4 key takeaways from Carlos Alcaraz & Iga Swiatek's disappointing Indian Wells semifinal exits 

Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek have both been eliminated in the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

The matchups for the finals of the tournament have now been decided. While Aryna Sabalenka will face Mirra Andreeva in the women's final, Jack Draper will take on Holger Rune in a somewhat surprising match-up in the men's one.

Andreeva, who has been one of the steadily improving youngsters in women's tennis, eliminated Iga Swiatek, the world No. 2, in the semifinal. On the other hand, Draper, the surprise package of the tournament, beat Alcaraz in a three-setter in the men's semifinal.

The exit of the two superstars was not predicted by most followers of the sport. In this article, we will take a look at four takeaways from the shocking losses of Alcaraz and Swiatek in Indian Wells.

#1. Carlos Alcaraz continues to be somewhat underwhelming on hard courts:

The Spaniard, who was the defending champion in Indian Wells, has won only two tournaments on hard courts since triumphing in the American desert last year. One of those victories came on the indoor courts of Rotterdam and the other in Beijing.

Not to mention that the 21-year-old Spaniard has not won a Grand Slam on hard courts since winning the US Open in 2022. He has consistently been second-best on hard courts in big tournaments to Jannik Sinner in the recent past. In Sinner's absence, it was a golden opportunity for him to win the title in Indian Wells, considering that Novak Djokovic was eliminated early as well.

#2. Alcaraz's frequent net-rushing is not doing him any good:

Alcaraz does not have a booming serve, which means that he is usually not in a very advantageous position while playing his second shot. He typically tries to dominate proceedings with his forehand early on in a rally, but when he fails to do so, he resorts to playing a drop shot frequently before rushing the net.

That tactic did him more harm than good in the match against Draper. Alcaraz does not have a game as powerful as Sinner's, nor is he a grafter of Djokovic's caliber. His ability to stay in a rally helps him on clay and his net-skills on grass, but he needs to develop an edge to prevail on hard courts.

#3. Swiatek continues to play second fiddle to Sabalenka on hard courts:

While Swiatek is undoubtedly the best female player on clay, her performance on hard courts has been decidedly second-best to Sabalenka's in the recent past.

Sabalenka has won the Cincinnati Masters, the US Open and the Wuhan Open in the last six months. During the same time-frame, Swiatek managed none. The 23-year-old Pole has won seven of her 12 WTA 1000 titles on hard, but only one of her five Grand Slam titles has come on the surface.

In comparison, Sabalenka has won five of her seven WTA 1000 titles on hard and might very well go on to win her sixth in Indian Wells this year. Besides, the Belarusian has won three Grand Slam titles on hard courts.

#4. Andreeva is becoming a nemesis for Swiatek:

Andreeva's victory over Swiatek was the former's second successive one against the latter in the past month. The young Russian had earlier eliminated the Pole in the quarterfinals in Dubai.

While Swiatek is quite young herself, Andreeva's athleticism has stunned the world No. 2 at times. She has often found it difficult to contend with her younger opponent on hard courts. From the looks of it, it seems like Swiatek now has one more opponent to be concerned about other than Sabalenka.