Nadal Leads Alcaraz In Blockbuster Indian Wells SF

Rafael Nadal leads Carlos Alcaraz 6-4 on Saturday in their highly anticipated BNP Paribas Open semi-finals as he continues his pursuit of a fourth title at Indian Wells. 

It was a notable scene as cameras followed Nadal and Alcaraz on their golf-cart ride to the court in the California desert. Nadal, a legendary figure throughout the sports world, was on the back of the cart, intense as ever. Alcaraz, who was in the middle row, is touted as the future of Spanish tennis and, perhaps, the ATP Tour.

Nadal is off to a personal-best 19-0 start to the season with titles at a Melbourne ATP 250, the Australian Open and Acapulco. His opponent, 18-year-old Alcaraz, is the second-youngest semi-finalist in Indian Wells tournament history behind 17-year-old Andre Agassi in 1988.

The pair clashed for the first time last year on clay in Madrid, where Nadal triumphed 6-1, 6-2 in just 78 minutes behind five service breaks. But it was clear from the first game that today’s Alcaraz has made big strides in the 10 months since that meeting, when the teen had still not cracked the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings.

Now World No. 19 and climbing higher by the week, Alcaraz came out firing. He launched groundstrokes without fear, overwhelming Nadal, who so often imposes his will physically on opponents. That helped the 18-year-old to an early break after he crushed a laser-like crosscourt backhand winner. He then saved five break points in the next game to consolidate it.

But nobody bullies Nadal, which the 35-year-old proved throughout the rest of the set. As aggressive as Alcaraz was, he also made some untimely errors that put him under pressure. And once fourth-seeded Nadal worked his way into the match, he showed no intention of letting go.

The legendary lefty earned a jaw-dropping 17 break points in the opener, claiming three of them. Although Alcaraz showed his own grit and determination by saving most of those chances and getting back on serve after losing four consecutive games, he found himself on the back foot in games far too often. 

The winner of this blockbuster will play American Taylor Fritz in the final. The home favourite eliminated seventh seed Andrey Rublev in straight sets earlier in the day.