John Isner and Jack Sock are back in the Indian Wells doubles final as they look to repeat their 2018 title run at ther BNP Paribas Open. They booked their return ticket with a dominant 6-3, 6-2 victory over Andrey Golubev and Alexander Zverev on Friday night.

The American duo did not drop a set in 2018, ultimately claiming the crown with a win over compatriots Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in the final. They started their 2022 run with a match tie-break win over top-seeded Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, and have since won six straight sets to get back into the title round.

Playing as wild cards this year, Isner and Sock cruised to a semi-final victory behind early breaks in each set. The Americans proved strong frontrunners in the contest as they served out both sets to love, winning 83 per cent (24/29) of their first-serve points.

The boys are back in town 👊

Former champs @JohnIsner and @JackSock92 take out Zverev/Golubev 6-3 6-2 to secure their place in the final!#IndianWells pic.twitter.com/Jwhr2QlO1g

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 19, 2022

The only break points they faced came after a break to open the second set, but from 15/40, they held for 2-0 and never let their Kazakh/German opponents back in the match.

Isner and Sock were a perfect 3/3 on their break point chances in an efficient victory that finished in one hour.

They may face another American in the final in Rajeev Ram. Ram and partner Joe Salisbury, the second-seeded duo, are up against Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the evening’s second semi-final.

Five months after a breakout run to the autumn edition of the BNP Paribas Open, Taylor Fritz is back in the final four in 2022.

In a 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-1 victory over Miomir Kecmanovic, the American showed great patience and power to edge the unseeded Serbian.

A deserving winner, Fritz was sharp throughout the nearly two-hour match, save for a nightmare service game that handed his opponent a late break against the run of play in set two. The 20th seed got his first break of the match on his eighth chance early in the decider, then seized the initiative to run away with the win.

The Southern California native was already the first American to reach back-to-back Indian Wells quarter-finals since Andy Roddick in 2009-10, and he again matches the former World No. 1 with consecutive semis in the desert.

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Fritz faced two break points at 5-5 in the opening set, but escaped after saving the second one with a brave down-the-line backhand to close a 29-ball rally. 

He again showed great shot tolerance in the tie-break as he built a 5/1 lead by drawing errors from his opponent. But the Serb found his range as he measured two imposing winners on the way to levelling at 5/5. Fritz regained a mini-break by taking another lengthy point, patiently working his way forward to bring up set point. A big serve put away the set.

The American stayed on top early in set two, but after five break points went begging, a nightmare service game gifted Kecmanovic a break for 5-3. Fritz could hardly believe it as he followed a forehand miss with three consecutive double faults. He managed to bounce back to create his sixth break point of the set, but could not stop Kecmanovic from serving it out. 

Set three was one-sided, but not in the way one might have expected after the way the second ended. A refreshed Fritz finally made his breakthrough on the return on his eighth break chance, then repeated the feat on break point No. 10 as he eased to a 5-0 lead. A love hold finished the job.

Fritz’s semi-final run at the BNP Paribas Open in October sparked what is now a 24-8 run that has included five ATP Tour quarter-finals and a career-best fourth-round Grand Slam showing at the Australian Open. 

The 22-year-old Kecmanovic was on a roll himself entering the quarter-final with a 13-5 record on the season, including a win over World No. 6 Matteo Berrettini in the fourth round to match his career-best victory by the ATP Rankings.

World No. 7 Andrey Rublev now awaits the American, who is now one win away from his first ATP Masters 1000 final.

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Rafael Nadal has stolen the Indian Wells headlines with his 19-match win streak, but Andrey Rublev is hot on his tail — and the pair is now one win apiece away from putting those streaks on the line in a championship showdown.

The seventh seed made it 13 consecutive wins with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Grigor Dimitrov on Friday at the BNP Paribas Open. One the heels of back-to-back ATP Tour titles in Marseille and Dubai, Rublev continued his stellar form to reach the Indian Wells semi-finals for the first time.

He never trailed in a 7-5, 6-2 win over 33rd seed Grigor Dimitrov on Friday at the BNP Paribas Open, earning a dominant victory in a battle of former junior World No. 1s. Should Rublev go on to win the title in Indian Wells, he will tie his career-long winning streak of 15.

“I played really well,” Rublev said. “Since the beginning, it was more about who would be the first one, who would start to lead the point, who would start to dictate to play more aggressive. Both of us would like to take our forehand and try to dictate, so it was just who’s going to be the first one.”

Rublev dropped just seven points on first serve in the contest, winning 81 per cent (29/36) of those points and dropping serve just once in the match. That break came at a crucial moment, with Dimitrov using a sweetly struck backhand pass to help prevent the fourth seed from serving out the opening set.

But Rublev answered with an immediate break back and found a higher gear to overwhelm the Bulgarian the rest of the way. His powerful baseline game proved too much for Dimitrov, who was powerless to stop the relentless attack.

After sealing the opening set with an ace — one of four in the match — Rublev raced to a 5-1 lead in set two behind a decisive run in which he won seven of eight games.

Dimitrov had only faced two break points and dropped serve just once in 31 service games entering the quarter-final, but Rublev managed four breaks on 10 chances in the match.

“Return here is one of the most important things,” he said. “If you can bring as many returns as possible [into the court], and then here with these conditions, in some moments it’s tough to serve. But this is for everyone.”

As in the opening set, Dimitrov fought admirably with his back against the wall, saving a match point to hold for 5-2 in a four-deuce game — the longest of the 90-minute contest. He then brought up a break point in the match’s final game before Rublev closed the door.

Both men entered the quarter-final match without dropping a set in the tournament, and Rublev made it eight on the trot by overwhelming the Bulgarian to reach his fourth ATP Masters 1000 semi-final in the past 12 months. He is still seeking his first title at that level after reaching the final in Monte Carlo and Cincinnati in 2021.

After knocking off one 2021 Indian Wells semi-finalist, he could face another in 20th seed Taylor Fritz in the next round. The American takes on Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic next on Stadium 1.

Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury continued their quest for a second ATP Masters 1000 title as a team on Thursday with a 7-6(4), 7-5 quarter-final victory over Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski at the BNP Paribas Open.

The second seeds clinched their maiden trophy at this level in Toronto last season, before they captured their second Grand Slam title together at the US Open in September.

The American-British tandem are now just two wins away from adding to their trophy haul in Indian Wells after triumphing over the seventh seeds in one hour and 39 minutes.

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Ram and Salisbury were strong on serve throughout, winning 78 per cent (36/46) of points behind their first delivery and saving the one break point they faced according to Infosys ATP stats to advance.

Koolhof and Skupski have enjoyed a remarkable season so far, winning three tour-level titles as a team. But for once, they were unable to find their best level in the crucial moments against Ram and Salisbury.

The 2020 Australian Open champions will next play Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin after the unseeded tandem overcame Aslan Karatsev and Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-4 in 64 minutes.

Mexican Gonzalez and Frenchman Roger-Vasselin are teaming for the first time this week at the hard-court tournament in California.

Spanish legend Rafael Nadal will face #NextGenATP countryman Carlos Alcaraz in a popcorn semi-final clash at the BNP Paribas Open after battling through a tricky assignment against Nick Kyrgios on Thursday.

Nadal’s hard-fought three-set win over the Australian extended his career-best start to a season to 19-0. The victory means the World No. 4 will next meet 18-year-old prodigy Alcaraz – who he holds enormous respect for – in his toughest test yet in Indian Wells.

“He has a great team next to him,” Nadal said on Alcaraz in his post-match press conference. “I think he will be unstoppable in terms of his career. He has all the ingredients. He has the passion. He’s humble enough to work hard. He’s a good guy. He reminds me a lot of myself when I was 17 or 18-years-old. I think he has the passion. He has the talent and the physical components.”

Saturday’s match between the Spaniards will be the second ATP Head2Head meeting between the pair, with Nadal triumphing 6-1, 6-2 in Madrid last spring. However, since then, Alcaraz has captured tour-level titles in Umag and Rio de Janeiro, lifted the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals trophy and cracked the Top 20 in the ATP Rankings.

While Nadal admits Alcaraz is likely to cause him problems on court in the coming months, he is delighted to see a young Spanish star emerging on Tour.

“I am super happy. He is going to be a great rival for now and for the next couple of months, without a doubt,” Nadal said. “But thinking and being selfish, it’s great. To have such a star from my country [is amazing], because for the tennis lovers, we’re going to enjoy [watching] an amazing player fight for the most important titles for many years.

“It is fantastic for the tennis lovers and he’s a countryman and he’s a great guy. I like him. I wish him all the very best. Probably not on Saturday when he plays against me, but in general.”

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This season Nadal has clinched a remarkable three tour-level titles, including a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open. The 35-year-old is aiming to win his fourth Indian Wells trophy this week (2007, 09, 13) and was pleased with his performance against Kyrgios.

“It was a good tennis match,” Nadal said. “Another fighting match that I needed to play well to go through. I enjoy these kinds of matches. I enjoy the challenges. And today, I was able to keep going and that makes me happy and makes me proud.”

Carlos Alcaraz set up his second career meeting with Rafael Nadal with a high-quality and intense 6-4, 6-3 win over Cameron Norrie in the Indian Wells quarter-finals on Thursday night.

Already the youngest BNP Paribas Open men’s quarter-finalist since a 17-year-old Michael Chang in 1989, Alcaraz is now the second-youngest semi-finalist in tournament history behind only Andre Agassi, also 17, in 1988.

The 18th-seeded Spaniard hit 31 winners to just 14 unforced errors to knock off the in-form Briton, who was a plus-eight in the winners to errors count himself. A cleanly played and tightly contested matchup saw 10 breaks of serve and five in each set, with Alcaraz falling behind early in both. 

“It’s so special to be able to play my first semi-final in a Masters1000 here in Indian Wells, in Tennis Paradise,” Alcaraz said post-match. “I’m enjoying every single second. I have no words to describe my feelings right now.”

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After twice trailing by a break in the opener, the 18-year-old won the last three games and pocketed the set by taking his third break point in a five-deuce game — the longest of the night.

Alcaraz again erased Norrie’s strong start in set two as he broke in each of his last three return games before serving out the match to love. On the whole, Alcaraz broke six times in nine return games.

THAT is how you break, folks 💥@alcarazcarlos03 #IndianWells pic.twitter.com/CaGRGnEkzi

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) March 18, 2022

He has now earned a rematch against Nadal, after his compatriot won their first ATP Head2Head meeting, 6-1, 6-2, in Madrid last spring.

That first meeting came on Alcaraz’s 18th birthday on the Spanish clay. Now on the American hard courts, the youngster feels ready to give the 36-time Masters 1000 champion a bigger challenge.

“I remember that I played really, really nervous,” he said of the Madrid matchup. “I think this time I trained with him a couple of times, I know more how to play against him. I think now it’s going to be a little bit different this match. Obviously he can destroy me again, but I doin’t know what is going to happen.”

Alcaraz and Nadal are a combined 31-1 in 2022, with Alcaraz at 12-1 and Nadal a perfect 19-0. The younger Spaniard won the Rio de Janeiro title in February, while Nadal has won three tour-level titles on the year, including the Australian Open.

Are you ready for this?@RafaelNadal v. @alcarazcarlos03 @BNPPARIBASOPEN | #IndianWells pic.twitter.com/w4YpOi5x3S

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 18, 2022

When both men reaching the Indian Wells quarter-finals, it gave Spain multiple men at that stage of the BNP Paribas Open for the first time since 2015, when Nadal and Feliciano Lopez lost in the last eight. Alcaraz and Nadal are the first Spanish pair to reach the Indian Wells semi-finals in the tournament’s 46-year history.

“It’s tough to play against Rafa but at the same time I will enjoy the moment, I will enjoy the match,” Alcaraz previewed. “It’s not every day you play against your idol. I’m going to be happy even if I lose that match. but I am focused right now to play my best against Rafa and be able to take my chances.”