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Ricky’s Tennis Picks and preview for Monday in Indian Wells| BNP • Rafa Nadal vs. Dan Evans and Ruud vs. Kyrgios
- Updated: March 14, 2022
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By Ricky Dimon
Rafael Nadal is already on his second life in Indian Wells and he will try to keep going when he faces Dan Evas during third-round action on Monday. Meanwhile, a spicy matchup features Casper Ruud and Nick Kyrgios.
Here are my previews and picks for two of the best third-round matchups.
(4) Rafael Nadal vs. (27) Dan Evans
Nadal has been no stranger to major comebacks throughout his career–and already in the early stages of 2022. The 35-year-old Spaniard famously won the Australian Open final from two sets down against Daniil Medvedev. Nadal was never down by a set on Saturday at the BNP Paribas Open, but he trailed Sebastian Korda by a double-break at 5-2 in the third only to storm back for a 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(3) victory. The 21-time Grand Slam champion is now 55-10 lifetime in the desert with three titles.
Up next for Nadal on Monday afternoon is a third career contest against Evans. Both of their previous meetings have gone Nadal’s way; 7-6(6), 6-4 at the 2019 Rogers Cup and 6-4, 6-0 later that season in the Davis Cup Finals. Evans is in decent enough form at the moment and coming off a 6-2, 6-0 destruction of Federico Coria, but the matchup with Nadal is an especially terrible one. Evans doesn’t have the firepower to hurt Nadal and his one-handed backhand slice struggles to be effective. This should be a much more straightforward affair for Indian Wells’ No. 4 seed than what transpired on Saturday,
Pick: Nadal 2
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(WC) Nick Kyrgios vs. (8) Casper Ruud
There will be no love lost between Ruud and Kyrgios when they collide for the second time. Their only previous encounter ended in a default, as Kyrgios incurred multiple code violations for various eruptions and was given the boot while trailing 6-3, 6-7(5), 2-1 at the 2019 Rome Masters. The volatile Australian had nothing but disparaging remarks for Ruud both after that match and in the years since, mainly accusing the Norwegian of being a useless player on any surface other than clay.
That may have been partly true for a while, but Ruud’s rise into the top 10 has included plenty of success on hard courts. What is true, however, is that the world No. 8 is at his best on the red stuff and would most definitely prefer to face Kyrgios on that surface. In these particular conditions, it is not a good matchup for Ruud. Even more problematic for him is that Kyrgios looks motivated–and a motivated Kyrgios is a scary Kyrgios. So far this fortnight the 26-year-old has destroyed both Sebastian Baez (6-4, 6-0) and Federico Delbonis (6-2, 6-2). Unless Kyrgios’ mood suddenly takes a turn for the worse, he is capable of blowing Ruud off the court.
Pick: Kyrgios in 2
Ricky contributes to10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.