The opening day of the ATP BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells will be a day of comebacks. Reilly Opelka will play here for the first time in three years. The American wild card will face Roman Safiullin who is still chasing his first main draw win of the season. Who do you think will advance to the next round?
ATP Indian Wells Day 1 Predictions
Zhizhen Zhang vs Kamil Majchrzak
Head-to-head: first meeting
Zhizhen Zhang’s form coming to Indian Wells is far from inspiring. Six of his eight defeats have been in straight sets. His last match win was in mid-February. Kamil Majchrzak, meanwhile, enters this contest in decent form with five wins from his last six matches including two in qualifying here in Indian Wells. It is up to Zhang to summon his best tennis to get out of this mire, but a confident Majchrzak might make things very interesting.
Prediction: Zhang in 3
Roberto Bautista Agut vs Damir Dzumhur
Head-to-head: Bautista Agut 1-0 Dzumhur
It’s quite commendable that Bautista Agut, 36, has stayed inside the Top 50. But there is no reason to celebrate his tough start to the season in 2025. It took him nearly two months before he registered his first win. The question with Damir Dzumhur was whether he could sustain his Challenger-level tennis on the ATP Tour. And he’s doing that sparingly. He reached a quarterfinal in Santiago this past week and had to qualify for Indian Wells. It’s still Bautista Agut who is favored here provided he’s got the endurance to go the full distance.
Prediction: Bautista Agut in 3
Fabian Marozsan vs Pedro Martinez
Head-to-head: first meeting
The most that Pedro Martinez has done in each of his last three trips to Indian Wells is to win at least one match. That doesn’t look likely this week. He is on a three-match losing streak. It can be argued that Fabian Marozsan was hardly setting the world alight in recent weeks. However, the Hungarian’s shot variety and crispier tennis should be good enough to take him down.
Prediction: Marozsan in 2
Reilly Opelka vs Roman Safiullin
Head-to-head: first meeting
Eight wins from 12 matches is a healthy return on the win-loss column for Reilly Opelka given all his injury troubles. That includes a runner-up finish in Brisbane in which he defeated 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic. Roman Safiullin hasn’t won a main draw match in 2025 although he came close to ending that drought in Dubai (wasted three match points against Griekspoor). The outcome here could depend on Opelka’s fitness and his offensive power on the slower, low-bouncing new surface.
Prediction: Opelka in 3
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images
