INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka - the world's top-ranked men's and women's tennis players - both won quarterfinal matches in straight sets during an eventful Thursday at the BNP Paribas Open.
Sabalenka held off Victoria Mboko, 7-6 (0), 6-4 to keep her in the running for her first title at Indian Wells. Alcaraz - who has opened 2026 by winning 16 straight matches - topped Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4 to move within two rounds of his third title in four years at the ATP Masters 1000 event just outside of Palm Springs.
Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev also advanced to the men's semifinals, with Medvedev benefiting from a disputed, overturned point late in his 6-1, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper.
Draper momentarily threw his arms to his side to signal he thought Medvedev's deep forehand had landed long during a rally that ended several shots later when Medvedev's backhand went into the net. Medvedev, already up one set, asked chair umpire Aurelie Tourte for a video review.
Tourte said that by rule, Draper's gesture was “something different than you would do normally,” and that she felt compelled to award the point to Medvedev.
“We played two shots afterwards,” Draper protested calmly. “I get it if he missed the next ball, but he didn't.”
The ruling, which drew boos from the crowd, put Medvedev up 0-30 en route to a break that allowed him to serve out the match one game later, setting up his semifinal showdown with Alcaraz on Saturday.
Medvedev said he would have accepted whatever ruling Tourte made and merely requested the review because the rules allow it.
“I don't feel great” about it, Medvedev told Draper on the court moments after the match. Draper told Medvedev that he ”won the match fair and square," but didn't think his gesture distracted Medvedev enough to warrant the review.
Sinner and Zverev will meet in the other men's semifinal.
Sabalenka plays her semifinal on Friday against 14th seed Linda Noskova of Czechia, a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 winner over unseeded Australian Talia Gibson.
Sabalenka hasn’t lost a set in the tournament, but was pushed by the 10th-seeded Mboko, a 19-year-old Canadian who won the 2025 Canadian Open - and whom Sabalenka defeated 6-1, 7-6 (1) in the fourth round of the Australian Open earlier this year.
“That was a tough battle today,” Sabalenka said. “Happy with the level I played in those key moments in each set.
After winning every point in a first-set tiebreaker, Sabalenka got the one break she needed to vanquish Mboko in two sets.
Also advancing to the semifinals for just the second time at Indian Wells was ninth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, who knocked off second-seeded Iga Swiatek, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
Svitolina broke to go up 5-4 in the third set and held serve for the match. She'll play Friday against Elena Rybakina, who beat American Jessica Pegula, 6-1, 7-6 (4).
Sinner served 10 aces while defeating 25th-seeded Learner Tien, 6-1, 6-2. The second-seeded Italian's victory ended the run of the youngest American - at age 20 - to play in a quarterfinal at Indian Wells since his coach, Michael Chang, won the tournament in 1992.
Zverev put 72% of his first serves in play during his 6-2, 6-3 victory over France's Arthur Fils.
Alcaraz was broken twice by Norrie, but broke back four times.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
