Indian Wells R4 previews and prediction: Federer vs. Edmund, Nadal vs. Krajinovic

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will try to avoid the Indian Wells upset bug when they continued their campaigns during fourth-round action on Wednesday. Federer faces Kyle Edmund, while Nadal is going up against Filip Krajinovic.

(22) Kyle Edmund vs. (4) Roger Federer

With Federer in fine form and Novak Djokovic already out of the tournament, the 37-year-old Swiss may be primed and ready to go one step further than he did at last year’s BNP Paribas Open–where he finished runner-up to Juan Martin Del Potro. Federer is coming off straight-set victories over Peter Gojowyczk and Stan Wawrinka as he heads into fourth-round action on Wednesday. Having also captured another Dubai title last month, the world No. 4 is riding a seven-match winning streak and he has won 11 sets in a row.

Next up for Federer is a first-ever meeting with Edmund, for whom it has already been an extended stay in Indian Wells. The 23rd-ranked Brit played the Challenger event at this same venue last week and lifted the trophy after beating the likes of Tommy Robredo, Lukas Rosol, and Andrey Rublev. Edmund still had not won a single match on the main tour in 2019 before beating Nicolas Jarry and an in-form Radu Albot. A massive step up in competition will likely be too much for the 23-year-old, as he has to be fatigued whereas Federer is confident and well-rested.

Pick: Federer in 2 losing 8-10 games

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(Q) Filip Krajinovic vs. (2) Rafael Nadal

Unlike Federer, Nadal did not head to the desert with much momentum. The second-ranked Spaniard rolled into the Australian Open final, but he promptly got pasted by Djokovic in easy straight sets and eventually lost to Nick Kyrgios in the Acapulco second round. But even though it is played on hard courts, the Indian Wells Masters is proving to be just what the doctor ordered. Enjoying what are generally favorable conditions for his game, Nadal is 52-10 lifetime at this tournament with three titles. So far this fortnight he has destroyed Jared Donaldson and Diego Schwartzman with three breadstick sets and the loss of six total games.

Standing in the second seed’s way of a quarterfinal berth is another underdog opponent in Krajinovic. They have never faced each other, as a scheduled showdown at the 2017 Paris Masters was derailed by a Nadal withdrawal. Krajinovic’s ranking was inflated for a year following his Paris runner-up performance, but now it is lower than it should be (113th) due to injuries. The Serb appears to be back in business now, following up successful qualification in Indian Wells with routs of Mikhail Kukushkin, David Goffin, and Daniil Medvedev. This will be better for the 27-year-old than clay, but all factors still point to a routine day at the office for Nadal.

Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 5-7 games

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