WATCH: Carlos Alcaraz patiently waits for Jannik Sinner to leave the court together after rain interrupts their Indian Wells SF
As a gesture of respect, Carlos Alcaraz stopped for Jannik Sinner before walking off the court after rain interrupted their semifinal showdown at the Indian Wells Masters on Saturday, March 16.
Alcaraz and Sinner were forced to leave the court on Saturday only after three games of the first set as rain poured in at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The Italian led 2-1 on the scoreboard when the chair umpire suspended the match.
Alcaraz quickly packed his bags and proceeded toward the tunnel while his opponent for the day collected his stuff. He halted his movement to let Sinner join him and the two chatted with each other on their way back to the locker room.
The 20-year-old's action particularly impressed the commentators, with one of them saying:
"Here's a touch of class from Carlos Alcaraz just waiting for Sinner before leaving the court. You know, just the little things like that represent the real respect between the two."
The other commentator chimed in, saying:
"Yeah, this rivalry may be just starting to ascend but the two are so familiar with each other and so friendly, they both have that affable nature and respect for each other. It makes it more enticing to see the two compete because there's no real animosity."
Watch the video here:
The match resumed after a three-hour-long hiatus with Sinner coming out all guns blazing. He took the opening set 6-1 in no time to push Alcaraz on the back foot.
The Spaniard, however, bounced back in style and won the remaining two sets 6-3, 6-2 to take one step further in his quest to defend his title at Tennis Paradise. He will take on Daniil Medvedev in the final slated for Sunday (March 17).
Carlos Alcaraz: "It's difficult to start the match and then have to stop, start again"
Interestingly, this was Carlos Alcaraz's second match to be suspended at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters. His quarterfinal clash with Alexander Zverev too witnessed a stoppage due to hundreds of bees swarming Court 1.
During his post-match press conference on Saturday, Alcaraz revealed joking about the incidents with Jannik Sinner during the break.
"We were laughing about it with Jannik when it suspended, because I had bees, had the rain," he said.
Alcaraz continued:
"It's difficult to start the match and then have to stop, start again. Warming up, it's difficult for me a little bit. I didn't start pretty well, but really happy to overcome that problem and ending the match playing a high level."
Alcaraz won the title in Indian Wells last year after beating Daniil Medvedev in straight sets. The Russian trails 2-3 in his head-to-head record against the two-time Major winner.