The Indian Wells Open continues this week as Lorenzo Musetti faces Romain Safiullin as Ugo Humbert goes up against Kei Nishikori in the competition’s round of 64. Damien Kayat previews.
2025 WTA Tour – WTA 1000
Indian Wells Open
Indian Wells Tennis Garden
Selected RO64 – 7 March
Lorenzo Musetti 99/100 | Romain Safiullin 79/100
23-year-old Italian Lorenzo Musetti will be looking to bounce back after what has been an injury-riddled campaign thus far. Musetti enjoyed a solid 3rd round run at the Aussie Open. He then opted to play the South American Golden Swing (perhaps looking to get a jump on other players ahead of the clay-court season).
He won his first match in Buenos Aires but was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to an ankle injury. He was also forced to withdraw from Rio, and this will be his first outing since sustaining the injury.
It will be interesting to see how the crafty Musetti adjusts after his brief hiatus. Musetti enjoyed a breakthrough 2024 campaign, reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon while claiming bronze at the Olympics in Paris. He also finished runner-up in three further events (on all three surfaces). Musetti is a throwback player, unafraid of incorporating slices and drop-shots.
He would have suited the traditional Indian Wells conditions. But they have attempted to speed up conditions this year (though it remains to be seen how much of an impact that will have). I don’t think it will be lightning-quick in the early stages and Musetti could prosper.
27-year-old Russian Romain Safiullin stopped the bleeding in impressive style, taking down a resurgent Reily Opelka in straight sets to finally register his maiden win of the campaign.
The Russian – who reached a career-high ranking of 36th last season – had plummeted down the rankings after losing his first five matches of the year. The aggressive Russian understood the assignment against servebot Reily Opelka.
He stepped in on any 2nd serve opportunities, winning 59% of his 2nd serve return points. He was solid on his own delivery, making 71% of his first serves (winning 76% of those points). Safiullin is a dangerous dark horse competitor, with career victories over the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Alex Zverev.
The Verdict: Safiullin to win in three 32/10
Safiullin leads the head-to-head 2-1. However, the Italian emerged victorious when they last met, easing past the Russian in straight sets at last year’s Miami Open. I think this has upset written all over it.
Musetti has barely played in the last two months and probably won’t appreciate the attempt to speed up the courts. Safiullin produced some high-quality hardcourt tennis to dispatch of Opelka and could use that as a major confidence booster.
