Carlos Alcaraz defeats Felix Auger-Aliassime for first time in four tries at Indian Wells

Felix Auger-Aliassime had won all three of their previous meetings—he had never even been broken in any of them, holding all 31 of his service games (and saving all 11 break points he faced).

But Carlos Alcaraz got his revenge at Indian Wells on Thursday night, breaking the Canadian three times to win, 6-4, 6-4, and move through to his second straight semifinal in the desert.

“The goal of mine today was to stay there,” Alcaraz said. “I knew that I was going to have my chances, so just try to take them.

“I probably played one of my best matches this season.”

After four straight holds to start the match, Alcaraz finally broke through on the Auger-Aliassime serve, converting his sixth break point of the night—and his 17th career break point against the Canadian—with a big forehand passing shot for a 3-2 lead.

The two then held from there until Alcaraz had the set in his pocket.

Alcaraz broke again in the very first game of the second set, only to get broken right back—but the Spanish teenager eventually got his third and final break of the match for 5-4 and served it out, ripping one last forehand winner into the corner to seal the victory.

He finished with 26 winners to 16 unforced errors—including more than three times as many winners as errors off his forehand, 16 to 5.

Alcaraz is now through to the fourth Masters 1000 semifinal of his career. He reached his first one at Indian Wells last year, falling to Rafael Nadal, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, in a three-hour-plus epic. The last two times he made it to the final four at a Masters 1000 event he went on to capture the title, at Miami and Madrid last year.

If Alcaraz goes on to win his first Indian Wells title, there’s going to be even more to celebrate—he would reclaim the No. 1 ranking.

The Spanish teenager has already spent 20 career weeks at No. 1, rising to the top spot after winning his first Grand Slam title at the US Open last year and holding it until after this year’s Australian Open, which he missed due to a leg injury—Novak Djokovic reclaimed No. 1 after winning his record-tying 22nd major in Melbourne.

Awaiting current world No. 2 Alcaraz in the semifinals on Saturday will be No. 13-ranked Jannik Sinner, who upset No. 5-ranked defending champion Taylor Fritz earlier in the day, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Alcaraz and Sinner are tied in their head-to-head, 2-2. Their last meeting was arguably one of the best matches of 2022, with Alcaraz fighting off a match point down 5-4 in the fourth set and eventually prevailing, 6-3, 6-7 (7), 6-7 (0), 7-5, 6-3, after five hours and 15 minutes—the second-longest match in US Open history. It was also the latest finish in US Open history, wrapping up at 2:50am.

“I’m really happy to play against him again,” Alcaraz said. “Great battles. I enjoy the matches against him. I can say it’s going to be a really good match, for the fans as well, and for myself as well.

“I’ll try to show my best, to show my 100%. Jannik is playing well, so I’m going to enjoy that match.”