Indian Wells Open: ‘We’re going to see a Carlos Alcaraz-Jannik Sinner final’
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner will continue their domination of men’s tennis with former American stars Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey believing it is a forgone conclusion that they will reach the Indian Wells Open final.
World No 1 Alcaraz is unbeaten so far in 2026 as he won the Australian Open and Qatar Open while No 2 Sinner has been slightly off colour as he lost in the semi-final at Melbourne Park and the quarter-final in Doha.
But there is no doubt that the top two players in the world are the favourites at every tournament they enter, as they played in six finals last year, including the French Open, Wimbledon, US Open and ATP Finals.
Seven-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz and four-time major champion Sinner can once again only meet in the final in Indian Wells as they are on the opposite sides of the draw.
On the Nothing Major podcast with John Isner, former world No 21 Johnson asked: “I think on the men’s side it’s just, can the domination continue from Alcaraz?”
“Will he lose a set? Will he lose a match? Is Sinner kind of back to where he was at the end of last year, competing at the end of these tournaments?”
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He then went a step further when he gave his prediction for the first ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the year.
“I think we’re going to see an Alcaraz-Sinner final. On hard courts, these guys are just very good,” he said. “Sinner’s been there for a few days already practicing, getting ready. They want to win here. It’s a big, first Masters Series event of the year.”
The American added: “I don’t see anybody outside of those two guys winning it. It’s hard to pick against them at the moment.”
Alcaraz is a two-time champion in California as he won the title in 2023 and 2024 while last year he was beaten in the semi-final by eventual champion Jack Draper.
Sinner, of course, didn’t feature in 2025 as he was serving his three-month ban following his failed doping tests in March 2024 while he was beaten by Alcaraz in the last four in 2023 and 2024.
Johnson continued: “I don’t see Draper kind of coming from nowhere to get another title.”
The duo do enjoy playing on hard courts and conditions and former world No 11 Querrey said: “Every surface favours Alcaraz and Sinner. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
When asked if Alcaraz will have an edge on the Indian Wells courts, he replied: “Yes, I think so. It’s gritty, it’s high-bouncing. I think Sinner’s a little better when the ball’s right in his zone. For Alcaraz, he works the kick serve around a little bit more.”
