The seeded stars within the prime half of the BNP Paribas Open will kick off their campaigns Saturday, when Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime shall be in motion.
Top seed Alcaraz performs Australian qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis and defending champion Fritz takes on #NextGenATP American Ben Shelton. Canadian Auger-Aliassime will begin the search for his first title of the yr towards Pedro Martinez.
Holger Rune and Jannik Sinner can even take to courtroom in Indian Wells, the place Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka look to construct on their first-round wins.
ATPTour.com runs by way of among the key second-round matchups on present.
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[1] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS)
Last yr, Alcaraz arrived on the first ATP Masters 1000 occasion of the season No. 19 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The Spaniard reached the semi-finals in Indian Wells on debut, earlier than occurring to earn Masters 1000 crowns in Miami and Madrid and his maiden Grand Slam title on the US Open.
The 19-year-old returns this week as World No. 2, however will return to prime spot for the primary time since January if he wins the title.
“It’s a really good goal for me,” Alcaraz mentioned when discussing his No. 1 goals. “Of course playing a Masters 1000 is always tough and I really want to have a good result here. I love this tournament as well. For me, winning the tournament and being No. 1 again is a really good goal and I really want to go for it.”
Alcaraz is chasing his second title of the season this fortnight, having triumphed in Buenos Aires. He will open towards Kokkinakis in California in what would be the first ATP Head2Headvert assembly between the pair. The Australian Kokkinakis, at the moment No. 94 within the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, defeated Brandon Holt to succeed in the second spherical at a Masters 1000 for the primary time since he superior to the fourth spherical in Miami final season.
‘I’m Ready’: Healthy Alcaraz Chasing Title, No. 1 At Indian Wells
[4] Taylor Fritz (USA) vs. Ben Shelton (USA)
Two of the United States’ most fun abilities face off on residence soil Saturday, when fourth seed Fritz takes on the quickly ascending Shelton. The 25-year-old Fritz, who grew up in California, captured the most important title of his profession final yr when he lifted the trophy in Indian Wells, defeating Rafael Nadal within the remaining regardless of struggling an ankle damage within the warm-up.
“Ranking-wise it was massive getting 1000 points and it gave me a lot of confidence,” Fritz mentioned when reflecting on final yr’s title run. “I came into the year with a lot of confidence, so I felt it reaffirmed that everything was moving in the right direction and it set me up to reach a career-high ranking.”
Since that triumph, World No. 5 Fritz has tasted extra success on Tour, profitable the United Cup as a part of Team USA in January and tour-level titles in Eastbourne, Tokyo and Delray Beach.
As early checks go, they don’t get a lot tougher than Shelton, although. The 20-year-old, at the moment No. 39 within the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, soared to the quarter-finals on the Australian Open in January, earlier than he defeated Fabio Fognini in straight units on Thursday to earn victory on his Indian Wells debut.
[8] (CAN) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Pedro Martinez (ESP)
Auger-Aliassime has not loved the very best begin to the season and he holds an 8-5 document getting into Indian Wells. The Canadian was one of many star performers on the ATP Tour final yr, although, profitable 4 titles and he shall be desirous to return to his finest stage this week in California.
“It comes with just preparing yourself the right way,” Auger-Aliassime mentioned when discussing his intention to peak for Indian Wells. “Scheduling your tournaments and practices in a way that ‘OK, I don’t want to come to this tournament and win a few matches, I want to be able to come and go all the way and win the final match.’ So I think it comes by preparing for that and visualising for that, so everyone around you is on board.”
The eighth-seeded Canadian has misplaced within the second spherical in three of his 4 earlier appearances on the hard-court occasion, so shall be seeking to enhance on that document when he takes on Spaniard Pedro Martinez of their first ATP Head2Headvert assembly.
Also In Action…
Young weapons Rune and Sinner are each competing for the third time in Indian Wells and arrive in good type. Seventh seed Rune, searching for his second ATP Masters 1000 title after profitable in Paris final yr, loved a run to the semi-finals in Acapulco final week, whereas Sinner captured the crown in Montpellier in February.
The 19-year-old Dane Rune performs Mackenzie McDonald, with Eleventh-seeded Italian Sinner taking over Richard Gasquet.
Murray and Wawrinka have made a mixed 27 appearances on the ATP Masters 1000 occasion, with former World No. 1 Murray reaching the ultimate in 2009 and former World No. 3 Wawrinka advancing to the championship match in 2017.
Both rolled again the years with three-set first-round wins in California as Murray defeated Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Wawrinka beat Aleksandar Vukic. They will look to proceed their runs once they face Pablo Carreno Busta and Miomir Kecmanovic, respectively.
Home hope Tommy Paul, No. 19 within the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, takes on Jan-Lennard Struff and ninth seed Hubert Hurkacz performs Alexei Popyrin.
Source web site: www.atptour.com
