It was a matchup of players who have won three of the last five BNP Paribas Open titles late Thursday night, but there’s only one Carlos Alcaraz and the No. 1 player in the world was in winning form against Cam Norrie.
Alcaraz fought off a valiant effort from Norrie, who was matching Alcaraz fist-pump for fist-pump throughout the night with some gorgeous winners, and claimed a 6-3, 6-4 win over the Brit who won this event in 2021 when it was played in October.
With a partisan crowd behind him on a full Stadium 1 court, Alcaraz played with his usual flair, more than once winning a point that had even him looking up at the replay board to see how exactly he pulled it off.
Alcaraz is now 16-0 on the season, having won the only two tournaments he played in 2026 before coming to Indian Wells. He’s climbing the charts for best starts to a calendar year, but has a long way to go to get to Novak Djokovic’s record of 41.
The win keeps Alcaraz, who is only 22, is in line for his third title at Indian Wells, having also won in 2023 and 2024. Only Jimmy Connors, Michael Chang, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic have won three or more Indan Wells titles, pretty illustrious company.
The men’s semifinals are now set. Alcaraz will face Daniil Medvedev who ousted defending champion Jack Draper on Thursday. And in the other half it will be Alexander Zverev against World No. 2 Jannik Sinner. Those matches will take place Saturday with the two winners playing for the title on Sunday.
Alcaraz and Medvedev have been linked by this event, meeting in the final in both 2023 and 2024.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Carlos Alcaraz tops Cam Norrie, is back in the BNP Paribas Open semifinals
Reporting by Shad Powers, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
