{"id":98830,"date":"2026-03-03T02:24:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T07:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=98830"},"modified":"2026-03-03T03:12:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T08:12:27","slug":"best-round-1-matches-at-atp-indian-wells-joao-fonseca-vs-collignon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/03\/03\/best-round-1-matches-at-atp-indian-wells-joao-fonseca-vs-collignon\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Round 1 Matches at ATP Indian Wells Including Joao Fonseca vs Raphael Collignon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The men&#8217;s draw for the BNP Paribas Open, ATP Indian Wells, has <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/2026-indian-wells-bracket-draw-232744764.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">officially arrived<\/a>. While the top seeds enjoy direct byes into the second round, the opening slate is packed with highly anticipated, high-stakes clashes.<\/p>\n<h3>Terence Atmane vs Grigor Dimitrov<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ruud Faces Wu; Monfils, Zverev, Dimitrov Feature | Acapulco 2026 Day 2 Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dct3D0D7Hpc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Atmane recently defeated Dimitrov in Acapulco and currently sits at a career-high ranking. The 24-year-old Frenchman is truly coming into his own heading into this tournament, boasting recent victories over both Dimitrov and Rafael Jodar in Mexico, which followed his first win of the season over Patrick Kypson in Delray Beach. Atmane is a talented shotmaker who spells trouble for Dimitrov, a player who is also creative with his ball striking.<\/p>\n<p>Dimitrov will need to be on high upset alert here. He is off to a miserable 1-5 start to the season, making <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/12\/30\/dimitrov-2025-review-heartbreaking-season-for-the-bulgarian\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">the joys we saw<\/a> in 2025 (15-11 on the season) and 2024 (49-19) feel quite distant. While Dimitrov remains one of the most famous names in the sport, his current form is a major cause for concern. He turns 35 in May, and if his results don&#8217;t pick up, retirement may come sooner rather than later. Dimitrov recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.puntodebreak.com\/en\/2026\/02\/24\/dimitrov-ive-had-to-change-things-in-my-game-and-routine-because-of-the-injury#:~:text=I%20have%20had%20to%20change,young%20Spanish%20player%20Rafael%20J%C3%B3dar.\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told Puntodebreak<\/a> that he needed to <em>&#8220;change things in his game&#8221;<\/em> as a result of his pectoral tear. He has also overhauled his coaching team, with David Nalbandian and Xavier Malisse <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/02\/19\/two-major-atp-coaching-moves-dimitrov-fils-announce-changes\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">now working with him<\/a>. The winner of this match faces a nearly impossible second-round meeting against top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz.<\/p>\n<h3>Zachary Svajda vs Marin Cilic<\/h3>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 610px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBjuGN6YEg\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 4681px; aspect-ratio: 4681\/3121;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<p>Cilic, who recently surpassed all comers in Croatian tennis history by securing his<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/02\/16\/the-long-road-pays-off-marin-cilic-and-the-meaning-of-600-wins\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"> 600th ATP win<\/a>, is still going strong. His ranking was high enough to grant him direct entry into the BNP Paribas Open, and for his efforts, he draws American wildcard Zach Svajda in the first round.<\/p>\n<p>Historically, Cilic has never taken well to the courts at Indian Wells. Even in his prime, the gritty surface was perhaps too slow for him to comfortably settle into his power game in the desert. On the other side of the net, the California-native Svajda will be full of belief. Now a top-100 player and the recent <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofsandiego.com\/sports\/2026\/02\/03\/pacific-beach-svajda-san-diego-open\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">San Diego Challenger champion<\/a>, he won&#8217;t have any hesitation heading into this match. Cilic&#8217;s form has cooled slightly since reaching the semifinals in Dallas and the third round at the Australian Open (where he upset Denis Shapovalov). Adding to the intrigue, Svajda upset Cilic on grass in a Challenger event last year, splitting their head-to-head meetings. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina awaits the winner.<\/p>\n<h3>Joao Fonseca vs Raphael Collignon<\/h3>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 610px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBPRTdJjTO\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 6478px; aspect-ratio: 6478\/4319;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<p>Fonseca previously won a Davis Cup match against Collignon, who arrives in the desert fresh off a Challenger Tour title in Pau. Collignon is aiming to break into the top 50 soon, but to do that, he needs to secure tour-level wins like this one. He holds a modest 13-17 career record at the tour level, but boasts a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/10\/18\/the-rise-of-raphael-collignon-brussels-semifinal-run-announces-his-arrival\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">staggering 36-9 record on the Challenger Tour<\/a> since 2025. He is the type of player who can expose Fonseca if Fonseca is still unfit.<\/p>\n<p>Fonseca is hoping to find his footing after struggling to a 1-4 start this season. The Brazilian rising star did win the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/03\/02\/joao-fonseca-wins-mgm-slam-exhibition-in-las-vegas\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">MGM Slam exhibition<\/a> in Las Vegas, but he desperately needs that baseline talent to translate to official matches in California. Despite his higher ranking, this matchup won&#8217;t be easy for Fonseca. Karen Khachanov awaits the winner.<\/p>\n<h3>Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Denis Shapovalov<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Denis Shapovalov vs Stefanos Tsitsipas Match Highlights | Miami 2024\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-EI0wp-QL8k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Two players who badly need a win have been drawn against each other in the ATP Indian Wells first round. It&#8217;s a nightmare scenario for both Tsitsipas and Shapovalov, though the draw opens up slightly afterward: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/02\/23\/tomas-martin-etcheverry-another-south-american-to-make-his-mark-during-golden-swing\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Tomas Martin Etcheverry<\/a> is a beatable second-round opponent on hard courts, before a likely third-round clash with Jannik Sinner.<\/p>\n<p>These two veterans have met six times, with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/02\/16\/can-denis-shapovalov-reclaim-his-promise\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Shapovalov winning<\/a> four of those matchups, including their 2024 clash at the Miami Masters. Shapovalov&#8217;s 4-5 record on the season is respectable and includes a semifinal run in Dallas. Tsitsipas sits at 9-6, but his early exits at the Australian Open and Dubai are <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/02\/24\/tsitsipas-ranking-plummets-early-dubai-loss\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">major concerns<\/a>. The Greek star is sliding toward the wrong end of the ATP top 50, and there are few positive signs right now as he continues to battle both physical issues (chronic back pain) and mental exhaustion. The left-handed Shapovalov is a massive hitter; Tsitsipas will need to absorb his power and force him to come up with a &#8220;Plan B&#8221; if he wants to win this match.<\/p>\n<h3>Hubert Hurkacz vs Aleksandar Kovacevic<\/h3>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 610px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBapjjNKZV\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 3508px; aspect-ratio: 3508\/2480;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<p>Holding a 6-8 record on the year, Kovacevic is performing exactly how most perceive him: a solid, middle-of-the-pack tour player. Playing on home soil in the United States should give him a boost at ATP Indian Wells, but at 27 years old, he has still failed to make a major top-50 breakthrough despite consistently knocking on the door. He battled hard against Frances Tiafoe in Acapulco and kept things close against Shapovalov in Dallas. His best result of the season remains an ATP Brisbane semifinal run, which followed two ATP finals appearances last year.<\/p>\n<p>Hurkacz, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2026\/02\/23\/hurkacz-the-gentle-giant\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">still working his way back from a knee injury<\/a>, is in an interesting spot with a 5-6 record on the season. While the Polish star can still serve his way out of trouble, the rest of his game under Nicolas Massu&#8217;s tutelage looks a bit rusty. When dragged into long rallies, there is a clear vulnerability to Hurkacz right now. He enters Indian Wells on a four-match losing streak and will be desperate to shift his momentum this week. Corentin Moutet is a very beatable second-round opponent for the victor, meaning there is a lot riding on this opening matchup.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The men&#8217;s draw for the BNP Paribas Open, ATP Indian Wells, has officially arrived. While the top seeds enjoy direct byes into the second round, the opening slate is packed with highly anticipated, high-stakes clashes. Terence Atmane vs Grigor Dimitrov Atmane recently defeated Dimitrov in Acapulco and currently sits at a career-high ranking. The 24-year-old [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1442,"featured_media":93878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[17945,18,2749,259,831,776,411,2916,828,18636,50,18766,304,41540,8206],"class_list":["post-98830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atp","category-featured","tag-aleksandar-kovacevic","tag-atp","tag-atp-indian-wells","tag-atp-tour","tag-bnp-paribas-open","tag-denis-shapovalov","tag-grigor-dimitrov","tag-hubert-hurkacz","tag-indian-wells","tag-joao-fonseca","tag-marin-cilic","tag-raphael-collignon","tag-stefanos-tsitsipas","tag-terence-atmane","tag-zachary-svajda"],"modified_by":"Steen Kirby","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1442"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98830"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98842,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98830\/revisions\/98842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}