Daniil Medvedev closed out Jack Draper 6-1, 7-5 in the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open, but the match ended under a cloud after a controversial hindrance ruling late in the second set. With Draper serving at 5-5, 0-15 he believed a Medvedev shot had been called out, raised his arms and continued the point, ultimately winning the ensuing baseline exchange.

Medvedev then approached chair umpire Aurelie Tourte to ask about options and was told he could challenge with a video review. He used that option and the point was awarded to Medvedev as a hindrance. Moments later Medvedev broke serve and served out the match. Fans voiced their displeasure by booing the decision, the break and the ending. Draper shook Medvedev’s hand and also shook Tourte’s hand after another brief exchange between the players.

Medvedev, a two-time finalist at the tournament, addressed the incident after the match. “Was I distracted big time? No. Do I feel good about it? Not really. But I also don’t feel like I cheated or something,” he asserted.

“So I got a bit distracted. I let it go, I let the referee decide. I had a lot of calls against me in my life, and I usually don’t handle them well. To get one on my side, I guess feels good as well.”

Draper, who had eliminated Novak Djokovic less than 24 hours earlier in a decisive tiebreak, acknowledged he wished he had acted differently. “now I can actually even talk more, because I have more info. I think I should have done it the moment it happened, like, I should not have waited until the end of the point, and then it would be a bit more, probably available.”

When Tourte communicated her ruling during the match, Draper told her, “I think you’ve got that wrong.”

Two high-stakes semifinals at the BNP Paribas Open set contrasting storylines. Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 1, meets 21-year-old Linda Noskova, who sits No. 14 in the rankings. The 13-place gap on paper understates the difference in public profile: Sabalenka is a highly visible, active presence on social media; Noskova has been quiet off court and had not held a press conference since October.

Noskova’s run to the semis included a 6-2, 6-0 night-match win over Alex Eala. Her ball-striking is described in the draft as clean and powerful, and her performance in this draw suggested she may be ready to claim a bigger place in the sport and move toward the Top 10. Sabalenka has previous success against Noskova, winning their only meeting on hard courts in 2023, 6-3, 7-6 (4). After beating two Top 20 opponents this week, Naomi Osaka and Victoria Mboko, both in straight sets, Sabalenka enters as the clear favorite. Noskova’s flat pace and ability to take initiative could trouble Sabalenka, and the later stages of tournaments have at times allowed Sabalenka’s nerves and emotions to intervene. Winner: Sabalenka

On the other side of the draw the Australian Open champion faces the in-form Ukrainian in the semifinals. Elina Svitolina has started the season 19-3 and has leaned into a data-driven approach with her coaches, studying statistics and video to make fine adjustments. She said, “I have my team there to really give me all this information, and then I had time to work on few things, on the serve, on the return,” she says. “It’s these small differences, they work, and that’s what makes the difference between being consistent and having good week here and”. Svitolina’s three-set win over Iga Swiatek on Thursday showcased her increased aggression and late-match assurance. She and Elena Rybakina are 3-3 head-to-head; Svitolina claimed their only hard-court meeting and won their most recent match in Madrid last spring. Rybakina, however, is the more proven quantity in recent months: she is 16-3 in 2026, won last year’s WTA Finals and this year’s Australian Open, won Indian Wells in 2023, and beat Jessica Pegula on Thursday. Winner: Rybakina

Carlos Alcaraz extended his unblemished start to 2026 with a straight-sets victory over Cam Norrie at Indian Wells, 6-3, 6-4, improving his season record to 16-0. The result moved him into the semifinals at Indian Wells for the fifth consecutive year, making him the third man in the tournament’s history to reach five straight semifinals, joining Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

The win carried an additional statistical milestone. Alcaraz entered the match with a tour-level career winning percentage of .8194 (295-65) and, with the victory over Norrie, improved to .8199 (296-65). That edge pushed him fractionally past Roger Federer, whose career tour-level winning percentage stands at .8198 (1,251-275). With the minimum of 200 matches played applied, Alcaraz now ranks fourth-best in career winning percentage among men in the Open Era.

Alcaraz has risen steadily up that list during the current season. He began 2026 at No. 8 on the all-time list, moved to No. 7 after the Australian Open by passing Ivan Lendl, climbed to No. 6 after Doha by surpassing John McEnroe, took No. 5 following his opening win at Indian Wells last week by moving ahead of Jimmy Connors, and now occupies No. 4 after overtaking Federer with his latest victory.

The Indian Wells run cannot move him higher on the all-time list during this event. Still, the sequence of results underscores how the 22-year-old has combined an exceptional 2026 start with career-level consistency to reach milestones normally reserved for the game’s longest-established champions.