It is semi-final Saturday at the ATP Indian Wells tournament as we determine who will reach the final of the BNP Paribas Open out in the desert as the first Masters 1000 event of 2022 gets closer to crowning a champion.
We have a legend of the game headlining the semi-final card as well as three rising stars who will be looking for one of the biggest titles of their career, if not the biggest, over the course of the weekend so Saturday promises to be interesting.
Taylor Fritz vs Andrey Rublev
The first semi-final sees the home man Taylor Fritz looking to book a spot in a first Masters 1000 final when he goes up against the Russian ace Andrey Rublev who has come through the draw with the minimum of fuss so far despite the cloud hanging over him with what is going on back home.
Fritz has had to battle his way through to this stage but he is playing some good tennis, although the way he faded in the second set of his quarter final would be a concern. Luckily for him Kecmanovic had emptied the tank in winning that set and had little to give in the decider. That means Fritz is going to have to play better here but he is 2-2 in career meetings with the Russian. Rublev hasn’t really been tested this week so it will be interesting to see what is in his tank if Fritz can take it to him here. I’m expecting a close semi-final here which will have two tight sets with both adept at holding their serve or even a third set. Whichever way it goes I like over 22.5 games in this one.
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Carlos Alcaraz vs Rafael Nadal
The second semi-final looks a mouth-watering affair as the old and the new of Spanish tennis collide when Rafael Nadal puts his unbeaten start to 2022 on the line when he takes on the recent Rio champion Carlos Alcaraz in a firecracker of a match.
Alcaraz has brought plenty of heat to the court this week, firing winners from everywhere and blowing opponents away. Nadal has had to battle in nearly every round this week and you sense from about the third round onwards he has been waiting to be put out of his misery but neither Reilly Opelka nor Nick Kyrgios had the game or the mental stability in the case of the latter to do it. It might be that Alcaraz doesn’t either because he is playing his hero, a legend in his eyes, however he has played Nadal before so maybe he’s got that stage fright out of his system. I think the way Nadal is struggling with his foot this match is on the racquet of Alcaraz. If he keeps playing the way he has and isn’t overawed by the prospect of playing his idol then I think he can claim a first career win over the Spanish legend and cement the hype behind him.
Tips
Back T.Fritz vs A.Rublev – Over 22.5 games for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back C.Alcaraz to beat R.Nadal for a 3/10 stake at 2.38 with Bet365
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