Carlos Alcaraz has defeated Casper Ruud in the round of 16 at Indian Wells for 6-1 y 7-6 (2). The Murcian beat the Norwegian in two rounds. He swept the first and closed the match in the tie-break of the second.
Alcaraz only needed 1 hour and 30 minutes to subdue Ruud in a much calmer match than the one he faced in the previous round with the Frenchman. Arthur Rinderknech. The number one in the world The British Cameron Norrie will be measured in the quarterfinalswho defeated Rinky Hijikata in the round of 16 (4-6 and 2-6).
With this Wednesday’s victory, Alcaraz has fifteen victories in 2025 and remains undefeated in the current season (15-0) with two titles under his arm: the United States Open and the ATP 500 in Doha.
Alcaraz gets the duel back on track from the start
Ruud didn’t play bad tennis, but he didn’t win enough points to worry Alcaraz. The Norwegian conceded his first two games on serve, with which The Murcian quickly took a 4-0 lead in favor and the first set on track. With the rest at 5-1, Alcaraz signed his third break of the afternoon in Indian Wells and scored the lead on his second set point.
The Spanish did what he wanted in the Californian desert. At a very high level, he displayed his usual repertoire of volleys, lobs and impossible shots for the rest of the mortals, at whom Ruud, helpless, could only laugh.
Alcaraz won 100% of his first 24 points with the first serve, until his fifth game of the second set. An outrage.
The Murcian closes the match with a brilliant tie-break
In that second set, Ruud recovered from the setback, took a step forward and was in charge of at least defending his serve. The Norwegian maintained equality until forcing a tiebreaker, but he couldn’t do anything about the rest: He did not have a single break ball in the entire duel.
Alcaraz played a practically perfect tie-breakwithout any interest in taking the match to a third set. He did not win it blank due to two errors of his own with Ruud already sold. On his second match point, the Murcian did not forgive.
He finished with 88% points won on the first serve and 67% on the second. With 33 winners compared to 17 for Ruud and with 18 unforced errors, compared to 22 for the Norwegian.
“We both played very well. My first set, I think, was incontestable, to be honest. PBut I’m really happy to have been able to play at that level. Very happy to have carried out the match and, hopefully, to be able to maintain this level in the next round,” Alcaraz said in statements at the foot of the court.
Alcaraz advances with firm steps in a tournament that conquered in 2023 and 2024, but that escaped him in 2025, eliminated in the semifinals at the hands of the British Jack Draper.
In the next round, which will be played this Thursday, Alcaraz will face the British Cameron Norrie. On the same side of the painting they advance Novak Djokovic y Daniil Medvedevwith whom he could face in a hypothetical semifinal on Saturday.
