Carlos Alcaraz has continued his superb run of form at Indian Wells. He breezed past Britain’s Cameron Norrie and defeated him 6-3, 6-4 to make it to the semi-finals. The Spaniard pushed his opponent to the back foot through his wise shot selection and came out on top after an hour and 33 minutes. He has been phenomenal in the tournament so far, losing just one set in four matches. His performance even impressed tennis great Brad Gilbert, who was present courtside and witnessed him defeat Norrie.

Gilbert, who was ranked World No. 4 at his peak and coached Coco Gauff in 2023-2024, heaped praise on Alcaraz following his advancement into the semis on March 13.

“Was just out courtside watching Escape from Alcaraz, his variety and change of pace of shots is simply off the charts,” he wrote in a post on X.

Aside from being a top tennis star during his time, Gilbert has also coached multiple prominent players, including Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, and Andy Murray. His last coaching stint was with Gauff, who trained under him for 13 months before parting ways in September, 2025.

The Spaniard turned up in full flight, dishing out some serious revenge in Indian Wells with another sharp performance. The 22-year-old landed 75% of his first serves but found some trouble with his second. He dropped serve twice yet replied with confident returns.

The left-hander surrendered half of the points on his own delivery and faced four breaks from ten chances given to the favorite. But Carlos Alcaraz dominated with his forehand and had the upper hand in the mid-range and most advanced exchanges.

Both players looked to be pretty evenly matched in the first set, but Alcaraz eventually gained the upper hand in the final few games. He broke his opponent’s serve twice to clinch the opening set. Norrie started the second set strong and raced to a 2-0 lead early on. However, he would go on to lose the next four games as the momentum completely shifted towards Alcaraz. The Spaniard held on to his serve and went on to win in straight sets.

This was Carlos Alcaraz’s sixth victory over Norrie, and he has now taken a 6-3 lead in the H2H. The result saw him continue his perfect start to 2026 as he has now taken his unbeaten streak to 16 matches. The 22-year-old had begun the year on a high by winning the Australian Open.

He then maintained this run of form in Qatar and clinched the title there as well. He has now reached his fifth consecutive Indian Wells semi-final and has a good chance of winning the tournament for the third time in his career.

While Alcaraz didn’t appear to struggle throughout the match, he admitted that he finds it very hard whenever he comes up against Norrie.

Alcaraz’s “tough” verdict on Norrie’s playstyle

After the match, the top seed remarked that he gets confused at times by the shots that Norrie plays, and this makes it tricky for him to counter the Brit.

“I struggle a lot with his style. Every time I play against him it’s always really tough for me. It’s a little bit confusing with his style, his [heavy] topspin forehand, super high. And then the backhand, really flat and really low. Sometimes it’s tricky to play against him. I’m finding the right shot. I played well. I played solid. I played aggressive when I could. I’m happy to play this level.”

Carlos Alcaraz’s journey at the Indian Wells so far has been dominant to say the least. He began the competition with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Grigor Dimitrov before downing France’s Arthur Rinderknech 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 in what was a grueling match. He then racked up a 6-1, 7-6 victory over Norway’s Casper Ruud in the Last 16 and Norrie proved to be his fourth victim.

Alcaraz will now be clashing against Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals of the Indian Wells Open. The Spaniard has dominated the match-up as of late, winning the last four encounters. He currently leads the H2H by 6-2 and will be heading into the upcoming match as the clear favorite. Whosoever wins this match will be taking on either Alexander Zverev or Jannik Sinner in the final on March 16.

Will Carlos Alcaraz carry his momentum into the semis and mark yet another final? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.