Time to wrap up the first round of the 2023 ATP BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. In these four men’s matches, neither pairing has ever played each other before, so it will be a nice clean slate ahead of Thursday. As always here at LWOT, we also predict the rest of the day’s matches, split between three articles. One features Andy Murray vs Tomas Martin Etcheverry, the second highlights Dominic Thiem vs Adrian Mannarino, and the third features Ben Shelton vs Fabio Fognini. Who do you think will come out on top?
ATP Indian Wells Day 2 Predictions
Thanasi Kokkinakis vs Brandon Holt
Head-to-head: First meeting
Brandon Holt has been surprisingly good at the biggest events he’s played in his career so far (last year’s US Open and this year’s Australian Open), but he still can’t really put together solid results at the Challenger level. Thanasi Kokkinakis has been incredible in the past two months or so and it looks like this year he’ll actually perform well outside Australia too for a change. Game-wise it’s not really close, so Holt will need to overperform again.
Prediction: Kokkinakis in 3
Jan-Lennard Struff vs Quentin Halys
Head-to-head: First meeting
Jan-Lennard Struff looking impeccable in the qualifying draw is a story we’ve seen this year already, but he was eaten up by Tommy Paul in the Australian Open Round 1. A repeat is very unlikely, mostly as Quentin Halys has a very different playstyle to the American and this match should be really serve-based. Struff indeed played very well on Monday and Tuesday though and the momentum plus being familiar with the conditions can get him over the line.
Prediction: Struff in 3
Alex Molcan vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas
Head-to-head: First meeting
That’s an interesting battle of two lefties who generally perform better on clay, but the higher bounce at Indian Wells suits them. In fact, Albert Ramos-Vinolas lost his opening match here only once and that was as a seeded player in the second round. Neither player’s been doing that well this year, but after Alex Molcan’s retirement in Acapulco (0-6 0-1 to Matteo Berrettini, left wrist), the veteran Spaniard actually seems fitter.
Prediction: Ramos-Vinolas in 3
Stan Wawrinka vs Aleksandar Vukic
Head-to-head: First meeting
Stan Wawrinka was the runner-up in this event back in 2017 and while such a run is unlikely, the Swiss is definitely producing a good level fairly consistently since the beginning of the year. A slower hard court doesn’t bother him at all because he’s got a lot of time to set up for his strokes (which could be very helpful at this stage of his career as well) and he’s got the power to hit through any conditions anyway. Aleksandar Vukic is not to be underestimated, but he won’t be able to touch the Swiss if the all-time great is hitting well.
Prediction: Wawrinka in 2
Main Photo Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports
