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Keys Extends Winning Streak, Gets Sabalenka Again at Indian Wells After Australian Open Title 

Madison Keys is congratulated by Belinda Bencic of Switzerland after their match during the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 13, 2025 in Indian Wells, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
Madison Keys is congratulated by Belinda Bencic of Switzerland after their match during the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 13, 2025 in Indian Wells, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Keys Extends Winning Streak, Gets Sabalenka Again at Indian Wells After Australian Open Title 

Madison Keys is congratulated by Belinda Bencic of Switzerland after their match during the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 13, 2025 in Indian Wells, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
Madison Keys is congratulated by Belinda Bencic of Switzerland after their match during the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 13, 2025 in Indian Wells, California. (Getty Images/AFP)

Madison Keys extended her winning streak to 16 matches, reaching the BNP Paribas Open semifinals with a 6-1, 6-1 wipeout of wild-card entry Belinda Bencic on Thursday.

The Australian Open champion needed just 65 minutes to hold up her end of a rematch with top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, who beat Liudmila Samsonova 6-2, 6-3 later. Keys beat Sabalenka in three sets in January at Melbourne Park, denying Sabalenka a third consecutive title.

Bencic was coming off an upset of No. 4 seed Coco Gauff in the fourth round, but the 28-year-old from Switzerland never had a chance against the fifth-seeded Keys.

Ben Shelton, at 22 the youngest American man to reach the quarterfinals at Indian Wells since 2004, couldn't go further. Jack Draper of England moved on to the semifinals with a 6-4, 7-5 victory.

The 13th-seeded Draper will face No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz, the two-time defending champion who extended his winning streak at Indian Wells to 16 matches with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over Francisco Cerundolo.

Iga Swiatek reached the BNP Paribas semifinals for the fourth consecutive time in her bid to be the first woman to win the tournament three times. The No. 2 seed from Poland beat eighth-seeded Qinwen Zheng of China 6-3, 6-3 in a rematch of a Paris Olympics semifinal from last summer won by Zheng.

Swiatek, the defending champion, has a 10-match winning streak in the California desert. The five-time Grand Slam champion also won the event in 2022. Zheng ended Swiatek's 25-match winning streak at the Olympics last year.

Swiatek converted all five of her break points, but Zheng broke twice on her way to winning six games, matching the total Swiatek had dropped in the tournament coming into the match.

On the men's side, Daniil Medvedev reached the Indian Wells semifinals for the third consecutive year with a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7) victory over 20-year-old Frenchman Arthur Fils.

The 29-year-old Russian, seeded fifth, kept alive a bid for a third trip to the final of the event. That included a brief delay in the third set when gusty wind blew debris all over the stadium.

Mirra Andreeva advanced to the women's semifinals with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Elina Svitolina. Holger Rune moved on to his first Indian Wells semifinal by rallying for a 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 win over Tallon Griekspoor.

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Draper Stuns Two-time Defending Champ Alcaraz to Reach Indian Wells Final

Britain's Jack Draper reacts after winning the men's singles semi-final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, on March 15, 2025. (AFP)
Britain's Jack Draper reacts after winning the men's singles semi-final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, on March 15, 2025. (AFP)
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Draper Stuns Two-time Defending Champ Alcaraz to Reach Indian Wells Final

Britain's Jack Draper reacts after winning the men's singles semi-final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, on March 15, 2025. (AFP)
Britain's Jack Draper reacts after winning the men's singles semi-final tennis match against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, on March 15, 2025. (AFP)

Jack Draper ended Carlos Alcaraz's bid for a rare Indian Wells ATP Masters three-peat on Saturday, toppling the Spaniard to book a title clash with Holger Rune.

Britain's Draper, ranked 14th in the world, held his nerve to beat Alcaraz 6-1, 0-6, 6-4 and reach the first Masters 1000 final of his career.

Denmark's Rune, ranked 13th, triumphed 7-5, 6-4 over world number six Daniil Medvedev -- who had been runner-up to Alcaraz each of the past two years.

"This one hurts," admitted Alcaraz, who was trying to join Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the only men to win three straight titles in the California desert.

"I don't want to lose any match, but I think this one was even more special to me. It was difficult today, a lot of nerves in the match."

Draper ended Alcaraz's 16-match winning streak in the California desert, leaping out of the gate and wrapping up the first set in 23 minutes as Alcaraz failed to get to grips with the left-hander's serve.

The second set was a mirror image of the first as Alcaraz found his range and after fending off a break point with a 137-mph ace in the opening game broke Draper three times to level the match.

“It was a strange match in all honesty,” Draper said. "Carlos came out a little flat, I sensed that. I had a chance in the first game of the second, and he came up with an ace ...

"What happened to him happened to me, I got tight, I had low energy. I got lost out there for 25 minutes, but in the third, I was really proud of my competitiveness, my attitude and I somehow managed to get over the line."

Draper, who lost a set to love for the first time in his career, broke Alcaraz for a 2-1 lead in the third in a game that featured a lengthy video review that showed the Briton had indeed managed to scoop back a winner off an Alcaraz drop shot without a double bounce.

Upon review umpire Mohamed Lahyani first called for the point to be replayed but then awarded it to Draper, ruling his "not up" call in the rally hadn't hindered Alcaraz.

"Waiting for the ball reviews, they didn't bother me at all," Alcaraz said. "All I can say is Jack came, he played much better than me. That point didn't affect my play at all."

With momentum on his side, Draper broke again for 5-2 lead -- Alcaraz failing to put away four game points.

Draper did show some nerves as he served for the match at 5-2 and was broken, abut steadied himself to seal the victory on his second opportunity.

Rune executed a thoughtful game plan to perfection against Medvedev to snap a seven-match losing streak in semi-finals.

"It was to really play my game, come forward, take the ball on the rise," Rune said of his strategy against a player known for his defense.

"If you hit hard to him, he likes the pace and he responds well to being in the defense and hitting strong back.

"So I tried to make it difficult for him. I tried to mix it up, making every shot that he has to play annoying for him. Slices, slow slices, some mixing the tempo, hitting hard on some, looping some."

After an early exchange of breaks in the opening set, Rune managed to grind out a key hold for 4-4, saving one break point in a game that went to deuce six times and lasted nearly 11 minutes.

He broke for a 6-5 lead and pocketed the set when his rolling backhand drew another error from Medvedev, then rode an early break in the second set to victory.