Find out our top tennis plays for this Sunday’s action in Indian Wells with the BNP Paribas Open Day 5 taking place. Bookmakers Review breaks down the fixtures below and lists the best available odds from green listed bookmakers.
ATP Indian Wells – Del Potro vs. Delbonis
Two Argentinean players – Juan Martin Del Potro and Federico Delbonis – will face each other this Sunday with a place in the 3rd round at stake.
Playing in Indian Wells brings great memories to Delbonis with the world no.49 featuring an astonishing victory last year over Andy Murray. Even though Federico is far from an expert on Hard Court, the high bouncing conditions on the Californian desert clearly suit his game style with the Argentinean winning 62.50% of the matches played on this event throughout his career.
The 2013 BNP Paribas Open runner-up – Del Potro – is looking for another successful campaign in Indian Wells. Despite his outstanding results last season after spending more than one year away from competition, Del Potro’s backhand was never the same after his wrist injuries. However, the 2009 US Open champion is still a world class player due to his phenomenal forehand and great attitude on court.
Although this is the first career meeting between these two players, they know each other very well since they are teammates in the Davis Cup.
Looking now at the bookmakers’ analysis, Del Potro is the undeniable favourite to win this match at 17/100 at Ladbrokes while Delbonis is available at 9/2 at Bet365. Even though we expect Del Potro to win the match, it’s unlikely to see him defeating his fellow countryman in two easy sets. Besides Delbonis’ previous success on this tournament, his cross court left-handed forehand should create many problems to Juan Martin’s backhand. Having said that, Federico’s +5.0 game handicap at 69/100 at Pinnacle is clearly the best betting approach on this match.
WTA Indian Wells – Cibulkova vs. Pliskova
Regardless of this Sunday’s result one thing is certain, Krystina Pliskova already secured her career high ranking next week. At the age of 24, Krystina is trying to follow her sister’s footsteps to become a top player and it shouldn’t take long before we see Pliskova reaching the top 40. It has been a phenomenal week for Krystina so far, losing only six games in the two previous matches against Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Darya Kasatkina.
After winning the WTA Singapore Finals title last year, Dominika Cibulkova’s main goal for 2017 is to win her first Grand Slam title. Even though Dominika is still looking for her first trophy this season, the Slovak is always a fearful opponent due to her extremely aggressive game style. Looking now at Cibulkova’s campaign on this event, the 2014 BNP Paribas Open quarter-finalist reaches this stage of the competition after a tough three-set battle against Jelena Ostapenko.
Despite Krystina’s improvements in recent months, Cibulkova is far from an easy match-up for the Czech. Known for her incredible return to serve, Dominika can create many problems to
big servers with her 3 – 1 lead on the h2h against Karolina as a good example of that. With this in mind, Cibulkova is the clear favourite to win this match with Pinnacle offering 53/100 for her victory while Krystina is available at 7/4 at Bet365.