Defending champ Alcaraz ousted in BNP Paribas Open semis; Draper, Rune to meet in final
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INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Jack Draper toppled two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the BNP Paribas Open final.
The 13th-seeded Draper will face 12th-seeded Holger Rune on Sunday. Rune beat fifth-seeded Daniil Medvedev 7-6, 6-4 in the first semifinal for his 150th tour-level victory.
In the women’s final Sunday, top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka will play 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva. They won semifinal matches Friday night in chilly conditions.
Draper ended Alcaraz’s 16-match winning streak in the ATP Masters 1000 event in the California desert. The 23-year-old English left-hander — set to break into the top 10 in the world for the first time Monday — won last year in Vienna and Stuttgart for his lone tour titles. He's 2-3 against Alcaraz.
“It was a strange match in all honesty,” Draper said “Carlos came out a little flat, I sensed that. I had a chance in the first game of the second, and he came up with an ace. … What happened to him happened to me, I got tight, I had low energy.
"Against the top players in the world, they can change their momentum very quickly. I got lost out there for 25 minutes, but in the third, I was really proud of my competitiveness, my attitude and I somehow managed to get over the line.”
Alcaraz, seeded second, missed a chance to become the youngest player to win three consecutive singles titles at any ATP Tour event — and just the third to do it at Indian Wells. The 21-year-old Spanish star won in Rotterdam in February for his 17th ATP Tour title.
The 21-year-old Rune, from Denmark, snapped a seven-match losing streak in semifinals. He’s 2-2 against Medvedev.
“It means everything,” Rune said. “The job is not over yet, but it feels amazing. Playing Daniil is one of the toughest challenges for me on tour. I managed to beat him the first time (we played), but we know each other well. I obviously had the right tactics, but it was still so difficult because he puts in great effort and is super solid. So, I’m very proud of myself.”
Rune has four ATP Tour titles. His biggest victory came in Paris in 2022 in another ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
Medvedev won the last of his 20 ATP Tour titles in 2023. The 29-year-old Russian lost to Alcaraz last year in the Indian Wells final.
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