There were some tricky moments, but Carlos Alcaraz moved through to the semifinals of Indian Wells in straight sets on Thursday night with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) quarterfinal victory over Francisco Cerundolo.
And with that victory, Alcaraz joins a very exclusive list—he’s just the third man ever to reach the semifinals or better at Indian Wells four or more years in a row, after Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Alcaraz was a semifinalist in the desert in 2022 (falling to Nadal) and won back-to-back titles the last two years in 2023 and 2024.
MEN TO REACH 4+ STRAIGHT INDIAN WELLS SEMIFINALS:
- Rafael Nadal (8 straight: 2006-2013)
- Novak Djokovic (6 straight: 2011-2016)
- Carlos Alcaraz (4 straight: 2022-2025)
The last player to reach three straight finals at Indian Wells was the other member of the Big 3, Roger Federer, from 2017 to 2019—he won the title in 2017 and finished runner-up in back-to-back years in 2018 (to Juan Martin del Potro) and 2019 (to Dominic Thiem).
More to come…