Alcaraz, who has opened 2026 by winning 16 successive matches, beat Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-4 in their quarter-final on Thursday (Friday AEDT) to move within two rounds of his third title in four years at the BNP Paribas Open, just outside of Palm Springs.
He'll next play Medvedev, who benefited from a disputed, overturned point late in his 6-1 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper.
Draper momentarily threw his arms to his side to signal he thought Medvedev's deep forehand had landed long during a rally that ended several shots later when Medvedev's backhand went into the net. Medvedev, already up one set, asked chair umpire Aurelie Tourte for a video review.
Tourte said that by rule, Draper's gesture was "something different than you would do normally," and that she felt compelled to award the point to Medvedev.
"We played two shots afterwards," Draper protested calmly. "I get it if he missed the next ball, but he didn't."
The ruling, which drew boos from the crowd, put Medvedev up 0-30 en route to a break that allowed him to serve out the match one game later, setting up his semi-final showdown with Alcaraz.
Sinner served 10 aces while defeating 25th-seeded Learner Tien, 6-1 6-2. The second-seeded Italian's victory ended the run of the youngest American (20) to play in a quarter-final at Indian Wells since his coach, Michael Chang, won the tournament in 1992.
Zverev put 72 per cent of his first serves in play during his 6-2 6-3 victory over France's Arthur Fils, to set up a clash with Sinner.
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