Preview Indian Wells 2026 ATP Semi-Finals | Sinner looking to keep up good form against Zverev while Alcaraz and Medvedev meet again in California

Now that the women's semi-final action has been wrapped up at Indian Wells, it is time for the men to confirm their final showdown. Only the four strongest players have survived this long, representing their talent on court. Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev will all have their sights set on the title, but first they must create that opportunity to win it, needing to book their spots in the final.

A repeat of the 2025 Australian Open final is on the cards at Indian Wells with both players desperately hoping to secure a first ever triumph in California. For Sinner, it would mean he has won a Masters 1000 title at every hardcourt tournament in an impressive feat by the 24-year-old.

He will be the big favourite going into the match due to him having defeated the German in their five prior matchups. It also looks like he is back to his best after a shaky start to the year by his incredible standards. He failed to make the final in just two tournaments last year: the Halle Open and Shanghai Masters, in which he retired. This tally has been matched this year in his first events competed in. The Australian Open title defence ended in a thriller against a phenomenal Novak Djokovic, while Jakub Mensik offered up a surprise result in the quarterfinal of the Qatar Open.

He is expected to get back up to speed in the Sunshine swing, a brace of tournaments which should suit his expertise on hardcourt surfaces, although that is not represented by his previous displays at Indian Wells. He reached the semi-final stage in 2023 and 2024 before missing out last year due to suspension, leaving him a clean slate to recuperate a whole heap of ranking points as he looks to catch up with Alcaraz, who is racing ahead in front.

For now, however, he will just be focusing on the task at hand. He has yet to drop a set in this tournament, bypassing Dalibor Svrcina 6-1, 6-1 ahead getting the better of Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-2. He managed to battle through a very tough test against Joao Fonseca 7-6(64), 7-6(4) as he set up a quarterfinal tie against Learner Tien. In a repeat of the 2025 China Open final, the victor was again Sinner who dropped one more game than he did in Beijing, winning 6-2, 6-2.

This ruthless run to this stage shows the levels he is currently playing at. Very few will be able to cope with this, but the world number four, Zverev, will hope and believe that he will have the goods to combat this.

His past record against the four-time Grand Slam champion does read for grim reading. He has managed just two sets in those contests, holding him back from clinching the biggest titles the ATP Tour can offer. His form last year did drop off from his usual high standards, but he did improve them at the end of the year. This translated into Melbourne, where he almost completed a hugely impressive comeback against Alcaraz, even having the chance to serve it out before the Spaniard prevented him from reaching another Grand Slam final.

In contrast to this, an early exit in the Mexican Open raised concerns about his consistency on court and whether he was able to exert his best game enough of the time. Only the best version of Zverev will do against Sinner, with him already breaking new ground this week by making it to the semi-final for the first time. That means he has reached every Masters 1000 semi-final stage, and it is just Indian Wells and the Monte -Carlo Masters that he has not appeared in the final.

If he wins the title, he climbs above Djokovic back into the world number three spot. So far, it has been a solid campaign from the 28-year-old who has had some tricky competitors. He took down former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-4 ahead of a very hotly contested tie against Brandon Nakashima. The American tried his best but was shafted by a late break from Zverev, who won 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-4. Another American in the form of Frances Tiafoe was next to falter, as Zverev prevailed 6-3, 6-4. He then saved the best till last with Arthur Fils going out 6-2, 6-3. Zverev has already defeated one Italian at Indian Wells. Can he get the better of another?

The only player still standing to have previously won this title, Alcaraz has had some great memories from his time in California. He took home the title in 2023 and 2024 before bowing out at the semi-final stage to last year’s champion, Jack Draper, in a three-set defeat. He backed this up at the Miami Open with a second round defeat to David Goffin.

It does not feel like this will occur for Alcaraz, who is on blistering form, kicking out those occasional early-round hiccups. Still without a defeat in 2026, this could be a special and very memorable year for the world number one, who is looking ahead to the upcoming tournaments with a lot of hope and ambition. Firstly, a third Indian Wells title is on the line.

Coming off winning the Australian Open and Qatar Open, the 22-year-old would like to continue his incredible form with the final two hardcourt competitions happening before they switch to clay. He has already collected the number of ranking points he got from last year, and with a chance to capitalise from his disastrous hall in Miami last year, he could keep a relatively healthy lead to Sinner in the rankings with a ninth Masters 1000 triumph.

Now 16 matches unbeaten, a 17th will confirm another final. He got to this stage with a number of fine performances. Grigor Dimitrov fell first in a 6-2, 6-3 win. A tighter match against Arthur Rinderknech followed as Alcaraz completed an impressive comeback as he won 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-2. Three-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud was an easier task, prevailing 6-1, 7-6(2) ahead of a quarterfinal win over the 2021 champion Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4.

Similar to the previous tie, Alcaraz has a dominant winning streak over Medvedev, winning their last five showdowns while dropping just one set. Not the stats the Russian would want to be reading. In total, Alcaraz has won six of their eight meetings. Two of these came in the final in Alcaraz’s two triumphs as Indian Wells in an interesting turn of events.

Medvedev will be desperately hoping to get his revenge for many near-miss opportunities. If there is any time that he could stand a chance against the seven-time Grand Slam champion, then this could be it. He is playing at a very high level in recent weeks, winning the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after a fine week on court, although he never played the final due to Tallon Griekspoor's injury.

He then managed to find a way out of the Middle East amid the current conflict and prepared himself in a short space of time to compete at a high level in this specific tournament. Quite the achievement from the 30-year-old who will look to capitalise on this last bit of hardcourt action until they come back in the North American hardcourt swing in August.

The former US Open champion showed no struggle in his opening matchup against Alejandro Tabilo with a 6-4, 6-2 triumph. Sebastian Baez was his next victim, winning 6-4, 6-0 before playing some more good tennis in a 6-2, 6-4 win over Alex Michelsen. He extended his winning streak to nine matches in a 6-1, 7-5 win against the reigning champion Jack Draper, in a contest shadowed by a contentious incident at the business end of it. Medvedev will be hoping for a clean win against the world number one with no controversies or major talking points. Another motivating factor will be that if he wins, a return to the top 10 will be imminent.