2 min readUpdated: Mar 15, 2026 12:42 PM IST
Carlos Alcaraz experienced his first defeat of 2026, thanks to a 6-3, 7-6(3) loss at the hands of Daniil Medvedev. The world number one was on a 16-match unbeaten tear, and was eying a third title at Indian Wells. But the seven-time Grand Slam champion was stunned by Medvedev, who the Spaniard said was playing “unreal” tennis.
“I just have to give credit to Daniil. I think he just played an amazing match. Since the start of the match until the end of the match, he was playing unreal, I’ve got to say. I have never seen, to be honest, Daniil playing like this,” Alcaraz said after his semi-final defeat.
The Spaniard continued: “He completely deserves the win today. He completely deserves to get through and play a final here. All I can say is just congratulations to him.”
Earlier in the tournament, Alcaraz had grumbled about feeling like he was taking on Roger Federer in every game.
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This year, Alcaraz has already won titles at the year’s first Grand Slam, the Australian Open, and had prevailed at Doha.
“I’m not thinking about ‘I need to win’ or ‘I have to win’. It’s just about chasing my goals, chasing what I just set up before every tournament,” Alcaraz said. “That’s my mindset, so I’m not getting tired about the people thinking I have to win every match.”
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The 22-year-old Alcaraz was also full of praise for Medvedev’s aggression in the game.
“How aggressive he played all the time, I think that surprised me a little bit. I knew at the beginning that he was going to play aggressive, but how, the way he did it, surprised me a lot, because he didn’t miss any or he didn’t miss as much as I expected,” Alcaraz said, cracking a smile. “He was playing aggressive, and he didn’t even miss. So it was tricky.”
