The first ATP 1000 event is upon us, at Indian Wells. All the big names are out to play as ranking points and trophies are on the line in the US, as well as seven Aussie.
This includes Olivia Rogowska and Casey Dellacqua who both made it past qualifying to join Sam Stosur in the women’s main draw.
In the men’s, unfortunately both our Aussies are up against each other in the first round as Lleyton Hewitt takes on Matthew Ebden.
Sam Stosur enters as the 16th and final seed in the tournament and has the luxury of having a bye in the first round. She will either play Mona Barthel of Germany or Francesca Schiavone of Italy who defeated Stosur in the 2010 French Open final.
Rogowska will play wildcard Donna Vekic of Croatia, while Casey Dellaqua will come up against Kirsten Flipkens in the second round of the tournament after defeating American McHale in the first round.
Li Na will start as the top seed and favourite after her Australian Open triumph in 2014. The women’s field however is incredibly open with Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Angelique Kerber and Agnieszka Radwanska all big chances to win the title.
The men’s draw at Indian Wells is star studded as expected and the winner is hard to predict, due to the ominous form shown by Roger Federer and Rafaal Nadal in the last month.
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are also candidates for the trophy and who can forget Stanislas Wawrinka, who so famously took the Australian Open title in 2014.
It is hard to see a winner coming from outside this group, yet upsets have been caused time after time at the BNP Paribas Open.
With Hewitt and Ebden playing against each other in the opening encounter we are sure to have an Aussie through to the next round.
As well as this, Sam Groth and John Patrick-Smith have made it to the main draw! Groth will take on Mikhail Kukushkin and Smith will play Robin Haase from the Netherlands.
Although we probably won’t have a champion to brag about, seeing the improvement in these young guys and girls coming through is an encouraging site for all tennis fans in Australia.
Hewitt, Ebden and Rogowska all kick off their campaigns early this morning AEDT.
Predictions
Men: Rafael Nadal
Women: Maria Sharapova
Isaac
Guest
It doesn't matter if Serena was playing in Indian Wells, or not. Just because she's playing in a tourney doesn't guarantee she'll win! I guarantee all of you "Serena Sheeple" delusional fanatics that your girl won't be dominating this year! It will be sweet revenge when Li Na gets to play her again. Now that Li has gotten comfortable with her game tweaking, as well as with Carlos, she's starting to play up to her potential. When Li last played Serena it went 3 sets, and Li let it slip away. The point is Li wasn't peaking yet, but nearly beat Serena while at her best. So let's give credit where it's due....Li Na is legit!!!
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Roar Guru
"She will either play Mona Barthel of Germany...." Not to mention, it could be a rematch of last year's fourth rounder (should Barthel beat Schiavone), which Stosur won after dropping the first set. So it's a danger match for both. No man has successfully defended Indian Wells since 2005-6 (Federer) and a pattern has emerged where Djokovic has won it every three years (2008, 2011, 2014?). At least one of those two trends will end come ten days' time. Also, no woman has successfully retained the title here for a long time, and I can't see Maria Sharapova repeating as champion here. I think the big chances lie with Li Na, Radwanska or Azarenka. I always refer to Indian Wells as "the title anyone can win" because it's annually since 2001 that Serena Williams has boycotted the event, owing to a controversy in that same year which almost everyone knows about. I reckon Indian Wells could be anyone's to win in both the men's and women's.