Cameron Norrie’s Indian Wells title defense ended with 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz facing unbeaten Rafael Nadal in 2022 next.
Britain’s Norrie lost the quarterfinals 6-4 6-3 to Alcaraz, who becomes the second-youngest male semi-finalist in Indian Wells history.
Spain’s Alcaraz reached the quarterfinals at last year’s US Open.
Nadal won his 19th straight match since the start of the year with a 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Nick Kyrgios.
Australian Kyrgios broke serving for the first set and was warned after breaking his racket in frustration.
He conceded the tiebreaker 7–0 at one penalty point after being penalized for an audible obscenity directed at a troublemaker in the crowd.
The Australian world number 132 was unhappy with the noise the crowd made throughout the match and when he lost the deciding set, he smashed his racket onto the court again.
He bounced and shot forward, narrowly missing a ballboy who had to take evasive action at the back of the court.
“Did I throw the racket near him originally?” Kyrgios responded when he was asked about it after the match.
“He landed a meter from my foot and skidded and almost hit him. I’m human. That’s how things happen.”
“Obviously it was a very unlucky rebound. I think if I had done it a million times, it wouldn’t have been like that.”
“Is that a question you’re going to ask after a three-hour battle against Nadal? He ducked. It was a complete accident. I didn’t hit him, luckily. I didn’t mean to.”
Kyrgios then tracked down the ball boy to apologize and promised to bring a racket to the venue for him later on Friday.
- Live scores, results and order of play
- Alerts: get tennis news on your phone
Kyrgios also felt that referee Carlos Bernardes allowed the crowd to be too loud during points.
“I know when you play Rafa like 99% of the crowd will go for these guys,” he continued.
“I just want people to know you’re a spectator. You’ve bought tickets to come see us play. At least don’t yell before the first and second serves.”
“I think it’s just this generation. They all feel like their opinion is valid. It’s getting worse because of social media, people suddenly think they’re relevant.
“You’re not relevant. You have a little social media account where you write to people. You spread negativity. It’s embarrassing, and you can see how it affects people.”
Alcaraz ‘humble enough to work hard’ – Nadal
Norrie suffered two breaks in the first set against Alcaraz, but was unable to capitalize.
He also broke first in the second set, but broke again after treatment for left hip strain, and Alcaraz, with exciting power and pace, completed a straight-sets win.
“I didn’t feel that different at all, as a defending champion,” Norrie said.
“It’s always nice to back that up and know it wasn’t just a one-off event. I won [recent ATP tournaments in] Delray Beach and then Acapulco, and I felt like I was playing at the level I was last year.”
Nadal is chasing a fourth BNP Paribas Open title but accepts he will have his work cut out against Alcaraz, who is nearly half his age.
“I think he’s unstoppable in terms of his career,” he said.
“He’s got all the ingredients. He’s got the passion. He’s humble enough to work hard. He reminds me of a lot of things I did when I was 17 or 18.”
“I think he has the passion. He has the talent and the physical component which is great. And I’m super happy, although of course he’s going to be a great rival.”
another spanish, Paula Badosa, she is still on track to defend the women’s title.
The fifth seed beat 21st seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-3 6-2 and will play Mary Sakkari of Greece in the semi-finals on Friday.
The sixth seed, who reached the semifinals of both the French Open and the US Open last year, beat Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-4.
Add Comment