Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina all advanced to the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells tournament in the United States, on a day marked by the elimination of Novak Djokovic at the hands of Jack Draper in a dramatic duel.
World number one Alcaraz needed just 1 hour and 30 minutes to subdue Norway’s Casper Ruud (No.13) 6-1, 7-6(2) in the Spaniard’s 15th victory of 2026. He remains unbeaten (15-0) and with two titles under his belt: the Australian Open and the ATP 500 in Doha.
The Spaniard won his first 24 points on first serve – until his fifth game of the second set – and did not concede a single break point in the whole match.
In the quarter-finals, Alcaraz will face Britain’s Cameron Norrie (No. 29), who on Wednesday comfortably defeated Australia’s Rinky Hijikata (No. 112) 6-4, 6-2. Alcaraz and Norrie have met eight times, with a 5-3 record in the Spaniard’s favour, although the Briton has won three of their last five duels.
Dramatic match between Jack Draper and Novak Djokovic
The other quarter-final duel that was decided at Indian Wells will pit Britain’s Jack Draper (No. 14) against Russia’s Daniil Medvedev (No. 11).
Draper, the defending champion, defeated Serbia’s Novak Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 7-5(5) in two hours and 35 minutes of an extenuating match
Medvedev, on the other hand, defeated American Alex Michelsen (No. 44) 6-2, 6-4.
Swiatek, unrivaled
The Pole, world number two and twice champion at Indian Wells (2022 and 2024), has yet to drop a set so far in the tournament. On Wednesday, she defeated Czech Karolina Muchova (No.13) 6-2, 6-0 in 1 hour and 17 minutes.
Swiatek will face Elina Svitolina (No. 9) in the quarterfinals; the Ukrainian advanced to the next round after her opponent, Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova (No. 44), withdrew when the score was 6-1, 1-1 in Svitolina’s favor.
Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina (No. 3) and American Jessica Pegula (No. 5) also advanced to the quarterfinals and will face each other on Thursday for a place in the semifinals.
Rybakina defeated Sonay Kartal (No. 54) 6-4, 4-3, at which point the Briton retired due to injury, while Pegula defeated Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic (No. 12), to whom she had lost in their four previous encounters, 6-3, 7-6(5).
All the quarter-finals will be played on Thursday, with the women’s semi-finals on Friday and the men’s semi-finals on Saturday, before the two finals on Sunday
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