The WTA Tour’s Indian Wells Masters continues today as Katie Boulter faces Camila Giorgi and Caroline Wozniacki takes on Lin Zhu in the round of 128. Damien Kayat previews.
2024 WTA Tour – Indian Wells Masters
Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Indian Wells
Selected Ro128 Matches- 6 March
Katie Boulter 36/100 | Camila Giorgi 2/1
Can Katie Boulter and Alex De Minaur supplant Tsitsipas and Badosa as tennis’ most high-profile power couple? The Brit won her second career title at last week’s San Diego Open while her boyfriend claimed another title in Acapulco.
The British No.1 was snubbed quite badly this week, as the Indian Wells organizers opted not to seed her despite her San Diego success (a success that saw her rocket to a career-high ranking of 27). In any event, Boulter has to be pleased with the progress she has made throughout the last year.
She won her maiden title in Nottingham last year and now has a first WTA 500 title to her name. Nobody has ever doubted the quality of her serve or the crispness of her groundstrokes. But I have been surprised at how well she appears to be moving this season.
She picked up victories over the likes of Haddad Maia and Vekic in San Diego and she certainly seems to have an added dynamism on court. That being said, these painstakingly slow Indian Wells conditions don’t really play into her wheelhouse.
But the same can be said about 32-year-old Italian Camila Giorgi. Like Boulter, Giorgi plays an aggressive brand of tennis that often incudes taking the ball on the up. She also looks to dominate on serve if possible.
Giorgi is a four-time WTA Tour champion with a WTA 1000 title to her name. But she is desperately in need of a pick-me-up this week. She opened the year with a gritty victory over Payton Stearns but she has lost four consecutive matches since then.
But Giorgi has always been a mercurial talent and you shouldn’t discount her solely based on form. She endured a similarly torrid start to her 2023 campaign only to win the Merida Open out of nowhere. She plays a risk-reward style of tennis that doesn’t really endear itself to consistency.
In fact, her tendency to go for broke on second serves saw her cough up a record 458 double faults in 2015. But her serve can be a dangerous weapon and that forehand can be a thing of absolute beauty. Giorgi prefers faster surfaces but managed a fourth-round run at the 2022 French Open.
Verdict: Giorgi to win in straight sets at 42/10
This will be the first career meeting between these two. I know this looks like a bold call considering he relative form of both players. But as I said, Giorgi is an enigmatic talent who can suddenly click into gear out of nowhere.
Boulter will likely feel exhausted after last week’s exertions and she could suffer as a result of not being seeded. Furthermore, I think Giorgi has more natural power to penetrate the court if she can find her range (this is a WTA 1000 champion after all).
Caroline Wozniacki 97/100 | Lin Zhu 81/100
I wonder if there’s a part of Caroline Wozniacki that regrets coming out of retirement. The 33-year-old Dane- a former World No.1- sent a jolt through the tennis community when she announced plans to return to action in the latter portion of last season.
And she defied expectations, reaching the fourth round of the US Open only to lose to eventual champion Coco Gauff in three sets. The fairytale seemed to be on track back then. Things have changed this year as she has won only one of her four matches thus far.
This included a pretty dismal collapse against Blinkova in San Diego last week. Wozniacki had some choice things to say about the current era of female talent and fans have been quick to jump on her case in the light of recent performances, saying that wildcards should be given out to more exciting players such as Osaka and Kerber. Ouch!
Can she rediscover her mojo on these agonizingly slow surfaces? She certainly has the pedigree, winning the 2011 Indian Wells title and finishing runner-up on two other occasions. A defensive baseliner by nature, these surfaces really allow her to show off that much-vaunted athleticism.
30-year-old Chinese hardcourt specialist Lin Zhu also comes into this year’s event in pretty dreadful form. Affectionately known as ‘The Playwright’ by some of her fans, the aggressive Chinese player is known for her wildly unpredictable form.
But she managed to harness some of that unpredictability and turn it into success last season, reaching her maiden Grand Slam fourth round in Melbourne before a third-round appearance at the US Open.
She also won her maiden title at the Hua Hin Championships before reaching the Japan Women’s Open final towards the end of the year. And she started this year well enough, reaching the quarters in Auckland before yet another run to the Hua Hin final (she lost to Shnaider in the championship match). But she has lost her last three consecutive matches (including against 152nd-ranked Donna Saville in San Diego last week).
Verdict: Wozniacki to win in three sets 39/10
This will be the first career meeting between these two. This is a match that Wozniacki has to win in order to justify her decision to come out of retirement. And I think her experience in the desert should ultimately see her through against the struggling Lin Zhu. But I wouldn’t expect anything too emphatic.
