Indian Wells is back in full swing with another day packed with first-round ATP matches. There is a variety of interesting matches highlighted by former champion Dominic Thiem trying to get back into form against a tough opponent in Adrian Mannarino. The home crowd will enjoy Americans J.J. Wolf and defending doubles champion Jack Sock. Every one of the day’s matches are previewed here at Last Word on Tennis, split between this and three other articles. One features Stan Wawrinka vs Aleksandar Vukic, the second highlights Andy Murray vs Tomas Martin Etcheverry, and the third features Ben Shelton vs Fabio Fognini.
ATP Indian Wells Day 2 Predictions
Thiago Monteiro vs Guido Pella
Head-to-head: 3-2 Pella
While the two South Americans are familiar with each other in the past, all five of their previous meetings have come on clay where each player is most comfortable. Pella is coming back this year after over a year out of tennis with an injury, but has won just one of his four matches in 2023. Monteiro has a decent hard court game and won two matches on the surface to qualify for Aukland early in the year before shifting to primarily clay court events. Pella does not seem to fully be back in his groove and his clay court losses have been to lesser players. Moving to a weaker surface will be tough for him, and Monteiro is in good form and be the better mover in what is likely to be a physical baseline battle.
Prediction: Monteiro in 2
Gregoire Barrere vs Jack Sock
Head-to-head: First meeting
Sock was awarded a wild card into the event as he has continued to struggle with poor form and injuries resulting in him being nowhere near the rankings cut off for the event. He is just 1-3 on the year with two of those losses to players ranked outside the Top 300. Barrere has been excellent this year, winning the Quimper Challenger and getting past the first round in five of his last six events. To have a chance, Sock will have to serve big and play short, aggressive points. Barrere will not make too many mistakes and is simply a far better and more consistent player than Sock. Sock will again have a chance in doubles but does not have the game in singles to keep up.
Prediction: Barrere in 2
J.J. Wolf vs Marton Fucsovics
Head-to-head: 1-0 Wolf
This should be the most competitive of the four matches in this article. They played a tight three setter last year in Vienna and both are strong on hard courts and have been in similar form of late. Wolf is looking like a potential breakout star of 2023 after starting the season with a fourth round run at the Australian Open followed by a semifinal appearance in Dallas. Fucsovics started the year strong with a Challenger title, but has had mixed results of late including losing his last two matches. Fucsovics will trouble Wolf with a big serve, but Wolf’s serve is good enough that he should be able to hold most games to match Fucsovics. This one could go either way, but Wolf is a bit better from the baseline and will win a couple of key break points to get by in a tight match.
Prediction: Wolf in 3
Dominic Thiem vs Adrian Mannarino
Head-to-head: 8-1 Thiem
Thiem has absolutely dominating their prior meetings with Mannarino’s lone wine coming when Thiem had to retire while leading the match. However, they have met just once since 2020, when Thiem was a far more dangerous player than he is now. Thiem has still not found his form after many injuries and has a poor 1-6 record on the year. He has not been competitive in a lot of those matches, with just one set won in his six losses.
Mannarino is in a bit of a funk with three straight losses but has overall still had a solid year. The Frenchman has also played all of his 2023 matches on hard courts, while Thiem is playing his first match back on hard after the South American clay court swing. Mannarino is known for his consistency, which is a nightmare matchup for Thiem ,who is making errors and does not have the overpowering groundstrokes he once did. Thiem has simply not shown that he has the game to beat a player like Mannarino right now so the Frenchman will win easily.
Prediction: Mannarino in 2
Main Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
