We take a look at selected fixtures from the ATP Tours Masters 1000 Series taking place at the Indian Wells as Wawrinka takes on Federer and Rublev faces Khachanov on the 13th of March 2019.
2019 ATP Tour
Masters 1000 Series
Indian Wells
Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Indian Wells, California, United States
Outdoor Hardcourt
3:00
Stan Wawrinka (26/10) vs Roger Federer (1/4) (4)
This promises to be a pulsating affair as Swiss compatriots Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer meet at Indian Wells. Five-time champion Roger Federer looked imperious in his opening round demolition of Gojowczyk. It brought his winning streak to six matches following that history making triumph in Dubai. Federer is a veteran in these occasions and will likely enjoy the majority of the crowd support. Let’s not forget last year’s fireworks, where Federer ultimately lost an epic final to Juan Martin Del Potro. The match featured Federer getting uncharacteristically feisty with the chair umpire. So needless to say, the Fed Express still feels the magnitude of these events. This should prove a real test for him, with Wawrinka recently replicating some of his very best form.
Winner of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Gold Medal in Doubles alongside Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka is easily one of the most decorated players remaining on tour. The 33 year-old has had to battle a litany of injury issues just to get back in competitive action. But his recent form has really reminded us just why he is in possession of three major titles. The 2017 Indian Wells finalist really looked to have turned his form around in Rotterdam. He beat a slew of top rated players en route to that final defeat. He beat the likes of Raonic, Monilfs and top seed Kei Nishikori. He reached the quarters in Mexico prior to this week’s events. He battled past Dan Evans before a truly epic three-set marathon against Marton Fucsovics. It was a gruelling encounter that Wawrinka would never have rallied to win last season.
Federer leads their head-to-head incredibly by 21-3. More amazingly, Wawrinka has actually never beaten Federer on hardcourt: all his three victories have come on clay. Federer actually last lost to Wawrinka way back in 2015. I just look at Wawrinka’s form and think he is worth a shout at 26/10.
Andrey Rublev (14/10) vs Karen Khachanov (11/20) (12)
This should be a thrilling baseline slug fest between two members of the young vanguard of Russian tennis stars. 22 year-old Karen Khachanov has already captured four ATP titles and is perhaps at the very head of the Russian pack. Crucially, all four of those titles have come on hardcourt, including that remarkable title at the Paris Masters last season. But he is currently in truly awful form. He had lost four in a row prior to that opening round victory over Feliciano Lopez. He had also lost in the opening round of the Qatar Open prior to Melbourne. So it is fair to say that we haven’t seen the very best from the hard-hitting Khachanov this season. He won three titles last season and looked primed to be a true contender against the established elite this season.
Andrey Rublev intriguingly enough exists on the opposite end of the spectrum. He seemed to have gone backwards last season after catching fire at the 2017 NextGen Finals. But his 2018 was punctuated by poor form and injury: he was forced to withdraw from the French Open and Wimbledon with a back injury. His overly aggressive style often proves slightly erratic, which has probably been a major stumbling block for Rublev. He has had a more solid start to the season than Khachanov. He reached the final 16 in Sydney prior to a quarterfinal showing at the Open 13. He then reached the final of a very strong Indian Wells Challenger Series last week. He has come through qualifying here and came through a tough opening round match against Robin Haase.
This will only be their 3rd meeting, which kind of surprises me giving that they grew up in the same systems, etc. Khachanov won their last meeting in 2017 though Rublev has won their only ever meeting on the harder courts: he won at the Quimper Challenger in 2016. Rublev looks a good shout at 14/10. Khachanov’s form has been abysmal while Rublev looks to have just about turned the corner.
