The first ATP Masters 1000 event of the year starts this Wednesday in the California desert with several intriguing matchups between unseeded players, including the tournament debut of Gael Monfils, making his last ever appearance in Indian Wells. It will certainly be a great day of tennis and another memorable edition of the first Masters 1000 of the season.<\/p>\n
ATP Indian Wells Day 1 Predictions
\nGael Monfils vs Alexis Galarneau<\/p>\n
Head-to-head: first meeting<\/p>\n
Monfils is playing his last ever Indian Wells and, at least on paper, he has a very good draw here to win at least one round. Galarneau played very well in qualifying, but he is generally out of his depth at Masters 1000 level and Monfils should be able to get another win in his quest to get to 600 before his careers ends.
Prediction: Monfils in 2<\/p>\n
Zizou Bergs vs Jan-Lennard Struff<\/p>\n
Head-to-head: Struff 1-0 Bergs<\/p>\n
While Bergs is far higher ranked at the moment, Struff remains a very tough nut to crack and the gap is nowhere near as large as their rankings would suggests. This should be a very close match in general; judging by the kind of form each player has shown lately, Struff might very well emerge victorious, even if it should be decided by very fine margins either way.
Prediction: Struff in 3<\/p>\n
Marton Fucsovics vs Christopher O\u2019Connell<\/p>\n
Head-to-head: Fuscovics 1-0 O\u2019Connell<\/p>\n
Fucsovics won this matchup with ease last year in Bucharest but O\u2019Connell is definitely a much bigger threat on hard courts and he played very well in qualifying to get to this main draw. That confidence and momentum he picked up in qualifying might very well help cause a bit of an upset here in what should be a really close match.
Prediction: O\u2019Connell in 3<\/p>\n
Jo\u00e3o Fonseca vs Raphael Collignon<\/p>\n
Head-to-head: Fonseca 1-0 Collignon<\/p>\n