Zverev's setback prevented Medvedev from stopping Sinner and Alcaras from meeting in the finals, Russian star completes toughest mission

After the matches between Zverev and Medvedev challenging the Sinner-Alcaras duo concluded, external evaluations of these two spotlight clashes were: Zverev remains the same Zverev, Medvedev truly became a tough competitor, indeed showing a strong resurgence!

Zverev faced Sinner, Medvedev confronted Alcaras! The reason external attention is so focused on these two spotlight matches at the Indian Wells Masters is only one: whether Sinner-Alcaras's dominance in tennis remains unshakable, or whether supporters of the German and Russian stars are betting correctly—they might ultimately disrupt the widely anticipated "Sinner-Alcaras showdown."

Before these two spotlight matches began, despite some believing Zverev and Medvedev had transformed and were fully capable of competing with Sinner and Alcaras, many still disregarded their presence, thinking they were simply not strong enough to challenge the Sinner-Alcaras duo.

Sinner's 81.5% and Zverev's 18.5% win probabilities, along with Alcaras's 81.4% and Medvedev's 18.6% support rates, such absolute dominance gives a deeply unsettling feeling.

In the match between the German star and the Italian, the first five games of the opening set were quite tight, leading many to think Sinner, leading 3-2, wouldn't easily defeat Zverev. Unexpectedly, before such thoughts settled, the Italian swiftly won three consecutive games to secure the first set 6-2.

After Sinner took control early in the second set, seeing the Italian's steady and seemingly unstoppable form, even before the match ended, fans and netizens in live streams had already prepared a lament for Zverev, hardly believing he could turn the tide.

When Sinner won the second set 6-4, concluding the match, many helplessly expressed that they thought Zverev, after sweeping Fils in the quarter-finals and achieving the honor of "all four majors" in his career, had shed his "Zverev格格" persona and become a genuine "tough competitor." Yet, it seems Zverev's old cloak remains; this 1-hour 23-minute agonizing watch truly pains the heart.

After Zverev fell as predicted, Medvedev became the sole remaining hope—and also a major concern.

Before the match against Alcaras began, some wondered: since Zverev couldn't shake Sinner, could Medvedev create a surprise by defeating Alcaras and accomplishing this quite daunting task?

Someone humorously replied "definitely," because if Medvedev wants to prove he has truly resurged strongly, only defeating the formidable Alcaras would silence all doubts, which would motivate Medvedev even more, naturally elevating the Russian star's threat level.

To be precise, Medvedev indeed did not disappoint.

Besides stunningly winning the first set 6-3, putting pressure on the Spaniard, after being broken early in the second set then swiftly breaking back, his performance utterly sent fans and netizens' cheers piercing through the skies.

From their on-court performance then, although Alcaras remained tenacious and played beautifully, closely keeping score in the second set, some boldly asserted that if it reached a tiebreak, Medvedev's advantage would amplify. The reason: the Spaniard's way of pushing the match to a tiebreak seemed patched together, far less solid than Medvedev's play.

In fact, during the second-set tiebreak, Alcaras was quickly overwhelmed by Medvedev in momentum and performance. As the Russian star secured the tiebreak, he officially declared not only defying the heavily pessimistic win support rates but also accomplishing the immensely tough task of defeating the currently dominant Alcaras, turning impossibility into reality, finally avenging his previous two losses to the Spaniard at Indian Wells.

Notably, with this victory over Alcaras, Medvedev will return to the TOP10 next week.

After Alcaras's loss, it also means his hope to equal Djokovic's incredible record of 41 consecutive wins at the start of the 2011 season is completely dashed, his new-season winning streak stopping at 16.

As the Spaniard said, achieving such a feat is extremely difficult, accomplishing such a record "is truly not something humans can do," making Djokovic, who earlier left Indian Wells, once again indirectly praised.

After Medvedev disrupted Alcaras and Sinner's planned finals meeting, regarding the eventual championship outcome, opinions from commentators are quite interesting, directly stating "given Medvedev's performance defeating Alcaras, he has great hopes to win the title."

Can the Russian star consecutively pass Alcaras and Sinner, achieving legendary status at Indian Wells? We shall see!（Source: Tennis Home Author: Moon River's Starry Sky）