After 31 months, the Indian Wells Masters is finally here and the tennis action is heating up despite the rainy weather in Southern California.
The prestigious event was one of the biggest casualties of COVID-19 as it was cancelled in March 2020 and 2021, although the league committee successfully negotiated to move it to October of this year so it wouldn’t lose two full years.
In 2019, Dominic Thiem and Bianca Andreescu emerged as the winners in the said competition. However, the tennis landscape both in the ATP and in the WTA looks quite different than before.
Because of age and attrition, the Big 3 of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal are all absent in the ATP while Serena Williams — who is a two-time winner in the WTA for this event — has also not entered.
As of this writing, several Round of 32 matches are already underway. So read on below as SBOTOP keeps you up-to-date with the latest Indian Wells Masters 2021 news.
Thiem and Andreescu are both out
It’s safe to say that there will be new champions at Indian Wells since the defending titlists are no longer around in the competition. Dominic Thiem and Bianca Andreescu will have to cede their reign due to different reasons.
Dominic Thiem made the difficult decision to sit out for the rest of 2021 due to a wrist injury that he suffered in the Mallorca Championships, which forced him to be sidelined in major events such as the Wimbledon, US Open, and in the Tokyo Olympics.
The good news, however, is that the Austrian’s wrist will no longer have to undergo surgery and he can start his rehab right away.
“It’s really stable and it’s looking good. The next week I have to make it more flexible and strengthen my wrist, do everything to prepare to slowly start playing tennis again,” said Thiem.
Meanwhile, Bianca Andreescu fell victim to an on-fire Anett Kontaveit in the Round of 32, 7-6(5), 6-3 – who is now on an eight-game winning streak.
Fresh from a late-night victory over Alison Riske, Andreescu began the game on the back foot as she fell behind in the opening set.
The Canadian threatened to come back when it was at 5-4, but Kontaveit wasn’t to be denied as she swept the ensuing tiebreaker and powered through a nervy second set to win the final five games of the match.
Kontaveit now has a superb 13-1 record since she changed coaches and the 25-year-old is poised to beat Beatriz Haddad Maia – who is also fresh from an upset victory.
Notable upsets in the women’s division
Other than Bianca Andresscu’s shocking Round of 32 defeat, there were other big WTA names who were also booted out by their lesser known counterparts.
Karolina Pliskova, Petra Kvitova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Simona Halep were eliminated while defending US Open titlist Emma Raducanu was dealt with a harsh reality check during the first round.
With all of them out, the women’s singles title is up for grabs especially for the remaining top seeds Elina Svitolina, Barbora Krejcikova, Angelique Kerber, and Iga Swiatek.
However, the dark horse to look out for in this tournament is Leylah Fernandez – who finished as the runner-up in the US Open final.
The 19-year-old Canadian’s confidence is sky high following a huge victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in what was one of the best games so far in this tournament.
After losing the first set, Fernandez came roaring back to take the second and the third set, and now she’ll vie for a quarter-finals berth when she takes on Shelby Rogers on Tuesday for their second meeting ever.
Three-way race between Zverev, Tsitsipas, and Medvedev
Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Daniil Medvedev are the three biggest favourites to win in the men’s according to the Indian Wells Masters 2021 odds.
With the famed Big 3 of Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer absent, perhaps we’re seeing the next generation who will take over ATP in the foreseeable future.
Zverev and Tsitsipas are through to the Round of 32 while Medvedev just advanced to the last 16, which is set on Thursday.
Daniil Medvedev took out Filip Krajinovic in a wire-to-wire win, which is a testament to his solid form following his first Grand Slam victory at the US Open.
Alexander Zverev, who won gold in the Tokyo Olympics, shook off his shaky second set to dispatch Jenson Brooksby to set up a blockbuster clash with Andy Murray.
Stefanos Tsitsipas won his opener against Pedro Martinez and he’s slated to square off against Fabio Fognini next.
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