Day 5 Preview: Tsitsipas Meets Brooksby; Medvedev & Nadal Continue Title Bid

Stefanos Tsitsipas will face a major test on Monday at the BNP Paribas Open as he continues the quest for his first trophy of the season in Indian Wells.

As third-round matches go, they don’t get much tougher, with the World No. 5 facing dynamic American Jenson Brooksby for the first time in a popcorn encounter on Stadium 1.

Brooksby has enjoyed a standout 12 months, soaring from outside the Top 250 in the ATP Rankings to a current career-high No. 43. In that time, the 21-year-old has reached tour-level finals in Newport and Dallas, advanced to the fourth round at the US Open and qualified for the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals, where injury prevented him from competing.

In his second appearance in Indian Wells, Brooksby has defeated Roberto Carballes Baena and Karen Khachanov for the loss of just eight games. Tsitsipas meanwhile survived a major scare in his opening match, edging wild card Jack Sock 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(5).

”It was a crazy battle; we both left everything out there,” Tsitsipas said after his win over the American. “Jack played incredibly well at times but I was able to bring out the best in my game at the end. I proved I could play aggressive tennis and stay calm at the same time.”

The Greek, who reached the quarter-finals at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden last season, is bidding to win his second Masters 1000 crown, after lifting the trophy at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in 2021.

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Spaniard Rafael Nadal will aim to extend his best start to an ATP Tour season when he faces Daniel Evans.

The 35-year-old has been red hot this year, winning three tour-level titles, including a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open. However, he was made to work hard in his opening match in Indian Wells, rallying from 2-5 in the third set against American Sebastian Korda to keep his perfect 2022 record intact.

“The reason why I have been fighting during all my tennis career or I have the right self-control or I have the right attitude or fighting spirit during my career is simple,” Nadal said following his hard-fought win over Korda “Because I grew with this kind of education.”

“My uncle, my family, never allowed me to break a racquet, never allowed me to say bad words or throw or give up a match. Probably when I was a kid, they didn’t care much about winning or losing.”

Nadal heads into his match against Evans on Stadium 1 holding a 16-0 record on the year and a 2-0 ATP Head2Head series lead over the World No. 29. This will be their first meeting since 2019 though. By reaching the third round, Briton Evans has matched his best run at the ATP Masters 1000 event, having also advanced to that stage last season.

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Daniil Medvedev will begin the action on Stadium 1 against Frenchman Gael Monfils in what should be an entertaining clash.

In his first match as the new World No. 1, the 26-year-old swept aside Czech qualifier Tomas Machac 6-3, 6-2 as he began his hunt for a fifth Masters 1000 title. Medvedev’s best performance in Indian Wells came in 2021, when he advanced to the fourth round, before he lost to eventual semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov.

“It’s always strange here, the conditions,” Medvedev said after his opening-round victory. “You need a lot of time to get used to the conditions, and at the same time it’s a great place to be, so everybody comes one week, one week and a half before the tournament because of both reasons. That’s what I’ve done also and I feel great, so hopefully I can do better than the previous times.”

Monfils will provide a tricky test for Medvedev, with the pair locked at 1-1 in their ATP Head2Head series. The 26th seed captured his 11th tour-level title when he triumphed in Adelaide in January and cruised past Serbian Filip Krajinovic to set a meeting with the top seed.

#NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz will play countryman Roberto Bautista Agut as he aims to maintain his strong start to the year. Alcaraz, who beat Mackenzie McDonald to claim his first win in Indian Wells, is 9-1 on the season, having become the youngest ATP 500 champion when he clinched the title in Rio de Janeiro last month. It will be the first time the 18-year-old has faced Bautista Agut when they meet on Stadium 3.

Australian wild card Nick Kyrgios will look to build on his comfortable victories over Argentine duo Sebastian Baez and Federico Delbonis when he takes on eighth seed Casper Ruud. Kyrgios is competing in Indian Wells for the first time since 2019, with his best result a run to the quarter-finals in 2017.

Ruud, who lifted his seventh tour-level title in Buenos Aires in February, leads Kyrgios 1-0 in their ATP Head2Head series.

In a packed schedule, #NextGenATP Italian Jannik Sinner carries a 1-0 ATP Head2Head lead into his clash against Benjamin Bonzi, while in a rematch of the 2021 Indian Wells final, reigning champion Cameron Norrie takes on 18th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili.

Big-serving American Reilly Opelka faces Denis Shapovalov, with the Canadian having won their only previous tour-level match at the Australian Open earlier this year. Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury headline the doubles action, with the second seeds playing Argentines Andres Molteni and Diego Schwartzman.

SCHEDULE – MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2022

STADIUM 1 start 11:00 am
ATP – [1] D. Medvedev vs [26] G. Monfils (FRA)
ATP – [4] R. Nadal (ESP) vs [27] D. Evans (GBR)

Not Before 3:00 PM
WTA – [13] V. Azarenka vs [17] E. Rybakina (KAZ)

Not Before 6:00 pm
ATP – J. Brooksby (USA) vs [5] S. Tsitsipas (GRE)

Not Before 8:00 PM
WTA – [18] L. Fernandez (CAN) vs S. Rogers (USA)

STADIUM 2 start 11:00 am
WTA – [6] M. Sakkari (GRE) vs [27] P. Kvitova (CZE)
WTA – [30] M. Vondrousova (CZE) vs [4] A. Kontaveit
ATP – [17] R. Opelka (USA) vs [13] D. Shapovalov (CAN)

Not Before 6:00 PM
WTA – [5] P. Badosa (ESP) vs [32] S. Sorribes Tormo (ESP)
ATP – [WC] N. Kyrgios (AUS) vs [8] C. Ruud (NOR)

STADIUM 3 start 11:00 am
ATP – [19] C. Alcaraz (ESP) vs [15] R. Bautista Agut (ESP)
WTA – [Q] M. Bouzkova (CZE) vs [21] V. Kudermetova
WTA – [31] V. Golubic (SUI) vs J. Paolini (ITA)

Not Before 5:00 pm
ATP – [10] J. Sinner (ITA) vs B. Bonzi (FRA)
ATP – [12] C. Norrie (GBR) vs [18] N. Basilashvili (GEO)

STADIUM 4 start 11:00 am
WTA – [20] E. Mertens (BEL) vs [Q] D. Saville (AUS)
WTA – [WC] S. Kenin (USA) / A. Riske (USA) vs [7] A. Muhammad (USA) / E. Shibahara (JPN)

Not Before 3:00 pm
ATP – [4] J. Cabal (COL) / R. Farah (COL) vs T. Fritz (USA) / T. Paul (USA)
WTA – [3] C. Gauff (USA) / C. McNally (USA) vs [OSE] M. Sakkari (GRE) / A. Tomljanovic (AUS)

STADIUM 6 start 12:00 noon
ATP – A. Karatsev / A. Rublev vs [3] M. Granollers (ESP) / H. Zeballos (ARG)

Not Before 3:00 pm
ATP – A. Golubev (KAZ) / A. Zverev (GER) vs M. Arevalo (ESA) / J. Rojer (NED)
ATP – A. Molteni (ARG) / D. Schwartzman (ARG) vs [2] R. Ram (USA) / J. Salisbury (GBR)