With the second round of ATP action in Indian Wells taking place on Day 3, it features seeded players making their appearances for the first time–like World #6 Andrey Rublev and recent Australian Open semifinalist Karen Khachanov. We also predict the rest of the day’s matches, split between three articles. One features Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Jordan Thompson, another headlines Daniil Medvedev vs Brandon Nakashima, and the third features Yibing Wu vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Who do you think will win?
ATP Indian Wells Day 3 Predictions
Ilya Ivashka vs Botic van de Zandschulp
Head-to-head: van de Zandschulp 2-0
Believe it or not, Ilya Ivashka won his first match in over five months on Tuesday with an easy win against Roman Safuillin of Russia. Prior to that the Belarusian suffered nine losses in a row. Funnily enough, two of these nine losses have indeed been to the Dutchman in just this year alone with Ivashka only winning a single set. Combine that with the form of the 29 year old and the fact that Indian Wells is a slow hardcourt which doesn’t favor his big game off the ground, it’s hard to not see a van de Zandschulp win here.
Prediction: van de Zandschulp in 2
Karen Khachanov vs Oscar Otte
Head-to-head: Otte 1-0
Despite Otte leading the head-to-head winning their only encounter in Halle last year, it’s not really much to look into. Not only is it the Russian’s weakness surface by a mile, he’s also turned a huge corner career wise these past seven months with back-to-back Slam semifinals. Despite Khachanov not winning a match since that Australian Open semifinal it’s an interesting situation on a court that plays like those in Indian Wells. Whilst the speed makes his shots far less effective in penetrating the court and hitting through opponents, the higher bounce and slower speed is perfect for his long backswings on both wings especially the forehand.
Prediction: Khachanov in 2
Wu Tung-lin vs Cameron Norrie
Head-to-head: 0-0
Despite being ranked 175 in the world, the man from Chinese Taipei not only got through qualifying but routed World #46 Alexander Bublik 6-4 6-4 in the first round. On the other hand, Cameron Norrie is coming off the second biggest title of his career in Rio getting a stunning win in the final over world number two Carlos Alcaraz. Add to that that the Brit won Indian Wells just two years ago it’s quite evident his game is suited to the desert with his pushy grinding style being able to break down almost every player down and there’s no reason he won’t do it here.
Prediction: Norrie in 2
Andrey Rublev vs Jiri Lehecka
Head-to-head: 1-1
Lehecka is without a doubt having an amazing start to 2023 and is on track to break the top 30 in the upcoming few months. With a win over Rublev just a few weeks ago in Doha there’s absolutely no reason he can’t do it again but since then the Russian has somewhat found a better level en route to the Dubai final just the week after playing Top 10 tennis again for perhaps the first time this year.
In their past two matches it’s always been a matter of first strike tennis and this shouldn’t be much different. There’s also a big question of where the Czech is mentally right now after a huge choke against Andy Murray just a few weeks ago followed up by another tight loss to Alexander Zverev just the week after. Purely based on Rublev upping it in Dubai, I think he’ll edge this one.
Prediction: Rublev in 3
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
