Indian Wells Tennis Prediction and Pick 3/16/24
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz will face the ATP's in-form man, Jannik Sinner, in the semifinal of the 2024 Indian Wells Masters. The match will be played on Saturday, March 16, 2024. Here's our Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner prediction.
Carlos Alcaraz
Last month, there were doubts about Carlos Alcaraz's involvement in Indian Wells. He picked up an ankle injury injury during his opening match at the Rio Open. But Alcaraz and his doctors allayed those fears following conclusive MRI scans. Alcaraz kicked off his title with a seriously impressive three-set win over Matteo Arnaldi. It has been the only match where he lost a set during the fortnight en route to the semis. Wins over Felix Auger-Aliassime, Fabian Marozsan and Alexander Zverev followed. Not even a bee invasion during his sensational quarterfinal dismantling of Zverev could disrupt his rhythm. But he faces the ultimate test on Saturday against his big rival Jannik Sinner.
Jannik Sinner
As Alcaraz struggled to find his footing in recent months, Sinner merged as the ATP's in-form player. He was instrumental in helping Italy win the Davis Cup at the back end of last year. Sinner also ended a long drought stretching nearly five decades since an Italian man won a Grand Slam when he triumphed at this year's Australian Open. He's made a career-best start to a season by winning 16 matches in a row. He hasn't dropped a set in Indian Wells, accounting for wins over Thanasi Kokkinakis, Jan-Lennard Struff, Ben Shelton, and Jiri Lehecka.
Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner Head-To-Head
Alcaraz and Sinner have met seven times on the ATP Tour. Sinner leads the h2h 4-3, having won their last two meetings. However, the Spaniard won this clash at the same stage and venue 12 months ago.
Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner Prediction
Is Carlos Alcaraz the man to end the Jannik Sinner streak? A month ago, it looked impossible, with the Spaniard's form in sixes and sevens. He also picked up that nasty-looking ankle injury in Rio, which we all thought would derail his title defense. But if anything, Alcaraz has come out of that predicament playing better tennis. Sinner hasn't faced a Top 10 opponent at this tournament, which makes this semifinal clash very intriguing. He has dropped sets to Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev and could have lost one against Alex de Minaur in the Rotterdam final. So, against the ATP's elite, the Italian tends to make his situation a little bit complicated. This has the makings of being a classic, as it is the biggest match of the ATP season so far. There have been over 21.5 games in four of five tour-level meetings (excluding Grand Slams). With that said, back the games spread for handsome returns.
