The first Masters 1000 tournament is upon us. The 2023 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells kicks off with main draw action on Wednesday. The seeds will not be in action on day one, but we have plenty of fascinating matchups to look forward to. As always, we here at LWOT have every match covered from the Californian desert with 16 matches in a jam-packed Wednesday. Who do you think will advance into the second round at ATP Indian Wells?
ATP Indian Wells Day 1 Predictions
Taro Daniel vs Roberto Carballes Baena
Head-to-head: Carballes Baena 6-2 Daniel
We cannot read too much into that head-to-head record. The bulk of Carballes Baena’s wins were on clay on the junior circuit. At Tour level, the Spaniard leads 2-1. Daniel though is more at home on hard courts. Indian Wells is his most successful Masters tournament. He famously reached the third round as a qualifier back in 2018 where he earned the biggest win of his career by beating Novak Djokovic. Last week he made a run to the last eight in Acapulco scoring a maiden top-1o win over Casper Ruud. It’s implausible that Daniel loses this one.
Prediction: Daniel in 2
Embed from Getty Images
Daniel Elahi Galan vs Cristian Garin
Head-to-head: Garin 1-0 Galan
For as long as Daniel Elahi Galan plays tennis, he will never play a better match on a hard court than his stunning upset over Stefanos Tsitsipas at last year’s US Open. But he arrives at the 2023 Indian Wells Masters looking completely and utterly out of ideas. The Golden Swing was expected to offer him some sort of headstart, but he was extremely poor. It’s now one win in six tournaments. Garin, meanwhile, is on his way up. And with Chilean looking assured in qualifying, he should win this routinely.
Prediction: Garin in 2
Embed from Getty Images
Alejandro Tabilo vs Maximilian Marterer
Head-to-head: first meeting
Two qualifiers have been pitted against each other here. And quite frankly this should be a nip-and-tuck as neither player looked in great form coming into the tournament. Marterer suffered an embarrassing loss at the Waco Challenger a week ago, winning just three games against 18-year-old Alex Michelsen. Tabilo, for his part, lost on home soil to Jaume Munar this past week, concluding his Golden Swing without a single main draw win. But the Chilean has a lot more upswing to his game on hard courts and was highly impressive in dismissing in-form Christopher O’Connell and Zachary Svajda in qualifying. This will be a cagey affair and a tiny edge goes to the Tabilo.
Prediction: Tabilo in 3
Embed from Getty Images
Alexander Bublik vs Tung-lin Wu
Head-to-head: first meeting
Bublik had a rough start to the year, but he can take comfort from playing a qualifier here. Tung-lin Wu is still a rookie at this level, having made a handful of appearances on the ATP Tour. But he had a strong qualifying campaign in which he eliminated Alexander Shevchenko and Francesco Passaro – both ranked higher than the Taiwanese. The 24-year-old is known for his aggression, but it is tough to see him stand up to Bublik’s shotmaking.
Prediction: Bublik in 2
Main Photo Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
