Carlos Alcaraz’s incredible unbeaten run in 2026 has officially come to an end at the hands of Daniil Medvedev. The world No. 1 came into Saturday’s Indian Wells final with a 16-0 record for the season so far, having lifted trophies at the Australian Open – where he completed the career Grand Slam – and the ATP 500 event in Doha.

But Medvedev was also on a match-winning streak of his own after lifting the trophy in Dubai last month, and something had to give. With Jannik Sinner already safely through to Sunday’s final and awaiting the winner of the second semi, the tennis world readied itself for another ‘Sincaraz’ battle, but Medvedev spoiled the party.

The No. 11 seed has been relentless in Indian Wells this fortnight, and has reached the final without dropping a set, making his biggest statement yet as he beat Alcaraz 6-3 7-6.

The Spaniard was broken from 40-15 up in the fourth game of the match, spraying errors to give Medvedev the lead. “Great returns, Daniil,” Medvedev’s coach, Thomas Johansson, told him during the game. Alcaraz was in more trouble as he dug himself out of a hole at 0-30 a couple of games later, keeping his deficit to one break.

That was more than enough for two-time runner-up Medvedev – who coincidentally lost to Alcaraz in the 2023 and 2024 finals – as he served out the opening set in a little over half an hour. There was a lot of back-and-forth between Alcaraz and his team, as the top seed’s coach tried to help him pick his level up.

It worked, only momentarily. Alcaraz got the first break in set two, but never looked fully in control, and Medvedev broke straight back. The world No. 1 kept on pressing. He failed to convert a break point at 4-3, and the Russian saved two set points to level the score at 5-5.

The two-time finalist forced a tiebreak, where he drew first blood. Alcaraz sent two balls into the net on back-to-back points on his own serve, giving Medvedev a 4-1 lead. Another error, and they changed ends with Medvedev up 5-1. “Alcaraz just disheveled, certainly not accustomed to seeing a patch like that in 2026 from the world No. 1,” commentator Kevin Skinner said.

A big serve helped Medvedev get to match point, but Alcaraz saved the first with an ace. The second came and went, but the third was back on Medvedev’s serve. He sealed it with an ace, handing the world No. 1 his first defeat this year and reaching his third final in the Californian desert.

Alcaraz waved goodbye to the fans as he walked off Stadium 1, and will now have to regroup and look ahead to the Miami Open, where he is a former champion. But his hopes of beating Novak Djokovic’s incredible 41-0 record from the start of the 2011 season are over.

Medvedev himself is now on a nine-match winning streak, having won the Dubai Championships at the end of last month, getting a walkover in that final. After stunning Alcaraz, the No. 11 seed said: “Honestly [it’s a], great feeling. I mean, playing someone like Carlos, you play many times, you lose many times. He’s an amazing player with amazing shots, defence, attack, serve, return, everything. So you need to be at your best, and I was, I was serving great. I mean, I saved one or two set points, I saved one or two break points the game before. So I was hanging in, in the second set, as I could. But playing great tennis, and super happy to beat someone as strong as him.”

The 30-year-old also told Sky Sports that he gained confidence when he saw Alcaraz struggling to return his second serves – something that surprised him. Asked how he won so many points on second serve, Medvedev replied: “Yeah, to be honest, I have not exactly an idea because usually, when you play Carlos, you have to be ready that on second serve, you struggle, that’s how it is. I feel like I managed to find a little bit the rhythm on my serve, which was bothering him a little bit, so you could see he was struggling a bit, if he returns close or far.

“So I think that cost him a little bit of, not energy exactly, but a little bit of mindset as well. It gave me a bit of confidence to say, ‘Okay, he’s struggling a bit to return’. So I was just doing what I can. But I’m actually, in a way, disappointed and happy, because it should be higher on the first serve but that’s what made me win the match, I guess, on the second serve.”

Medvedev will now face Sinner. No matter what, there will be a new men’s singles champion in Indian Wells come Sunday night. “I think first of all, whenever you’re playing a tournament where both [Alcaraz and Sinner] are playing, there is a big chance that if you want to win the tournament, you need to beat both and that’s okay, that’s how tennis is right now. Happy to play against Jannik, if I manage to maintain the level I had throughout the whole tournament and maybe even raise it, I will have my chances, so that’s what I’ll try to do,” he said.

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