IMAGE: Russia’s Daniil Medvedev celebrates victory over France’s Arthur Fils via the third set tie-breaker to advance to the semi-finals of the BNP Paribas Open, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, CA, USA, on Thursday. Photograph: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images/Reuters
Daniil Medvedev jumped for joy in an uncharacteristically emotional celebration after holding off young Frenchman Arthur Fils for a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(7) win amid gusting winds on centre court in quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, on Thursday.
The Russian took advantage of 19 unforced errors from Fils in the first set, but the 20-year-old showed maturity beyond his years in the second, using backhand slices and making frequent trips to the net to level the match.
IMAGE: Arthur Fils and Daniil Medvedev after their semi-final. Photograph: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images/Reuters
Momentum swings were frequent in the deciding set and tie-break and Fils smashed his racket after sending a volley long facing match-point.
“He should have made the volley but it’s okay, it’s tennis, it happens,” Medvedev said.
“I missed the same in previous matches to lose.”
Next up for two-time finalist and fifth seed Medvedev is Dane Holger Rune, who beat Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 5-7, 6-0, 6-3.
Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz capped the night session on the main stadium court, beating Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 7-6(7-4) to set up a semi-final meeting with Britain’s Jack Draper, who defeated Ben Shelton of the United states 6-4, 7-5.
IMAGE: Iga Swiatek avenged her shock Paris Olympics defeat to Zheng Qinwen to reach the semi-finals, where she will face Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva. Photograph: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images/Reuters
Meanwhile, two-time Indian Wells champion Iga Swiatek avenged her shock Paris Olympics loss to Zheng Qinwen with a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Chinese eighth seed to reach the semi-finals in the California desert, where she will face teenager Mirra Andreeva.
Swiatek, one of the favourites when she lost to eventual champion Zheng in the Paris semi-finals last year, converted all five of her break-point chances during a 94-minute match that was interrupted multiple times to dry the court.
“At the end it got really windy which made it super tricky especially when the conditions change during the match you need to adjust quickly and it’s not that easy,” Swiatek said in her on-court interview.
“I am happy that I was pushing until the end. It was a weird match with all the breaks and everything but I wanted to be composed and really focused and I’m glad that I did that.”
IMAGE: Mirra Andreeva reacts after defeating Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina. Photograph: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images/Reuters
Up next for defending champion Swiatek, who has dropped 12 games across her four matches in the tournament, will be ninth seed Andreeva, who defeated Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 7-5, 6-3.
The Russian won in Dubai last month for her first WTA 1000 crown and is the youngest woman to reach the semi-finals at the tournament since Maria Sharapova in 2005.
Andreeva continued to live up to the hype around her, playing a relentless brand of tennis to extend her win streak to 10 matches.
In the other women’s quarter-finals later on Thursday, top seed Aryna Sabalenka disposed off Liudmila Samsonova 6-2, 6-3 to set up a semi-final with Australian Open champion Madison Keys. The American fifth seed cruised past Swiss wildcard Belinda Bencic 6-1, 6-1.
