By Tony Fairbairn
- Holger Rune [7] v Stan Wawrinka [PR]
- Iga Swiatek [1] v Bianca Andreescu [32]
- Hubert Hurkacz [9] v Tommy Paul [17]
INDIAN WELLS, USA – Holger Rune and Iga Swiatek face former Grand Slam champions in their bid to reach the fourth round at Indian Wells.
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Holger Rune [7] v Stan Wawrinka [PR] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Holger Rune [7] v Stan Wawrinka [PR] | H2H: Rune leads 1-0 |
| Indian Wells 2023 | Indian Wells, USA |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $55,770 |
| Second on Stadium 2, not before 12:30pm (7:30pm GMT) | Amazon Prime Video <– Sign up for trial |
Holger Rune is one of the biggest talents on the ATP Tour which was seen at the end of the last year when he beat Novak Djokovic to win his first Masters 1000 event in Paris. The Dane has since backed that up with an Australian Open quarter-final as he bids to achieve more success in 2023. However the Dane has struggled to keep injury-free in the last couple of weeks and will hope that isn’t a reoccurring theme throughout the year as he looks for a deep run in California.
Next for Rune is former Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka who is looking to make a consistent comeback to the top-end of the ATP rankings. Now ranked at 100, Wawrinka has shown signs of consistency as he has won back-to-back matches at his last three events. Now Wawrinka looks for more progress as the 37 year-old would love nothing more than to be inside the world’s top 50 by the end of the season and start competing for titles regularly on the ATP tour.
Wawrinka will look to set up patterns of play to ensure that he finishes the point off with his backhand. While Rune will look to be aggressive on return and take advantage of Wawrinka’s lack of consistency on first serve. This will be a tough match for Wawrinka but if he can dictate the pace of the rallies from the baseline than he has every chance of neutralising the Dane’s attacking play. In the end Rune’s quality on serve should prove too strong for Wawrinka.
Prediction: Rune in straight sets.
Iga Swiatek [1] v Bianca Andreescu [32] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Iga Swiatek [1] v Bianca Andreescu [32] | H2H: Swiatek leads 1-0 |
| Indian Wells 2023 | Indian Wells, USA |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $55,770 |
| First night match on Stadium 1, not before 6pm (1am GMT, Tuesday) | Amazon Prime Video <– Sign up for trial |
Iga Swiatek’s search for a second consecutive Indian Wells title started in emphatic fashion as she only dropped one game against Claire Liu. The world number one’s dominance on the WTA over the last year has been impressive but Swiatek won’t want standards to slip as she aims for more Grand Slam success in 2023. As the Pole’s list of rivals narrows with each passing week, Swiatek will know that to keep the motivation high she will have to aim to break more records as the season goes on.
Swiatek’s bid for constant history must go through a player that was once thought to be a near rival of the Pole and that is Bianca Andreescu. The Canadian is a former champion at Indian Wells and a former Grand Slam champion at the US Open having shown in the past she has the complete package. However injuries and lack of confidence have contributed to her downfall as she looks to make her way back up the rankings and become a threat to the tour once again.
Both players’ variety makes this an exciting match with their game styles suiting the Californian conditions. Andreescu will look to be on the front foot and be aggressive as she takes on the sublime defence of Swiatek. It promises to be an entertaining contest but in the end Swiatek’s consistent quality should prevail even if the opening set proves to be a battle.
Prediction: Swiatek in straight sets.
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Hubert Hurkacz [9] v Tommy Paul [17] H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Hubert Hurkacz [9] v Tommy Paul [17] | H2H: Hurkacz leads 1-0 |
| Indian Wells 2023 | Indian Wells, USA |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $55,770 |
| First match on Stadium 2 at 11am (6pm GMT) | Amazon Prime Video <– Sign up for trial |
After a last 16 exit to Sebastian Korda at the Australian Open, Hubert Hurkacz has responded well as he looks to be a consistent fixture in the world’s top ten. The Pole won the title in Marseille and tested Novak Djokovic in Dubai with the world number 11 now looking for a deep run at a Masters 1000 event. Can the 26 year-old go above and beyond to advance into the latter stages of Indian Wells.
The next obstacle for Hurkacz is Tommy Paul, who has had a sensational last 12 months with the American producing some consistent results. That has been evident at the start of this season as well having reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open as well as reaching the final in Acapulco last week. Momentum is on the American’s side and now Paul looks to achieve more success by knocking out another top seed.
Expect many long rallies with Paul looking to use variety and slice to neutralise Hurkacz’s attack. The Pole will look to go into the net and use the angles to force different types of shots from the American. This has the potential to be a classic match with Paul entering slight favourite especially on this slow moving Californian hard court.
Prediction: Paul in three sets.
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