As the second week of Indian Wells gets underway, we preview and predict three must-see matches in the desert.
There are other intriguing women’s matches set for Tuesday—Simona Halep vs. Barbora Strycova, Daria Kasatkina vs. Timea Bacsinszky, Victoria Azarenka vs. Sam Stosur—but it’s hard to say exactly what might we might get from those. With the 27-year-old Radwanska and the 31-year-old Jankovic, two veterans and two of the best players never to have won a major, its a pretty good bet we’ll see extended and entertaining points. Both women are retrievers and road-runners at heart, and neither has the power to easily put the other way. Radwanska leads their head to head 6-2 and is currently ranked 17 spots higher than Jankovic. But they’ve split their last two matches, and Jankovic likes these courts. She won the Indian Wells title in 2010 and reached the final last year. Winner: Radwanska
If you want a look at modern tennis in capsule form, and what the modern string has done to that game, tune in for this duel of the fearsome forehands. Thiem, 22, and Sock, 23, let the ball rip with maximum pace and rotation. But while there will be heavy artillery from the forehand side, their backhands may offer some nuance. Sock has a standard-issue two-hander, while Thiem has a one-hander to watch; that contrast should produce an interesting battle of angles. How many forehands can Sock backpedal around to hit? Can Thiem open up the court with his down-the-line backhand? Who will use his serve to bail himself out of trouble more often? Thiem won their only meeting, in straight sets last year in Miami, and has been on a roll this spring. Winner: Thiem
The last time we saw these two face off on a singles court, in Melbourne in January, Verdasco was pummeling his countryman and doubles partner unmercifully; he went for broke on virtually every shot, and most of them went in. What are the chances Verdasco picks up where he left off today? That depends on which history of this matchup the two players believe in, the short term or the long term. Verdasco has won three of his last four meetings with Nadal, two of them on hard courts similar to the one they’ll play on today; Rafa’s only win during that time came on clay. Look back farther, though, and the pendulum swings toward Nadal; he still leads their overall head to head 15-3. The questions lie with Verdasco today: Is he confident that his normal game is enough to win against Rafa now, or does he still feel like he needs to play out of his mind? If it's the latter, his chances get slimmer. Winner: Nadal