A whole host of rising stars will be on display at the Indian Wells Masters on Sunday, including Emil Ruusuvuori and Brandon Nakashima. But the second round doesn’t get any easier and they have respective matchups with Karen Khachanov and Taylor Fritz.
(24) Karen Khachanov vs. Emil Ruusuvuori
Khachanov reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals and made a surprising run to the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, but since then an otherwise unspectacular 2021 campaign has continued. The 29th-ranked Russian is 2-4 in his last six matches, including a U.S. Open first-round loss to Lloyd Harris and a Metz second-round setback against Peter Gojowyczk.
Up first for Khachanov at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday is Ruusuvuori, whom he has never faced. Russuvuori has the benefit of a match already under his belt, which resulted in a 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-0 victory over occasional doubles partner Dominik Koepfer. The 78th-ranked Finn has earned 23 of his 34 career main-tour match wins in 2021, which includes semifinals this summer in Atlanta and Winston-Salem. Ruusuvuori generally plays well on American hard courts and Khachanov seems ripe for an upset at the moment.
Pick: Ruusuvuori in 3
Brandon Nakashima vs. (31) Taylor Fritz
The California desert could not be a more appropriate setting for this all-American showdown, as Fritz hails from Rancho Palos Verdes and Nakashima is a San Diego native. Their only previous encounter came under much different circumstances: on the grass courts of Wimbledon this summer. Fritz prevailed 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 even though he was coming off what looked like a serious knee injury at the French Open (during a loss to Koepfer).
The world No. 39 has struggled since Wimbledon, but a return to Indian Wells may be just what the doctor ordered. With the crowd behind him, Fritz advanced to the third round in 2017 and to the last 16 in 2018. Nakashima opened on Thursday with a 6-3, 6-2 rout of clay-courter Federico Coria. The 20-year-old has also cooled off a bit since making back-to-back finals in Los Cabos and Atlanta, so both guys could really use a win. Nakashima had previously never won a match in the main draw of a Masters 1000 event, so Fritz’s experience at one of his favorite tournaments gives him a slight edge.
Pick: Fritz in 3
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