Indian Wells Masters 2022: Men’s Singles Draw Preview and Prediction for BNP Paribas Open
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Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic
The first tournament of the Sunshine Double- the 2022 Indian Wells Masters will commence from March 10 and will feature every top 10 player on the ATP Rankings.
Tournament Details:
- Tournament: Indian Wells Masters 2022
- Date: March 10- March 20, 2022
- Number of Entrants: 96 (Singles), 32 (Doubles)
- Venue: Indian Wells, California, USA
- Surface: Hard Court
- Prize Money: $8,584,055
- Defending champion: Cameron Norrie
Top Seeds at the BNP Paribas Open 2022
- Daniil Medvedev
- Novak Djokovic
- Alexander Zverev
- Rafael Nadal
- Stefanos Tsitisipas
- Matteo Berrettini
- Andrey Rublev
- Casper Ruud
Top Half
First Quarter
Entering his first tournament as the World No.1, Daniil Medvedev will headline the top half of the Indian Wells draw. He receives a first-round bye along with the other 31 seeds. He will face either a qualifier or Alexei Popyrin in the second round and is drawn opposite 26th seed Gael Monfils. The Frenchman will face Serbian Filip Karjinovic or Dusan Lajovic in the second round. Medvedev and Monfils are expected to meet in the third round.
Spanish teen sensation Carlos Alcaraz will face either Mackenzie McDonald or Marton Fucsovics in the second round and is likely to face fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round who might have to battle past Hugo Gaston in the second round. Alcaraz could go on to face Medvedev in a blockbuster Round of 16 clash.
Defending champion Cameron Norrie will start his title defense against either a qualifier or Pedro Martinez in the second round. Meanwhile, defending finalist Nikoloz Basilashvili will face the winner of the first-round match between Fabio Fognini and Pablo Andujar. Norrie and Basilashvili are expected to meet in the third round this year in what will be a rematch of the 2021 Indian Wells Final.
5th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will open his Indian Wells campaign against either Jack Sock or Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round. Olympic silver medalist Karen Khachanov too is in the top half and would face either in form Jenson Brooksby or Roberto Carballes Baena in the second round. Tsitsipas and Khachanov are expected to meet in the third round with the winner likely to face Norrie in the fourth round.
1st Quarterfinal Prediction: Daniil Medvedev vs Stefanos Tsitsipas
Second Quarter
21-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal gets a relatively tough draw and will headline the packed third quarter of the draw. He is expected to face American youngster Sebastian Korda in the second round and is drawn opposite Dan Evans. The Brit will have to get past either Pablo Cuevas or Federico Coria in the second round in order to book a potential third-round date with Nadal.
13th seed Denis Shapovalov will begin his campaign against Borna Coric or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the second round. Meanwhile, big-serving American Reilly Opelka will face the winner of the first-round match between Marcos Giron and Lorenzo Musetti. Shapovalov and Musetti will lock horns in the third round.
10th seed Italian Jannik Sinner will take on either Soonwoo Kwon or Laslo Djere in the second round and is drawn opposite fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego. The 21st seed will face Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi or Arthur Rinderknech in the second round before locking horns with Sinner in the Round of 32.
Casper Ruud will face American big server Maxime Cressy in the second round and is drawn opposite 32nd seed Federico Delbonis. But Delbonis will have to overcome either Sebastian Baez or Australian showman Nick Kyrgios in the second round. Kyrgios is likely to face Ruud in the third round and Sinner in the Round of 16.
2nd Quarterfinal Prediction: Rafael Nadal vs Jannik Sinner
Bottom Half
Third Quarter
After the Acapulco controversy, Alexander Zverev will play a match for the first time and will face the winner of the match between Grigor Dimitrov and Tommy Paul. 29th seed Alex de Minaur will take on either Ilya Ivashka or Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round. Zverev and de Minaur are expected to meet in the third round.
Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta gets a very easy draw and will face a qualifier in his opening second-round match. He is drawn opposite 20th seed Taylor Fritz who will face either Aljaz Bedene or Kamil Majchrzak in the second round. Carreno Busta and Fritz are drawn to clash in the third round with the winner to face Zverev in the fourth round.
After disappointment in Rio and Acapulco, Matteo Berrettini will look to get on the right track at Indian Wells and will open against a qualifier or Ugo Humbert in the second round. 30th seed Lloyd Harris will face either Facundo Bagnis or Henri Laaksonen in the second round and is likely to face Berrettini in the third round.
In form Canadian, Felix Auger-Aliassime will be up against either a qualifier or Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round and could meet former US Open champion Marin Cilic in the third round who will first have to get past Miomir Kecmanovic or a qualifier in the second round.
3rd Quarterfinal Prediction: Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Alexander Zverev
Fourth Quarter
(*We are including Novak Djokovic as he has been named in the draw. If the CDC don’t allow him to enter the USA, the draw preview will be updated*)
After weeks of speculation, Novak Djokovic’s name has finally been added to the draw as he is set to headline the bottom half of the draw. He will face the winner of the match between Jordan Thompson and David Goffin in the second round. 3-time grand slam champion Andy Murray faces a qualifier in the first round and will face Alexander Bublik in the second round if he wins. Murray and Djokovic could meet in the third round in what could be a blockbuster match.
14th seed Diego Schwartzman will face either Emil Ruusuvuori or a qualifier in the second round. American giant John Isner will be up against either Sam Querrey or Tallon Griekspoor in the second round and could face Schwartzman in the third round.
7th seed Andrey Rublev is currently in hot form and will face either Benoit Paire or Dominik Koepfer in the second round whereas Frances Tiafoe will take on the winner of the first-round match between Adrain Mannarino and Brandon Nakashima. Rublev and Tiafoe are expected to meet in the third round.
Miami Open champion Hubert Hurkacz is seeded 11th in the tournament and will open his campaign against Richard Gasquet or Oscar Otte in the second round. 22nd seed Aslan Karatsev will open against Steve Johnson or Daniel Altmaier and will most likely face Karatsev in the third round.
4th Quarterfinal Prediction: Andrey Rublev vs Novak Djokovic
Semifinals
In the first semifinal, for the third tournament running, Daniil Medvedev will face Rafael Nadal. They met in the Australian Open Final and in the Mexican Open semifinal in the last two tournaments they played with Rafa beating Medvedev on both occasions. And on the slow hard courts at Indian Wells, expect Nadal to complete a hat-trick on wins against Medvedev this season.
Third seed Alexander Zverev will face Andrey Rublev in the second semifinal. The German is one of the best players on the current tour and will enter as the favorite. But Rublev too is in amazing form and is coming off a title triumph at Dubai. Expect a thrilling match with Zverev edging past Rublev.
Indian Wells Masters 2022 Final: Rafael Nadal vs Alexander Zverev
Final
Riding on an unbeaten winning streak, Rafael Nadal will be up against Alexander Zverev in the Final of the 2022 BNP Paribas Open. Nadal has had the best ever start to his season and is defying his age with the level at which he’s playing. The German, who is currently on probation because of the Acapulco incident, will also look to break Nadal’s streak and win his maiden Indian Wells title. Expect an exciting match with Nadal winning the Indian Wells title for the 4th time.
Champion: Rafael Nadal
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)