Tennis-Alcaraz and red-hot Medvedev set up Indian Wells final showdown

FILE PHOTO: Mar 15, 2023; Indian Wells, CA, USA; Daniil Medvedev (RUS) hits a shot as he defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP) in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

(Reuters) -Top seed Carlos Alcaraz was far from his best but did enough to beat Italy's Jannik Sinner 7-6(4) 6-3 on Saturday and set up an Indian Wells final showdown with red-hot Russian Daniil Medvedev in the California desert.

In a rematch of their thrilling U.S. Open quarter-final that the 19-year-old Spaniard won in five hard-hitting sets en route to winning the title, Alcaraz needed to save a set point in the opening frame against Sinner before reasserting his control.