I stayed strong mentally – Carlos Alcaraz after beating Jannik Sinner at Indian Wells

World No.2 Carlos Alcaraz registered a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory against his arch-rival Jannik Sinner in the semifinal of the Indian Wells. Alcaraz came up with his best against the Italian and took one more step towards his BNP Paribas Open title defense.

With this win, the Spaniard snapped Sinner’s 19-match-winning streak and 16-0 start in the ongoing season 2024. The Australian Open champion bagged the opening set convincingly by 6-1 but Alcaraz bounced back in the second set, breaking Sinner’s serve in the fourth game.

Subsequently, the Spaniard broke Sinner’s serve in the third game of the final set. This win also helped Alcaraz in leveling the ATP H2H record against Sinner at 4-4. Alcaraz attributed his mental strength to his win against the Italian.

“I stayed strong mentally,” said Alcaraz, who pointed to his head after the win. “I think that’s a really important part in this game. You have to be strong mentally if you want to overcome these kind of matches, a set down against someone that’s playing an unbelievable game. I’m really happy with the things that I’ve done after that.

“I changed my style a little bit, I changed my game a little bit and I think it worked very well. I’m really happy to beat Jannik and be in the final again.”

Alcaraz revealed he defended well in the last two sets and changed his return style, which helped him savor success.

“I had defend better than I did in the first set,” he said of the changes he introduced to spark his comeback. “I had to put more balls in, try to stay strong on the court… I changed my return style. I was more on the back of the court, putting some returns in, getting myself more in the rallies.”

Alcaraz will face Daniil Medvedev in the final on Sunday night.