Carlos Alcaraz avenged his Indian Wells semi-final defeat by Daniil Medvedev on Saturday, beating the Russian 6-4, 7-6 (2) in 1 hour 37 minutes to reach the final of the Vienna ATP 500. The Spaniard, seed No. 2 and a wild card this week, reached the 35th final of his career. It was his fourth final of the season.

The win took his record this season to 35-5. His titles in 2026 came at the Australian Open, in Doha and in Tokyo. The win extended his unbeaten run at ATP 500 level, which dated back to Barcelona in 2025.

He will face either Alexander Zverev or Alex de Minaur, who meet in the other semi-final. Alcaraz did the damage early in each set, then held firm when Medvedev pushed back.

Two breaks, one tie-break

Alcaraz opened the match with a love hold and broke Medvedev to lead 3-1. The Russian broke straight back to trail 3-2. Games then went with serve until the 10th game, when Alcaraz broke again. He converted his first set point to take the opener in 36 minutes.

The second set followed a similar pattern. Alcaraz saved a break point to hold at 2-2, then broke for a 4-2 lead. Medvedev broke back immediately to trail 4-3, and the set went to a tie-break. Alcaraz won it 7-2, converting his first match point after a second set that lasted 61 minutes.

The Spaniard hit 28 winners to Medvedev’s 15, with 26 unforced errors to the Russian’s 18. He won 78 percent of the points behind his first serve, against 65 percent for Medvedev. In other words, he took more risks, and the winners covered the errors.

The Indian Wells defeat reversed

Alcaraz now leads Medvedev 6-3 on tour. The Russian beat him 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the Indian Wells semi-finals in March. Before that, Alcaraz had won their four previous meetings. They included the 2024 Wimbledon semi-finals, which he won 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Alcaraz opened his week by beating Russia’s Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-6 (5). He then beat Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1, 7-6 (11). In the quarter-finals, he beat American Tommy Paul 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Next week, Alcaraz opens at the Paris Masters 1000 against Alex Michelsen or Jiri Lehecka.

Medvedev, seed No. 3, had already secured his place at the ATP Finals in Turin, with 3,810 Race points. He beat Spain’s Daniel Merida 7-6 (5), 6-1 in his opening match in Vienna. He then needed three sets to beat Britain’s Cameron Norrie 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1). He finished the week with a 52-18 record this season.