Match Report
Sinner surges past Tien in Indian Wells, units Zverev SF
World No. 2 is chasing his maiden title at BNP Paribas Open
March 12, 2026
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Jannik Sinner defeats Learner Tien to succeed in the BNP Paribas Open semi-finals.
By Andy West
Jannik Sinner strapped on his velocity skates to race past Learner Tien in emphatic vogue on Thursday on the BNP Paribas Open.
The No. 2 participant in the PIF ATP Rankings produced an aesthetic show full of first-strike tennis to earn a 6-1, 6-2 triumph towards reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion Tien. Sinner, who edged Joao Fonseca in two tie-break units in the fourth spherical, he appeared decided to not get slowed down in one other slugfest and his aggressive method proved too sizzling for his 20-year-old opponent to deal with.
Unstoppable and unplayable 🥶@janniksin cruises into the semi-finals at Indian Wells with a flawless 6-1, 6-2 win over Tien! @BNPPARIBASOPEN | #TennisParadise pic.twitter.com/6UDKdx76u3
— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 12, 2026
“I feel like of course experience [of the matchup] helps you a bit,” said Sinner, who also downed Tien in straight sets in the Beijing final last October. “In the other way, we tried to prepare ourselves in the best possible way. He is a very talented player. He will be here many times, but I’m happy how I reacted. I feel like he was very aggressive, especially in the beginning, so I tried to hold back. “An important match for me of course.”
Tien’s bid for a maiden Lexus ATP Head2Headvert victory towards Sinner was undermined early when the American lefty gifted Sinner a break with a double fault in the second recreation. Sinner hardly seemed again from there and he wrapped his 66-minute win having transformed 4 of 5 break factors he earned, in line with Infosys ATP Stats. The 24-year-old Italian will tackle fourth seed Alexander Zverev for a spot in his first BNP Paribas Open championship match.
Having reached his maiden ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final by grinding out back-to-back three-set wins towards Ben Shelton and Alexander Davidovich FokinaTien appeared to wrestle bodily because the second set of Thursday’s encounter wore on. The American was unable to counter the relentless energy and precision of Sinner’s groundstrokes, and the Italian not often seemed troubled on his technique to a ninth consecutive Masters 1000 match win.
“We came here very early,” stated Sinner, when requested how he dealt so nicely with the new situations in Indian Wells on Thursday. “It was highly regarded the week earlier than the event, so we did have lengthy coaching periods making an attempt to get the physique used to it. Today I felt actually good on courtroom. It’s for positive an space the place I’m making an attempt to enhance given the issues I’ve had in Australia.
“I do believe these are positive things, small departments where we have to improve. I’m happy how we’ve prepared for the matches and of course the next one is going to be a tough one.”
Awaiting Sinner in the final 4 in ‘Tennis Paradise’ will likely be fourth seed Zverev, who earlier eased past Arthur Fils 6-2, 6-3. The 28-year-old Zverev, who grew to become simply the fifth participant to finish the set of semi-final appearances in any respect 9 Masters 1000 occasions by overcoming thirtieth seed Fils, will bid to snap a five-match shedding streak towards Sinner in Saturday’s semi-finals.
Sinner has captured 5 of the six Masters 1000 titles, with the Indian Wells trophy being the one one lacking from his assortment. Should he overcome Zverev and go on to elevate the trophy on Sunday in the California desert, he would grow to be simply the third man after Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic to finish that set.
