Martina Navratilova applauds incredible rally between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner at Indian Wells SF

Martina Navratilova has applauded the remarkable rally that took place between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner during the semifinals at Indian Wells on Saturday (March 16).

Despite losing the first set, Alcaraz staged a remarkable comeback to defeat Sinner 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, securing his spot in the BNP Paribas Open final for the second year in a row and marking his sixth ATP Masters 1000 final. This victory made the Spaniard the first man to reach the Indian Wells final as the defending champion since Roger Federer in 2018.

This win also marked Carlos Alcaraz's first tour-level final appearance since his loss to Novak Djokovic at the 2023 Western & Southern Open summit clash last August.

During the second set in the semifinals at Indian Wells, Alcaraz delivered a powerful serve that forced Jannik Sinner to respond with a backhand return, sparking an eight-shot intense rally that the World No. 3 ultimately won. The spectators in the stadium greatly appreciated the rally, and even the players themselves exchanged smiles following the point.

Reacting to this impressive point, 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova took to social media to share a video of the rally, accompanied by three applauding hands emojis.

"👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 ," Navratilova posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Carlos Alcaraz: "Every time that I'm playing against Jannik Sinner, it's an amazing fight"

Carlos Alcaraz (L) and Jannik Sinner at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open

Speaking at the post-match press conference following his win over Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz expressed his gratitude towards the enthusiastic crowd in the stadium. He remarked that the overwhelming support made him feel as though he was playing in his own home rather than in a foreign country.

"It's unbelievable to play matches like this one with this atmosphere. As I said after the match, I feel like I'm playing at home. It's something crazy seeing that I'm playing the other part of my country, of the world, and be able to feel that energy, that love like I'm playing at home is something unbelievable," Alcaraz said.

Alcaraz acknowledged the intense competition between himself and Sinner, describing it as an "amazing fight." He noted that the crowd seemed to thoroughly enjoy their matches as well and described the energy they bring to the matches as "special."

"So every time that I'm playing against Jannik, I think for both of us, it's an amazing fight. But for the crowd, is an amazing match that I think that they enjoy every time that we are playing each other. I think the energy that people bring to us is special," he added.

Carlos Alcaraz will face last year's runner-up Daniil Medvedev in the final of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.