Main-draw action at the Indian Wells Masters gets underway on Thursday, when Frances Tiafoe and Benoit Paire headline the schedule on Stadium 1. Marcos Giron and Botic Van de Zandschulp are also hoping to maintain their fine form.
Benoit Paire vs. Frances Tiafoe
It will be a battle between two players separated by just one spot in the rankings when Tiafoe and Paire meet in round one of the BNP Paribas Open on Thursday evening. Tiafoe comes into the penultimate Masters 1000 tournament of 2021 at No. 49 in the world, with Paire registering at No. 50. The American also leads the head-to-head series by one. After all, they have faced each other only once; Tiafoe got the job done 6-4, 6-4 at the 2017 Shanghai Masters.
Paire, of course, is wildly unpredictable. Even though the 32-year-old Frenchman is starting to win some matches again, it is always more likely than not that he shows little interest in a match. Tiafoe, on the other hand, almost always gives a max effort. The 23-year-old is in fine form, too, with a third-round appearance in Toronto, a quarterfinal run in Winston-Salem, and a fourth-round showing at the U.S. Open–where he upset Andrey Rublev. Tiafoe generally plays his best tennis on American hard courts, so this should be a great situation for him.
Pick: Tiafoe in 2
Marcos Giron vs. (Q) Botic Van de Zandschulp
Giron vs. Van de Zandschulp could the best and most high-quality contest of the entire Indian Wells first round. Both guys are playing the best tennis of their careers. A bit of a late bloomer at 26 years old, Van de Zandschulp was the breakout star of the U.S. Open. The Dutchman advanced all the way to the quarterfinals as a qualifier and he was the only opponent to take a set off Daniil Medvedev in the entire tournament. Van de Zandschulp also qualified this week, beating Peter Polansky and Thai-Son Kwiatkowski.
The rankings could not be much closer in this showdown either; Van de Zandschulp is up to 66th in the world and Giron has soared to a career-high 59th. Giron has earned 20 of his 32 career main-tour match victories in 2021, including nine in his last four events. The 28-year-old American is a local California product, too, so he will have a big home-court advantage in Indian Wells. A slight edge goes to a red-hot Giron.
Pick: Giron in 3
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