Adding his thirteenth straight win, Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev defeated Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov on Friday and settled in the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters 1000, where Spaniards Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz will also face.
The clash between Rublev, number 7 in the ATP, and Dimitrov (35th) opened Friday in the California desert, which will later live the two women's semifinals.
The Spanish title defender Paula Badosa will face Greek Maria Sakkari and Poland's Iga Swiatek against Romanian Simona Halep.
The men's team began to close the quarterfinals with Rublev's resounding triumph, who will face in the semifinals the winner of the match between American Taylor Fritz (20th ATP) and Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic (61st).
Second best seed of the tournament after Nadal, Rublev beat Dimitrov 7-5 and 6-2 in an hour and 32 minutes of play on the center court.
At the age of 24, the Russian player has 10 ATP titles but is still on the hunt for his first Masters 1000.
Last year he reached two finals in the category but was defeated by Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo and German Alexander Zverev in Cincinnati.
This year, the Moscow tennis player started like a shot, accumulating 13 consecutive victories and lifting the Marseille and Dubai trophies in February.
- Ruble his bandera -
In Indian Wells, Rublev doesn't slow down. The Russian has not lost a single set but refuses to think about yet another chance in the final.
“It would be very special for me (to win the trophy) but it's too early to talk about it. Before I have the semifinals and we'll see what happens, it's too early to talk,” said the Russian on the center court, where a flag of Ukraine flies at the top in solidarity with that country in the face of the invasion of Moscow.
Rublev has expressed his opposition to the war in Ukraine from the beginning. In Indian Wells, like all other Russian and Belarusian tennis players, he plays without a flag or other national symbols.
Against Dimitrov, former number 3 in the world ranking, the Russian hit first with a break in service in the fifth game. Dimitrov returned the break, but Rublev immediately moved forward again to bag his sleeve.
In the second set, the Russian accelerated with five consecutive games to take a 5-1 lead and secure his place in Saturday's semifinals.
The other semifinal will feature a spanish tennis generation duel between Rafael Nadal, the great sports idol of that country, and the dizzying 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz.
Nadal, who will try to extend his best start to the season until 20 wins, praised Alcaraz on Thursday admitting that he reminds him of himself when he was his age.
“It reminds me of many things from when I was a 17 or 18 year old boy. I think he has the passion, the talent and the physique,” Nadal said on Friday, blessing the new Spanish diamond. “I think his career is unstoppable.”
The explosive Alcaraz, the youngest semifinalist in Indian Wells since Andre Agassi in 1988, has been firing rivals on the fast track and on Thursday dethroned the reigning champion, Cameron Norrie.
- Badosa for the final -
This Friday the two women's semifinals will be played, with the Spaniard Paula Badosa looking for her second final in a row in this WTA 1000 category tournament.
The world number seven, in a spectacular idyll with this scenario, aspires to be the first to revalidate the title since Martina Navratilova in 1991.
Her penultimate obstacle is the fierce Greek tennis player Maria Sakkari (6th place in WTA), looking for the most important final of her career.
The other match will be played by the young Iga Swiatek (4th), winner of Roland Garros in 2020, and the experienced Simona Halep (26th), also champion in Paris 2018 and at Wimbledon in 2019.
- Friday's results at the Indian Wells tournament:
Men's
Quarterfinals
Andrey Rublev (RUS/N.7) defeated Grigor Dimitrov (BUL/N.33) 7-5, 6-2