Abrams picks 8 from the 1st round Men’s Singles at Indian Wells

Indian Wells
Men’s Singles
First Round Picks

Reilly Opelka over Leonardo Mayer
At 6’11”, the 21-year-old American, Opelka, can and will beat anyone when serving well. He has two wins this year alone over another giant-server, John Isner, and should take out Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer, a very dangerous opponent. These guys have played once before, in the 2017 French Open qualifying, where Opelka won 6-3 in the third, when they played the best of three sets. That shows how dominating Opelka’s serves can be---so big that he can dominate on the slow clay of Paris. Still, Mayer is better at all the other aspects of the game, so if Opelka is not on, Mayer can and will push him around. But how many times does a player standing at 6’11” have trouble with his serve?

Martin Klizan over Mischa Zverev
Mischa Zverev, the older brother of 3rd ranked Sascha, is not winning many singles matches lately. He did partner his brother to a doubles title last week in Acapulco, so he clearly can play the game. But he doesn’t seem to have confidence in his singles game at the present time. Martin Klizan, the 6’3” Slovakian, is having a better 2019 and has a much better career record than Zverev. Additionally, the 50th ranked Klizan holds a 2-0 lifetime record over Zverev with wins in 2017 and 2012, on two different surfaces. I think Klizan makes it 3-0 here in the California desert.

Jeremy Chardy over Marcos Giron
Chardy, the 32-year-old Frenchman that lives in London, is currently ranked #37 and can be dominant when his serve is working. These guys have never played, but Giron, a 25-year-old from Thousand Oaks, CA is a grinder who could surprise if Chardy takes him lightly or doesn’t bring his weapons with him. The players report that the courts here are playing slow, and evidently they’ve been designed with a lot of grit in them to offset the California desert air that allows the balls to fly quicker than other venues. If this is true, Giron stands a chance….just not a big one.

Ilya Ivashka over Guido Andreozi
These two guys who have never played each other are both ranked inside the Top 100, and received entries straight into the main draw here. I like Ivashka because Andreozi, from Buenos Aires, is more of a slow-court player, and although he’ll have an advantage rallying on the gritty courts, he’ll have to defend against the big serve of Ivashka, the 6’4” Belarussian. This should be very close, but I think Ivashka’s bigger game will come out on top.

Hubert Hurkacz over Donald Young
Donald Young is now 29 years old. We all remember him as one of the most dominant Juniors in our lifetime, but that dominance did not translate into the pro ranks. Somehow, the official ATP lists Young, who lives and trains in Atlanta, as 6’0”, but we all know he’s only 5’9”. Why is the ATP posting inaccurate information? In this age of Trump, has that become acceptable? Well, no matter how tall Young really is, I doubt he will beat Hurkacz, the rookie from Poland, who is playing and competing well as he is gaining experience on the Tour. Kurkacz’s serves, coming down into the court from his 6’5” frame, should dominate this match. When and if they get into rallies, Young should have the upper hand….but it won’t be enough.

Taylor Fritz over Stevie Johnson
I don’t know how many times I have to write that Steve Johnson can’t win because he has no backhand, but I’m sure it’ll be more than just this. If Fritz directs all his shots to Johnson’s backhand he will win. Johnson runs around every backhand he can, and when he does this he leaves the entire court open for his opponent to hit into and take charge. When he isn’t able to run around his backhand, Johnson simply hits an ineffective slice which, again, allows his opponent to either haul off on it, or chip and charge. Either way, if Fritz uses appropriate strategy, he will win…it’s pretty much that simple. He’s got a big serve and a good enough volley to hold his serve and to spend most of his energy trying to break Johnson’s serve. If Fritz is brain dead, which I don’t expect, Johnson can triumph, but I’d be very surprised.

Radu Albot over Marius Copil
Radu Albot has come out of the shadows to become a very dangerous player this year. He won the recent tournament in Delray Beach and is sporting a nifty 10-4 match record this year. Perhaps more importantly, Albot holds a career 4-0 mark against the 6’4” Romanian, which means that he’ll go into this match with a lot of confidence, and Copil will wonder what he has to do to finally take a match from the Moldovian. It probably won’t happen here and now.

Stan Wawrinka over Dan Evans
Dan Evans, the Brit who has come back from cocaine suspension, is playing very well. He got to the finals in Delray Beach, losing a very tough match to Radu Albot after holding match points in the third set tiebreaker. Along the way he took out Tiafoe, Harris, Seppi and Isner, so he’s got confidence and he’s got game. But Wawrinka wants and needs this match. He’s making a comeback himself, from injury, and so far it’s been spotty, but gaining momentum. The only time these guys have played went to Stan the Man in five close sets at the 2016 U.S. Open in the third round in which Wawrinka won that match after being down two sets to one. This match should be very close again, but I think Wawrinka has too many weapons for Evans to pull this one out.