Carlos Alcaraz headed back to final at Indian Wells

No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain weathered storms both on the court and off to beat third-seeded Italian Jannik Sinner 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif.

Sinner was in complete control early, winning five straight games to capture the first set. He won four of those games following a rain delay that suspended play for three hours.

But the hiatus seemed to work in Alcaraz's favor, and when action resumed just before 5 p.m. local time, momentum quickly shifted.

Alcaraz raced out to a 4-1 lead in the second set, giving Sinner a game before winning two of the last three. Alcaraz won seven of 11 second-serve points, saved a pair of break points and collected 10 winners in the second, setting himself up for a dominant third.

It looked like Sinner was back on track when he took the first game of the final set, but Alcaraz proceeded to win the next five before eventually wrapping up the victory on his third match point.

"I stayed strong mentally," Alcaraz said. "I think that's a really important part in this game. You have to be strong mentally if you want to overcome these kind of matches, a set down against someone that's playing an unbelievable game. I'm really happy with the things that I've done after that.

"I changed my style a little bit, I changed my game a little bit and I think it worked very well. I'm really happy to beat Jannik and be in the final again."

Sinner saw a 19-match winning streak come to an end. He entered Saturday riding a perfect 16-0 start to the 2024 season.

Alcaraz will attempt to defend his BNP Paribas Open title against 17th-seeded American Tommy Paul or Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev, who were scheduled to play later Saturday in the other semifinal.

Should Medvedev win, the final will be a rematch of last year's, when Alcaraz prevailed 6-3, 6-2.