Sinner wins Indian Wells title after beating Medvedev

March 16, 2026 / 11:38 AM

Sharjah24: Italian world number two Jannik Sinner secured an impressive victory over Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, winning 7–6 (8–6) and 7–6 (7–4) to capture his first title at the Indian Wells Masters 1000 tennis tournament.

Tenth masters title on hard courts

The triumph marks Sinner’s tenth title in the Masters category across six different tournaments, all achieved on hard courts.

Sinner, 24, who has won four Grand Slam titles, also improved his head-to-head record against Medvedev, 30, to 9–7. The Italian has now won nine of their last ten meetings.

Medvedev fails to break serve

Medvedev, ranked 11th, had earlier stunned tennis fans by defeating world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals. However, he failed to earn a single break point against Sinner in the final and squandered a 4–0 lead in the second-set tiebreak before eventually losing the match.

High-quality final with no service breaks

Both players produced a high-quality performance without dropping their serve throughout the match, although Medvedev had to save two break points in the first set.

Russian set to return to top ten

Despite the defeat, the Russian, who had hoped to become only the second player to defeat both Alcaraz and Sinner in the same tournament, is set to return to the top ten of the ATP rankings when the new standings are released on Monday.