Carlos Alcaraz defeats Daniil Medvedev to defend his Indian Wells title, Iga Swiatek beats Maria Sakkari for women's title

The three previous meetings between Swiatek and Halep have consisted of two blowouts and one close one. The close one, at the 2021 Australian Open, is the most relevant, because it was played on hard courts. Halep pulled that one out 6-4 in the third set, and afterward Swiatek said she still had a lot to learn about how to win big matches. Fourteen months later, the 20-year-old seems to be learning a lot. She’s on a nine-match win streak, and she played her best tennis of the tournament in a 6-1, 6-0 demolition of Madison Keys on Wednesday. But you could say something similar of Halep, who won her last match, over Petra Martic, 6-1, 6-1, and has looked rejuvenated at 30 after an injury-plagued 2021. This should be an entertaining showdown between a hitter and a runner, both at the tops of their games. Winner: Swiatek

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Defending champion Paula Badosa is working on an 11-match win streak in Indian Wells.

Paula Badosa vs. Maria Sakkari

Indian Wells has had its share of upsets so far, but here we have an all-Top 10 semifinal. Badosa and Sakkari have each made major moves in the rankings over the last two seasons, and each started 2022 as a likely contender to win her first Slam. Neither has a title yet this year, but that seems destined to change soon, for both of them. So far they’ve met just once, in Guadalajara last year, and Badosa won in two sets. Right now she’s working on an 11-match win streak in Indian Wells, and she seems to be elevating her game with each win, up to her 2021 level again. Winner: Badosa

Andrey Rublev vs. Grigor Dimitrov

When Dimitrov made the semifinals at the fall version of the BNP Paribas Open last October, it looked like it might be the start of a long-awaited career resurgence for the 30-year-old who had once been touted as a future Federer. What it really showed, it seems now, is that Dimitrov likes to play in Indian Wells. After three wins this week, including a mild upset of John Isner in the last round, he’s back in the quarterfinals. With a 2-2 record against Rublev, he has a chance to go further, too. But not a great chance. Over the last three weeks, Rublev has managed to put the wider world out of his mind long enough to win 12 straight matches, and 15 of his last 16. Winner: Rublev

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