The first Masters 1000 tournament of the 2024 ATP campaign continues in Indian Wells with crowd favorite Gael Monfils taking on Max Purcell and veteran Stan Wawrinka battling youngster Tomas Machac on Thursday.
Gael Monfils vs. Max Purcell
Popular French player Gael Monfils is almost certainly in the twilight of his career, but the world No. 54 still has enough good tennis in him that he made a run to the semifinals in Doha just a few weeks ago. He ran into an inspired Jakub Mensik, but he took a set from the young Czech player. Sadly, Monfils hasn’t played particularly well otherwise. He is 5-6 on the season, with three of his five wins coming in Doha.
Max Purcell, the world No. 71 Aussie, hasn’t had the best start to the 2024 season, either. Purcell hasn’t posted two victories in a row all year, although he played well enough at the Australian Open to push Casper Ruud to five sets.
This match might end up being competitive. Monfils is in better form and he is certainly far more experienced, but Purcell won their only other encounter–a hard-fought grass court win in Eastbourne back in 2021.
Cheryl pick: Monfils in 3
Ricky pick: Monfils in 3
Stan Wawrinka vs. Tomas Machac
Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka has endured a horrible start to the 2024 season. The veteran has won one match all year–last month on the clay courts of Buenos Aires. Like Monfils, Wawrinka is 38 years old and in the twilight of his impressive career. Sadly for the Swiss, Thursday’s match isn’t likely to be favorable.
Tomas Machac is ranked 63rd in the world and the Czech has been picking up steam of late. He still has to qualify for some of the events he enters (he came up through qualies in Dubai last week), but he got direct entry into Indian Wells. He took out Frances Tiafoe in the second round of the Australian Open before losing to Karen Khachanov, and he scored wins over Andy Murray and Lorenzo Musetti in Marseille.
With Wawrinka struggling and Machac coming on, this may actually end up being one-sided even though Wawrinka has traditionally played well at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Cheryl pick: Machac in 2
Ricky pick: Machac in 3
Matt Purcell is very underestimated and brings a big game when it matters. Watch out!
winnable but courts may be too slow for him
The huge hitters can do well here with the slower conditions. Always remember when Ljubicic best Rafa.