Indian Wells R2 previews and predictions: Nadal vs. Donaldson, Shapovalov vs. Johnson

Rafael Nadal will kick off his Indian Wells campaign against wild card Jared Donaldson on Sunday. Steve Johnson is coming off a solid win over fellow American Taylor Fritz and will face Denis Shapovalov in the second round.

(WC) Jared Donaldson vs. (2) Rafael Nadal

Nadal has played just two matches since finishing runner-up at the Australian Open as he heads into the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. The second-ranked Spaniard’s draw looks a lot better than it did in Acapulco, so he should be able to get a whole lot more matches under his belt. Nadal, who lost to eventual champion Nick Kyrgios during second-round action at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, follows up an opening bye with a second-round contest against Donaldson on Sunday evening.

Their only previous encounter came two years ago at the Shanghai Masters, where Nadal coasted 6-2, 6-1. Donaldson proceeded to miss much of 2018 due to a knee injury; in fact, prior to this fortnight he had not won a match of any kind since Washington, D.C. last summer. The 192nd-ranked American, who lost recent openers in Delray Beach and at the Indian Wells Challenger, defeated qualifier Tatsuma Ito 6-3, 7-5 on Friday. A massive step up in competition should bring about a swift end to what will still go down as an encouraging week for Donaldson.

Pick: Nadal in 2 losing 5-7 games

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(24) Denis Shapovalov vs. Steve Johnson

Shapovalov and Johnson will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers on Sunday. Not unlike the case with Donaldson, it has already been a successful week for Johnson. The 38th-ranked American had been on a ridiculous nine-match losing streak dating back to the U.S. Open prior to the recent February swing. He mercifully advanced to the Delray Beach quarterfinals (lost to eventual champion Radu Albot) and the Acapulco second round (lost to Stan Wawrinka) before beating Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-3 on Friday in Indian Wells.

February was similarly solid but unspectacular for Shapovalov, who advanced to quarterfinals in Montpellier and Rotterdam before falling right away in Montpellier at the hands of Mikhail Kukushkin. A move to a much bigger stage should only benefit the 25th-ranked Canadian, who has generally flourished in the limelight. In seven previous trips to Indian Wells, meanwhile, Johnson won multiple matches only once. He has a decent chance to accomplish the feat again, but his relatively lackluster current form probably means Shapovalov will be too tough.

Pick: Shapovalov in 2

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