 in 2022. He lost to lefties on both occasions, Rafael Nadal and Jack Draper.

On Thursday night, the 22-year-old Spaniard faced another left-hander in No. 27 seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain, in a repeat of their 2022 quarterfinal. Alcaraz leads their head-to-head 5-3 and entered the match undefeated (15-0) in 2026.

Before the match, Alcaraz said of Norrie during his Wednesday news conference: “I would say lefties are always tricky to play against.”

“Just the way he can change the height of the ball. He has a really flat backhand and really tops in forehand. So you can be a little bit confused sometimes with how it’s going to come, the ball, to you.

“He’s a gladiator. You know, he’s a real fighter, fighting every ball, every game, every set. So it’s really difficult to, you know, when you’re facing someone like never give up any point or any ball.”

• World No. 1 and top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus raised the level of her game following a close first-set against 19-year-old No. 10 seed Victoria Mboko of Canada and went on to a 7-6 (0), 6-4 quarterfinal victory in one hour and 49 minutes on Stadium 1 to advance to the semifinal round. It was Sabalenka’s 15th victory of the season in 16 outings, while Mboko dropped to 16-5.

Last year’s runner-up Sabalenka, who beat Mboko at the Australian Open in their only previous meeting, finished with six aces, hit 30 winners and won 69 percent (36 of 52) of her first-serve points. She saved all five break points she faced and broke Mboko once in eight tries. The 27-year-old from Belarus outpointed Mboko 89-77.

“Yeah, it was a tough battle today. Super happy with the performance,” Sabalenka said during her post-match news conference. “Happy the level I played on those key moments in each set, and of course happy to be through this difficult round.”

Sabalenka praised Mboko’s fighting spirit. “I just see how aggressive she is, how passionate she is, how much she’s fighting on court and never giving up. I see this as a future Grand Slam champion, for sure.”

Despite losing, Mboko was upbeat during her news conference. “Yeah, well, it was a really fun week. It’s my first time playing here, so not that many expectations for myself,” she said. “Aryna played really great tennis today, and I could leave the court today just with a lesson more than a loss.”

Next, Sabalenka will face No. 14 seed Linda Noskova of Czechia, who ended the dream run of 110th-ranked Australian qualifier Talia Gibson, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, in one hour and 37 minutes on Stadium 2 for her 99th career victory. Noskova fired 13 aces, won 82 percent (37 of 45) of her first-serve points, converted five of nine break points and outpointed Gibson 82-64 to reach her second career WTA 1000 semifinal. This is the furthest Noskova has gone in four appearances at Indian Wells.

• Meanwhile, World No. 9 and ninth seed seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine reached her first Indian Wells semifinal since 2019 after upsetting World No. 2 and second seed Iga Swiatek of Poland, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, in two hours and nine minutes on Stadium 2. 

Svitolina, who won 73 percent (40 of 55) first-serve points, saved five of eight break points while breaking Swiatek’s serve five times in 11 chances. She outpointed her opponent 94-82 to improve to 19-3 this season. Her 19 victories leads the WTA Tour and she’s 8-1 in her last two tournaments (Dubai, Indian Wells).

“Yeah, t was a good day for me. I played really well,” Svitolina said during her news conference. “I mean, I wouldn’t say it was the perfect match, but in a way, I could stay in the match and fight and find a way after losing second set.

“But, yeah, definitely very happy with the performance overall.”

Next, Svitolina will oppose World No. 3 and third seed Elena Rybakina, who eliminated World No. 5 and fifth seed Jessica Pegula of the United States, 6-1, 7-6 (4), in one hour and 28 minutes on Stadium 1 for her 16th career win in the California palm desert.

Rybakina, the 2023 Indian Wells champion, ran her WTA Tour-leading total of service aces to 130 by collecting seven. She won 75 percent (38 of 51) of her first-serve points, converted three of four break points against Pegula and outpointed her opponent 72-63 to earn her 16th victory of the season.  The loss snapped Pegula’s eight-match winning streak and was just her third loss of the season in 19 matches.

• In quarterfinal men’s doubles, No. 4 seeds Christian Harrison of the United States and Neal Skupski of Great Britain were upset by Guido Andreozzi of Argentina and Manuel Guinard of France, 3-6, 6-3, 10-8, in one hour and 18 minutes on Stadium 3 to advance to Friday’s semifinal round.

Also, No. 1 seeds Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina defeated alternates Constantin Franzen of Germany and Robin Haase of the Netherlands, 6-4, 6-2, in 64 minutes on Stadium 3 to earn a berth in the semifinals against Andreozzi and Guinard. 

The other semifinal Friday will pair cousins Arthur Rinderknech of France and Valentin Vacherot of Monaco versus Yuki Bhambri of India and Andre Goransson of Sweden.

• In women’s semifinal doubles, No. 1 seeds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini of Italy were upset by No. 3 seeds Katerina Siniakova of Czechia and Taylor Townsend of the United States, 6-2, 6-2, in one hour on Stadium 3.

In the other semifinal, No. 5 seeds Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan and Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia beat No. 7 seeds Cristina Bucsa of Spain and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States, 6-3, 6-4, in one hour and 18 minutes on Stadium 3.

The women’s doubles final will be played on Saturday.

Thursday’s Indian Wells results

Friday’s Indian Wells order of play

By the numbers

• Roger Federer holds the record for most men’s singles quarterfinals played in Indian Wells tournament history with 13. He’s followed by Rafael Nadal (12), Andre Agassi and Novak Djokovic (9) and Jimmy Connors (8).

• Only three men remaining in the quarterfinal field have made it to four Indian Wells quarterfinals during the 2020s decade: Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Cameron Norrie. 

“Quotable …”

“Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, bitter feeling right now, losing a match like this. But proud of myself for fighting and really giving it all on the court. That’s for sure.

“That’s the one thing that I’ll take as a highlight, you know, just the fact of not giving up and trying. I mean, obviously I lost to a great player, and it was really such an even match throughout the entire two-and-a-half hours.

“But, yeah, just a bit disappointed, of course, with getting off the court, fresh off the court. It is okay. I mean, I wish I could have done better, but it was a good fight.”

– World No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, during his post-match news conference, assessing the tournament after losing to defending champion Jack Draper in the fourth round Wednesday night.

 

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