Novak Djokovic will begin his bid for a sixth Indian Wells title when he takes the court against Bjorn Fratangelo on Saturday. Djokovic is on a collision course for the third round with Nick Kyrgios, who faces Philipp Kohlschreiber.
(1) Novak Djokvic vs. (Q) Bjorn Fratangelo
Djokovic will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers and for the second time at the BNP Paribas Open when they square off during second-round action on Saturday. Their only previous encounter also came in round two three years ago, when Djokovic recovered from a slow start to roll 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. The top-ranked Serb has been rolling against just about everyone of late, having won three consecutive Grand Slams to rebound with authority from an injury-plagued start to his 2018 campaign. Djokovic has not played a match since routing Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final a little more than month ago.
It has already been a successful stay in the desert for Fratangelo, who made a miraculous comeback at Andrey Rublev’s expense in the final round of Indian Wells qualifying to book a spot in the main draw. The 128th-ranked American has not won an ATP-level, main-draw match since Barcelona last April, so there is no reason to think he will be competitive with the best player of the world on the other side of the net.
Pick: Djokovic in 2 losing 5-7 games
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Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. (31) Nick Kyrgios
Kyrgios admitted after beating Andreas Seppi in the Acapulco first round that he was inspired by seeing Rafael Nadal next up in the draw. The 23-year-old Australian went on to upset Nadal and the rest is history–or a 500-point title, to be exact (also defeating Stan Wawrinka, John Isner, and Alexander Zverev along the way). Now his reward for winning his opening match in Indian Wells would be a likely third-round showdown with Djokovic.
That is bad news for upcoming opponent Kohlschreiber, who did not have any luck in their only previous meeting despite holding a surface advantage on clay at the 2017 French Open (the veteran German lost 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3). On the bright side, he is coming off a convincing 6-4, 6-0 destruction of Pierre-Hugues Herbert on Thursday. This match will be entirely on Kyrgios’ racket. That isn’t always a good thing, but it might be on Saturday given how he played in Acapulco and especially considering what would await the No. 31 seed on Monday.
Pick: Kyrgios in 2
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WWW?
Djoker in 2. Old Nick is, as always, unpredictable.
Djoko in three with at least one tiebreak ,since Nicks unpredictable .
Sorry, getting ahead of myself, I thought it was Djoko v Nick
Kohl in 3.
Just watched Nick playing and thought he is such a coward. He didn’t want to face Novak so opted to play one of his loser ‘disrespectful of pro tennis’ matches and lost easily to Kohl.
Such a waste of time to watch this match! Don’t know why I was watching in the first place, should have known Nick was not worth it. I guess I just wanted to see his game and if he would be ready to test Djokovic given that he beat Rafa in Acapulco and wion the title eventually…
I think he’s more interested in his doubles matches, I don’t know whether he tanked to avoid Djoko or not but I doubt he could beat Djoko. If he had to do all sorts of funny tricks just to barely edged past Rafa, I doubt he could beat Djoko who’s clearly full of confidence and clutch at crucial moments, unlike Rafa.
Didn’t say he would beat Djokovic..only said “if he would be able to TEST him” which means making the match interesting…obviously not! Agreed though that Novak is much more mentally stronger and more confident than Rafa these days…
Obviously Old Nick just wasn’t ‘smelling blood’ today. Not a surprising result.
Typical Kyrgious. Wins Mexico by hitting freely with no pressure. Turns up to a Masters where he cares if he wins or loses and can’t make it past the first round. At this stage, he’ll never win a grand slam or masters because his game is not suited to genuine pressure.
You can make a lot of money laying Kyrgious, just find the matches where you know he’ll care a bit and watch him tank. He’s a bit of a bookies favourite too.