Main-draw action at the Indian Wells Masters gets underway on Wednesday, when a marquee matchup pits Stefanos Tsitsipas against Denis Shapovalov. Joao Fonseca kicks off his fortnight against Raphael Collignon.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Denis Shapovalov
Tsitsipas and Shapovalov will be squaring of for the seventh time in their careers when they clash in round one of the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday night. Shapovalov leads the head-to-head series 4-2, including 4-0 on outdoor hard courts. Two of his wins have come on the Sunshine Double, although both were in Miami rather than Indian Wells (in a third-set tiebreaker in 2019 and 6-2, 6-4 in 2024). Both of Tsitsipas’ victories have come on clay (Monte-Carlo 2018, Barcelona 2023).
Although Tsitsipas would obviously prefer to play this matchup on clay, the hard courts of Indian Wells are the best alternative. You won’t find a more clay-like hard court anywhere else on tour. Surprisingly, Tsitsipas has mostly underwhelmed in the desert with a 9-7 lifetime record — but he at least reached the quarterfinals in 2021. Shapovalov has been even worse; the Canadian has never advanced to the quarters and has not been past the third round since 2019. It’s hard to see Shapovalov faring better on this trip since he is just 4-4 in 2026 and is coming off a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Pablo Carreno Busta in the Dubai first round.
Pick: Tsitsipas in 3
Joao Fonseca vs. Raphael Collignon
Fonseca wrapped up last season with a 500-point title in Basel, but he came into 2026 with a back injury and has been unable to get on track. The 19-year-old Brazilian’s record is just 1-3 and he has not defeated anyone ranked better than No. 208 in the world.
Up first for Fonseca on Wednesday is a second meeting with Collignon, who lost their only previous encounter in three sets during 2024 Davis Cup competition. The 24-year-old Belgian has been playing the best tennis of his career dating back to last summer and is up to 77th in the rankings. His 2026 campaign includes a quarterfinal effort in Brisbane as a qualifier and a Challenger title in Pau, France last month. Fonseca won the MGM Slam 10-point tiebreaker tournament in Las Vegas this past weekend. That’s decent preparation, but practicing in Indian Wells for a few more days would have been even better. Collignon has a great chance to pull off a minor upset.
Pick: Collignon in 3
WWW?
Collignon winning the tourney so he’s gotta get by here 😤
Tsi in 3; Fonz in 3
Tsitsi and Colling in three
Wrong .I only picked Colling after reading about him on here.
Fons actually played great for once