Indian Wells Daily Preview: A Busy Tuesday Features All Fourth Round Singles Matches - UBITENNIS
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Indian Wells Daily Preview: A Busy Tuesday Features All Fourth Round Singles Matches

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Another beautiful view of the grounds at Indian Wells (twitter.com/bnpparibasopen)

After each half of the draw has alternated days of play to this stage, everyone still alive in men’s and women’s singles will take to the court on Tuesday.

 

ATP singles action is headlined by one of the sport’s most prolific rivalries of the past five years between Daniil Medvedev and Sascha Zverev.  WTA action is headlined by a meeting between two of 2023’s best players: Aryna Sabalenka and Barbora Krejcikova.  And in both the ATP and WTA draws, the top seeds face Great Britain’s best new rising stars.

Each day, this preview will analyze the two most intriguing matchups, while highlighting other notable matches on the schedule.  Tuesday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.


Daniil Medvedev (5) vs. Sascha Zverev (12) – 11:00am on Stadium 1

Medvedev is now on a 16-match win streak, having claimed three straight titles heading into this tournament (Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai).  Zverev is just 8-7 since returning this season from the awful ankle injury he suffered last June at Roland Garros, though he seems to be rediscovering some form, as he’s taken five of his last six matches.

The rivalry between these two has been extremely tight, and is currently tied up at 6-6, with all 12 matches contested on hard courts at non-Majors.  Zverev won the first four, but Medvedev has now won five of their last six.  They have not played since they met twice during the 2021 ATP Finals, where Daniil prevailed in round robin play, but Sascha prevailed in the championship match.

Medvedev was just 6-5 at Indian Wells prior to this fortnight, while Zverev was only 8-6, so this tournament has not been too kind to either player.  But based on recent form, as well as their recent history, Daniil is a considerable favorite to reach the quarterfinals of Indian Wells for the first time.


Barbora Krejcikova (16) vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2) – Second on Stadium 2

Sabalenka, a recently-anointed new Major singles champion, is now 14-1 in 2023.  However, the Belarusian received a walkover in the last round from Ukranian Lesia Tsurenko, as Tsurenko stated she suffered from a panic attack due to a bothersome conversation with WTA CEO Steve Simon.  News of that withdrawal and allegation has been making waves in the tennis world, and one wonders how that may impact Aryna’s mindset on this day.

Krejcikova is on an eight-match win streak, thanks to her title run a few weeks ago in Dubai, where she not only defeated Sabalenka, but took out all of the top three players in the world.  After missing several months in 2022 due to injury, the 2021 Roland Garros singles champion seems to be back in top form.

Krejcikova’s victory last month in Dubai is her only one over Sabalenka.  Aryna claimed their other two, three years ago in Linz as well as two years ago at the US Open.  But I give Barbora the slight edge to even their head-to-head on Tuesday.  She’s playing with a ton of confidence, and it would only be natural if Sabalenka is at least slightly affected by the Tsurenko situation.


Other Notable Matches on Tuesday:

Andrey Rublev (6) vs. Cameron Norrie (10) – Rublev is 11-6 on the year, while Norrie is a superb 20-3.  Rublev leads their head-to-head 2-1, which includes a straight-set win at last summer’s US Open.

Petra Kvitova (15) vs. Jessica Pegula (3) – Kvitova outlasted Jelena Ostapenko in a topsy-turvy three-setter on Sunday.  Pegula has survived two consecutive three-setters to reach this stage.  Petra is 3-1 against Jess, which includes a victory earlier this season in the inaugural United Cup.

Carlos Alcaraz (1) vs. Jack Draper – Alcaraz is 10-1 this season, after missing the Australian Open due to injury.  Draper took out another Major champ, Andy Murray, on Monday night.  This past October in Basel, Carlitos outlasted Jack 7-5 in the third.

Iga Swiatek (1) vs. Emma Raducanu – Iga Swiatek defeated another US Open champion, Bianca Andreescu, on Monday evening.  This is only the second tournament where Raducanu has won three matches since her 2021 US Open triumph, as she’s battled injuries and illness.  Last season in Stuttgart on clay, Iga beat Emma in straight sets.

Tommy Paul (17) vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime (8) – Paul eliminated Auger-Aliassime’s frequent doubles partner, Hubi Hurkacz, on Monday.  Felix has played two long straight-setters so far this fortnight.  This is their first career meeting.

Jannik Sinner (11) vs. Stan Wawrinka (PR) – Sinner has taken out two Frenchmen in straight sets (Gasquet, Mannarino).  Wawrinka avenged a bitter loss from last year’s Paris Masters against Holger Rune on Monday afternoon.  These men have split four previous encounters, with Jannik prevailing most recently, just a month ago in Rotterdam.


Tuesday’s full Order of Play is here.

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Alexander Zverev Deserves More Respect According To Boris Becker

According to Boris Becker, Alexander Zverev deserves more respect from tennis journalists.

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Alexander Zverev (@WeAreTennis - Twitter)

Boris Becker has claimed that Alexander Zverev deserves more respect despite Zverev failing to live up to his potential at Grand Slams.

 

Zverev has only reached one Grand Slam final in his career despite being a regular inside the world’s top ten as well as performing at regular ATP events.

This season Zverev played a limited schedule after recovering from an ankle injury but still managed to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals.

However most critics have been loud when judging Zverev’s career as it was looking likely that he would be a regular Grand Slam champion.

The German has failed to live up to expectations but former Grand Slam champion Boris Becker believes Zverev deserves more respect.

Speaking to Eurosport Becker also said that Zverev’s father being the coach is a more than successful approach when it comes to the former US Open finalist’s career, “In my opinion, he doesn’t get enough respect from the tennis experts internationally,” Becker explained.

“They’re all talking about the young three or four, but don’t give Zverev, Medvedev or Rublev enough respect. He’s playing with his fist in his pocket a little bit, wants everyone show that he is not a thing of the past, but that his best time is yet to come.

“Surely his father knows best what is good for his son, but if you look into the box at the competition, you can also see changes.”

Becker has followed Zverev for most of his career so knows that the best is yet to come from the German.

Alexander Zverev will look to prove himself next season when he starts his 2024 season when he represents Germany at the United Cup.

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Juan Carlos Ferrero Analyses Key Areas For Carlos Alcaraz’s Development

Juan Carlos Ferrero has outlined the next steps in Carlos Alcaraz’s development.

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(@tennisnewsbrazil - Twitter)

Carlos Alcaraz’s coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero has analysed the key areas for the Spaniard’s development heading into the 2024 season.

 

The former world number one’s season has come to an end after a successful year which saw him win the Wimbledon title as well as winning two Masters 1000 titles.

Alcaraz capped off an incredible season by reaching the semi-finals at the Nitto ATP Finals, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.

However there is a long way for the Spaniard to go if he wants to consistently go toe-to-toe with Novak Djokovic.

Speaking to Marca Alcaraz’s coach Juan Carlos Ferrero spoke about the Spaniard’s development and said that Alcaraz is too emotional, “Be more regular in games, not open doors. Sometimes there are mistakes and it is something that we have to improve a lot,” Ferrero commented.

“Although it is true that he opens doors, he always competes well and at the highest level. He knows it, the other day he already said that Novak doesn’t give you one. He has to improve his decision making and he will achieve that with experience. Carlos is very emotional and that sometimes helps him and other times not so much.”

It’s clear Alcaraz’s high-quality is there but to consistently do it against Djokovic is another task altogether as the Spaniard looks to go from strength-to strength next season.

One area that is clearly a priority for Alcaraz is physical conditioning especially considering what happened against Djokovic at Roland Garros earlier in the season.

Ferrero said that will be a clear focus heading into 2024 but couldn’t guarantee that Alcaraz will play a tournament before the Australian Open, “Because of the year and the fatigue he has been in, what he needs is rest and disconnecting for 8-10 days with his friends,” Ferrero stated.

“From there, the thinking must go back to working really hard, strong and well to start very strongly in Australia. One can never be sure of that. Sometimes you play a tournament and it doesn’t go well, you left home too early. There are many ways of thinking.

“This year we haven’t played Australia and he finishes number two. That means there is no urgency to play a tournament early. Carlos is a player who enters competition quickly, you don’t usually see him without rhythm.

“Although it is true that he becomes more dangerous from the round of 16, from the quarter-finals. I am confident that the two exhibition matches and the training sessions will help us play a good tournament.”

Alcaraz will be looking to play the Australian Open which starts on the 15th of January after the Spaniard missed last year’s tournament due to a leg injury.

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Australian Open Chief Confident Nadal Will Play But Kyrgios’ Participation Uncertain

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Nadal RG 2022 by Night (foto @RolandGarros)

The tournament director of the Australian Open says he is ‘certain’ that Rafael Nadal will play at the Grand Slam even though the Spaniard has yet to outline his comeback plans. 

 

Craig Tiley told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday he hopes to receive some clarity over Nadal’s intentions in the next couple of weeks but is confident he will play. However, the tennis official had previously claimed in October that the former world No.1 had already committed to play in the event before his team denied that statement.  

Nadal, who has won 22 Grand Slam titles, hasn’t played a Tour match since his second round defeat at the Australian Open in January due to a hip injury. He was originally expecting to take an eight-week break but the recovery didn’t go to plan and he ended up having surgery. In May he confirmed that he will take an extended break from the sport to heal his body and admitted that retirement next year is a possibility.

“Rafa has been training, I follow him closely, probably every day because he’s a massive drawcard for us,” the Reuters News Agency quoted Tiley as saying. 
“He wants to play, he’s obviously planning on playing. It all depends on how he pulls up.
“Hopefully in the next week or the next two weeks, we get some specific confirmation of that. I’m certain Rafa will be here because he’s not going to want to miss the opportunity to repeat what he did a couple of years ago.”

Earlier this month Nadal confirmed that he intends to return to the Tour but admits that he will continue to experience a degree of pain. Although he has yet to give any information about which tournament he will begin his comeback at. The 2024 season begins during the first week of January.

“I’m well, training, and happy. I’m at a good stage of my life,” atptour.com quoted Nadal as telling reporters in Barcelona.
“Until now I didn’t know if I would play tennis again someday, and now I genuinely believe I will. I’m still not ready to say when, but I’m able to train increasingly longer, and the progress is good.’

Will Kyrgios play?

Another player Tiley is eager to welcome back is home player and former Wimbledon Finalist Nick Kyrgios who has only played one Tour-level match this season due to injury. He underwent knee surgery in January and then tore a ligament in his wrist during the summer. As a result, the Australian currently doesn’t have an ATP ranking due to his inactivity. 

“We have spoken to Nick, and he obviously wants to do the best he possibly can to give him the best chance to play in January,” Tiley said of Kyrgios.
“Whether he’s playing, whether he’s doing something else, Nick will be here in January and to get him to play will be great. But we’ve got to take it as it comes and he’s got to make sure he takes care of his health …” 

Kyrgios recently worked as an analyst for the Tennis Channel during this year’s ATP Finals in Turin and gave a brief update on his ongoing recovery during a segment. 

“After last year, I had such a great year, and I’m so hungry to get back out there,” the 2022 Wimbledon finalist commented.
“So I’m doing everything I can to get back out there. Obviously, you know how injuries are every day, just doing the rehab, doing the gym work.”

The Australian Open will begin on Sunday 14th January. Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka are the defending champions. 

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