TennisSection previews the 2021 Indian Wells Open as Denis Shapovalov (9) meets Aslan Karatsev (19) in the Third Round on Monday October 11th, 2021.
There are so many exciting Third Round clashes here at the 2021 Indian Wells Open and this one is no different. Ninth seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov will do battle with 19th seed Aslan Karatsev of Russia with a spot in the Round of 16 up for grabs. Both men have been having inconsistent seasons by their lofty standards and would love a deep run here to finish the year with a bang. Who will get the win and advance here?
Denis Shapovalov is ranked #13 in the world and is the ninth seed here at the 2021 Indian Wells Open. The Canadian star has long been considered one of the top young talents in the world, but has only recently been living up to that billing with some outstanding performances. His consistency last year has allowed him to break into the top 10 for the first time, and he was displaying all the signs of being ready to compete at major events. However, his inconsistency returned and he has been in a bit of a slump lately, and will be hoping to turn his fortunes around to end the year strongly. He received a stroke of luck when Vasek Pospisil retired after only three games in the Second Round, and will be fresh heading into this blockbuster clash against Aslan Karatsev. The Canadian has a dynamic all-court game, and if he can keep his error count low and his focus constant he will be in with a great chance of winning here.
Aslan Karatsev is the 19th seed here at the 2021 Indian Wells Open, and is ranked #23 on the ATP Tour. The Russian announced himself to the world by reaching the Semi-Finals at the Australian Open as a Qualifier, and also won his maiden ATP title in Dubai. That shot him right up the rankings into the top 20 but he has been in terrible form lately, struggling to string wins together since. He put all of that behind him in the Second Round, where he destroyed Salvatore Caruso for the loss of only two games, and will have gained a lot of confidence from that victory. Karatsev has some serious firepower from both wings on the baseline, so if he can remain consistent he is certainly capable of upsetting his opponent Denis Shapovalov.
This will be the first meeting between the two players on the ATP Tour, and it is hard to know what to expect here. We have to extremely talented players, both capable of defeating anyone on a good day, but they have been in such inconsistent form it is hard to have much faith in either of them. However, Denis Shapovalov has been in the better form lately and seems to have more confidence than the Russian at the moment. Aslan Karatsev is as unpredictable as they come and while he does have the game to be able to win here, that type of form has been few and far between for him, and I don’t see him winning this one. Shapovalov can be erratic and lose focus at times so this won’t be a walk in the park, but I expect the Canadian to get the win here moving on to the Round of 16 at the 2021 Indian Wells Open.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Denis Shapovalov to win in 3 sets
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