BNP Paribas Open—Indian Wells, California
Rune Reaches BNP Paribas Open Final; Defeats Medvedev
Saturday’s results from the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California saw former US Open winner Daniil Medvedev fail to reach his third straight final, losing to No. 12 seed Holger Rune 7-5, 6-4.
Tying his head-to-head with Medvedev at 2-2, Rune used his consistent baseline arsenal to hit 20 winners, hit one ace, win 72 percent of his first serve points and break serve on three occasions.
Rune will now await the day’s second semifinal encounter between defending champion and No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz going up against No. 13 seed Jack Draper.
Alcaraz leads Draper 3-1 in career head-to-head matches, but Draper has been in great form as of late. The Brit has defeated Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Joao Fonseca, and Jensen Brooksby en-route to the final four.
Alcaraz is looking to become the third man to win three-straight titles in Palm Springs. The 21-year-old would join Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer as players to three-peat in the desert if he is go away with the title this weekend.
Women’s Final Preview
Sunday’s women’s final is set to be an intriguing affair between top seed Aryna Sabalenka and No. 9 seed Mirra Andreeva.
Sabalenka avenged an Australian Open loss to No. 5 seed Madison Keys by advancing by a score of 6-0, 6-1 on Saturday night, while Andreeva ousted defending champion and No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek 7-6(1), 1-6, 6-3 to reach the championship round.
Sabalenka leads Andreeva 4-1 in career head-to-head matches, with her lone loss coming to the 17-year-old at Roland Garros in 2024.
The Belorussian star has never won the title in Palm Springs and will be eager to add the prestigious trophy to her collection.
Andreeva recently won her first-ever 1000 level event in Dubai, U.A.E., becoming the youngest winner in that category of tournaments.
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