American Taylor Fritz will tackle both compatriot Ben Shelton or Italian Fabio Fognini as he begins his title defence at Indian Wells this week, with top-ranked Iga Swiatek dealing with a possible third-round showdown with 2019 champ Bianca Andreescu.
Fritz battled by way of excruciating ache to finish Rafael Nadal’s 20-match successful run and declare his first Masters 1000 championship final 12 months and can hope for one more story-book end after the primary draw was introduced on Monday.
Facing a depleted males’s discipline, Fritz might run into Denmark’s Holger Rune within the quarterfinal. Seventh-seed Rune additionally gained his first masters title final 12 months when he outlasted 22-time main winner Novak Djokovic in Paris.
Red-hot Daniil Medvedev, who collected his third straight title in Dubai this month, is on a collision course to fulfill third-seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud within the closing eight, whereas Spain’s top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz might face Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime within the quarters.
World primary Djokovic withdrew from the match on Sunday, and Nadal, who aggravated a hip drawback in his second-round loss on the Australian Open and has not performed since additionally pulled out.
On the ladies’s facet, Swiatek appears to be like as if she might have little hassle accumulating a second straight title within the southern California desert after cruising to victory a 12 months in the past amid a blockbuster unbeaten streak.
She might meet WTA Finals champion Caroline Garcia within the quarterfinals after starting her marketing campaign towards both American Claire Liu or Belgian Alison van Uytvanck, with Canadian Andreescu additionally having fun with the first-round bye.
Fresh off her maiden Grand Slam win in Australia, second seed Aryna Sabalenka will face both Alize Cornet or Evgeniya Rodina to start the match.
She has the possibility to precise a bit of little bit of revenge towards potential fourth-round foe Barbora Krejcikova after the 2021 French Open winner ended her 13-match successful streak in Dubai final month.
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com