Rafael Nadal will continue his Indian Wells campaign on Wednesday against a red-hot Alexander Zverev. Richard Gasquet and Marin Cilic are also aiming for a place in the quarterfinals.
(4) Rafael Nadal vs. Alexander Zverev
Nadal and Zverev will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they clash in round four of the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday afternoon. It has already been a stellar tournament for Zverev, and even by Nadal’s recent standards it has been relatively productive. Zverev booked his spot in the last 16 by taking out Ivan Dodig, Grigor Dimitrov, and Gilles Simon. The 18-year-old German came back from a set and a break down against Dodig, recovered from a break deficit against Dimitrov in the third set, and then clobbered Simon 6-2, 6-2. Nadal battled past Gilles Muller 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 before avenging his Australian Open defeat at the hands of Fernando Verdasco with a 6-0, 7-6(9) victory.
The fifth-ranked Spaniard is coming off consecutive setbacks on the Golden Swing–to Dominic Thiem in the Buenos Aires semifinals and to Pablo Cuevas in the Rio de Janeiro semis. Although he is in fine form for the most part, Zverev also needed a strong performance in Indian Wells to erase the taste of defeat. He lost a pair of Davis Cup rubbers to the Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych and Lukas Rosol, the latter in a decisive fifth showdown. Zverev has the exact kind of game that can seriously trouble Nadal, with a huge serve and forehand to go along with a solid two-handed backhand. He also moves extremely well for a man of his size (6’6”). If the world No. 58 can avoid long rallies and shorten the match, he may be able to hit Nadal off the court before stamina becomes an issue.
Pick: Zverev in 2
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(8) Richard Gasquet vs. (10) Marin Cilic
Gasquet’s season got off to a late start because of a back injury, but he is making up for lost time heading into a fourth-round contest against Cilic in Indian Wells. Gasquet, who missed the Australian summer, captured a title in the first tournament of his year (Montpellier) before getting stopped by an on-fire Nick Kyrgios in the Marseille quarterfinals. So far in the desert he he has taken out Nicolas Mahut in straight sets and Alexandr Dolgopolov via a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 decision.
Up next for the 10th-ranked Frenchman is a third career meeting with Cilic. Gasquet has taken both of their previous encounters, each at the Masters 1000 level. He prevailed 7-5, 6-4 on the clay courts of Monte-Carlo in 2013 and 7-5, 6-3 last summer in Cincinnati. Cilic has endured physical problems of his own in recent times, but lackluster results in 2016 can only be attributed to poor play. The 10th-seeded Croat brought a disappointing 9-7 record with him into Indian Wells but it now stands at 11-7 following straight-set defeats of Ryan Harrison and Leonardo Mayer. Based on current form, Gasquet should have a relatively clear edge in this one.
Pick: Gasquet in 2
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