Fellow Americans Jared Donaldson and Donald Young will contest their Indian Wells openers on Friday. They are set for respective meetings with Vasek Pospisil and Andreas Seppi.
(WC) Jared Donaldson vs. Vasek Pospisil
The charge of American youngsters continued on Thursday at the BNP Paribas Open with a three-set victory by Frances Tiafoe over Taylor Fritz. Now it is Donaldson who will be featured on the main court on Friday. Donaldson has not quite taken off to the same extent as Fritz, but he still registers at a solid 158th in the world at just 19 years old. He has struggled this season at both the ATP and Challenger levels and is coming off a first-round qualifying loss in Delray Beach to Dennis Novikov.
Pospisil is once again faring much better in doubles (Rotterdam champion with Nicolas Mahut) than he is in singles (2-7 record this year). The 43rd-ranked Canadian has endured four first-round exits and he is coming off a Davis Cup rubber against France in which he led Gilles Simon 5-0 in the opening set only to lose 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. A relatively favorable draw against an inexperienced opponent, however, should help Pospisil set up a rematch with Simon in round two.
Pick: Pospisil in 3
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Donald Young vs. Andreas Seppi
Seppi and Young will be squaring off for the fourth time in their careers on Friday. The head-to-head series stands at 2-1 in favor of Seppi, who beat the American in 2011 (Eastbourne) and 2012 (London Olympics). Young won their most recent encounter 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 at the 2014 Australian Open.
At 32 years old, Seppi has slipped to 42nd in the world and is no longer in the serious discussion for seeding at Grand Slams and Masters 1000 events. The Italian is a modest 5-6 this season and has fallen in the first round of consecutive ATP tournaments (Rotterdam and Dubai). Another early exit could be in the cards because although Young has not been spectacular since an amazing run to the U.S. Open fourth round last summer, he has been solid. The world No. 75 has reached at least the second round of three straight tournaments, including a quarterfinal performance in Memphis.
Pick: Young in 3
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who ya got?
Pospisil and Seppi
Pospy was up 5-0 against Simon in first set? What the hell. He’s got a lot of talent but he needs to improve his mental game a bit. Keep UE count a bit lower. I have him winning in straights and young winning in three.
Except he’s already had an amazing career if u look at dubs so there’s that. Just wish he could translate it to singles a little more. Kind of like Harrison. Both are capable of awesome things but sometimes miss just too much. Ryan is playing great right now though. VAMOS RYAN!! ??????
Go Ryan!
Only caught the 2nd set tb.
Popsicle and Seppi
Pospi will probably just manage to win unless he beats himself.
Young over seppi