Carlos Alcaraz says Cameron Norrie is a tough opponent to deal with. Norrie himself said his performance was as good as he had hoped.
What’s the outcome of Thursday’s quarter-final night at Arena 1?
Alcaraz’s dominant 6-3, 6-4 victory kept Alcaraz with a perfect 16-0 record on the season.
The Spaniard was flying, the stadium was packed, and sometimes all Nouri could do was try foil. To his credit, he broke serve in the second set after losing the first set 6-3.
But he couldn’t hold on and Alcaraz came into his own, hitting some great shots to win back the break point and add another point. Nori then struck back, but Alcaraz found the answer and the Spaniard ended the tussle to advance to the semi-finals with Daniil Medvedev.
Medvedev said he feels he is playing his best tennis ever and needs to clash with Alcaraz for a third time in Indian Wells on Saturday. Both matches were finals, with the Spaniard winning in straight sets in both 2023 and 2024. Overall, Alkaraz has won six of eight meetings against Medvedev and has won the last four meetings.
Medvedev beat Jack Draper 6-1, 7-5 in a controversial 6-1, 7-5 match on Thursday and hopes he can challenge Alcaraz.
“I feel like I’m playing very, very good tennis,” Medvedev said. I never want to jump to conclusions like the best tennis of my life or anything like that. I played well.
“Since I’ve played him twice, I feel like the court is a little bit faster. The ball is different. So I feel like it’s a good opportunity to, you know, show my best tennis against him.”
Alcaraz looks loose and in free-flowing form. After the win, he put on a Bee suit given to him by fans and laughed while wearing it.
The bees were a reference to the 2024 quarter-final against Alexander Zverev, which featured a swarm of bees and a two-hour delay that has now become an important part of Indian Wells lore.
“It’s an interesting story because especially what happened in Indian Wells, it was honestly the first time I’ve seen anything like this on a tennis court,” Alcaraz said.
“So it’s fun to see them supporting me in the stands wearing this costume. Yeah, I was with them the other day, you know, at the end of the game. Today they brought me a Bees costume and they started saying, wear it, wear it.
“So I have to do it for them.”
