Daniil Medvedev highlights two reasons he has a ‘good chance’ of competing with Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells

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Daniil Medvedev has rated his chances of competing with Carlos Alcaraz in their Indian Wells semifinal as “good”.

Alcaraz has been backed to win Indian Wells this year, a tournament that he has already won twice in his phenomenal career.

He lifted the trophy at the ATP 1000 tournament in 2023 and 2024, intriguingly defeating Medvedev in the final on both occasions.

The Russian has now discussed the challenges of facing Alcaraz, who battled past Cameron Norrie to reach the Indian Wells semifinals.

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Daniil Medvedev says why he has a ‘good chance’ of competing with Carlos Alcaraz

Medvedev said in his latest press conference in California: “Yeah, I saw he won the first set, so I don’t want to go too early because Cam is a tough opponent for him.

“But if it’s Carlos, I feel like I’m playing great, very good tennis. I never want to jump into conclusions like best tennis of my life or whatever. I’m playing very good.

“I feel like the court is a bit faster since the two times I have played him. The balls are different. So I feel like it’s a good chance to try to, you know, to show my best tennis against him.

“But he’s the toughest opponent we have right now, him and Jannik [Sinner], maybe a bit debatable who is the toughest.

“So it’s a very tough opponent, and if it’s him, I need to show my absolute best and try to beat him.”

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Daniil Medvedev claims second win over ATP Masters 1000 reigning champion

Alcaraz enters the Indian Wells semifinal as the world number one, while Medvedev is currently outside the top 10 in 11th.

But both players already boast two titles for the 2026 season, with the former triumphant at the Australian Open and Qatar Open, and the latter in Brisbane and Dubai.

Medvedev’s recent titles should give him a real confidence boost, along with the fact that he has just knocked out defending champion Jack Draper.

As per OptaAce, it’s just the second time he’s defeated the defending champion at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament.

He did the same to Novak Djokovic in the Cincinnati semifinals in 2019, when he went on to win his first Masters title.

Medvedev defeated Draper 6-1, 7-5 in the desert, having also knocked out Alejandro Tabilo, Sebastian Baez and Alex Michelsen.

He has done all of that without dropping a single set, compared to Alcaraz who dropped a set against Arthur Rinderknech in round three.

It is, however, the Spaniard who has history on his side regarding their head-to-head record, winning six of their eight career matches so far.