Indian Wells R1 previews and predictions: Pospisil vs. Auger-Aliassime, Baghdatis vs. Nishioka

A Canadian-heavy section of the Indian Wells draw will see Vasek Pospisil go up against compatriot and fellow qualifier Felix Auger-Aliassime on Friday. Marcos Baghdatis, also a qualifier, is hoping to book a second-round spot at the expense of Yoshihito Nishioka.

(Q) Vasek Pospisil vs. (Q) Felix Auger-Aliassime

It will be an all-Canadian affair when Pospisil and Auger-Aliassime battle on Friday at the BNP Paribas Open for the right to face another Canadian–Milos Raonic–in the second round. Both players did well to get through qualifying earlier this week; the top-seeded Pospisil took care of Brandon Nakashima and Adrian Menendez-Maceiras in straight sets, while Auger-Aliassime beat Bjorn Fratangelo 6-4, 6-4 before scraping past Norbert Gombos 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-3. The 17-year-old’s reward is just his third career ATP-level, main-draw match. That being said, Auger-Aliassime is already a well-known commodity in the tennis world thanks to plenty of junior success (including the 2016 U.S. Open title) and enough Challenger Tour wins to currently put him at No. 169 in the world.

Ranked 75th, Pospisil has played almost exclusively on the Challenger circuit in 2018 aside from an Australian Open appearance (qualified but then lost to eventual runner-up Marin Cilic in a fourth-set tiebreaker). The 27-year-old captured a Challenger title on the indoor hard courts of Budapest before playing last week in Indian Wells, picking up three more victories before succumbing to eventual champion Martin Klizan 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 in the semifinals. Pospisil’s experience and his recent history in Indian Wells (he upset Andy Murray in the second round last spring) should help him delay Auger-Aliassime’s first-ever ATP triumph.

Pick: Pospisil in 3

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(Q) Marcos Baghdatis vs. (PR) Yoshihito Nishioka

Baghdatis and Nishioka will also be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Friday. Like Pospisil and Auger-Aliassime, Baghdatis already has two qualifying matches under his belt–routs of Thanasi Kokkinakis and Vincent Millot while dropping a grand total of seven games. The 102nd-ranked Cypriot owns a 4-3 record in 2018 and he advanced out of the first round in all three of his previous tournaments (Australian Open, Sofia, and Dubai).

Nishioka started last year on fire, with a quarterfinal performance in Acapulco as a qualifier and a fourth-round run in Indian Wells as a qualifier. But it all fell apart in Miami, where he suffered a torn ACL and did not play again in 2017. The 22-year-old from Japan is slowly making his way back now, with a 1-2 record on the ATP Tour this season (beat Philipp Kohlschreiber in five sets at the Australian Open) and a 3-3 mark on the Challenger circuit. The rust is evident–and understandable–for Nishioka, so Baghdatis should not have much trouble maintaining momentum from his successful qualification.

Pick: Baghdatis in 2

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