TennisSection previews the 2022 Indian Wells Taylor Fritz takes on Miomir Kecmanovic in the quarterfinal on Friday, March 18th, 2022.
A place in the semifinals of Indian Wells beckons for one of Taylor Fritz or Miomir Kecmanovic. The American continues to hold his nerve in the decisive moments after a second straight third-set tiebreak win. Will he put the brakes on an inspired Kecmanovic on Friday?
For the second match in a row, Taylor Fritz produced a gutsy win in Indian Wells. The American World No. 20 used his power to thwart Alex De Minaur – Australia’s tireless baseliner – in a grueling three-set battle. And it was only fitting that a third-set tiebreak decided matters. Both players had gone toe-to-toe in a thrilling baseline contest. In the deciding set, there were four breaks of serve as neither player found the consistency to play a solid game. But things began to normalize after six games. In the tiebreak, there was little margin for error as the entire breaker went in favor of the serve. That was until Fritz drew an error out of the Aussie in the 12th point to win it.
Miomir Kecmanovic, for his part, upset the number six seed Matteo Berrettini 6-3 6-7 6-4 in his very own cat-and-mouse match. In the absence of Novak Djokovic, Kecmanovic is representing Serbia on all fronts this week, as he reached his second quarterfinal at Indian Wells with his second Top 10 win of his career. The unseeded Kecmanovic followed every line of his strategy plot, taking the ball early behind the return and forcing Berrettini to hit awkward shots from his backhand, that ultimately drew far too many errors out of the Italian. With this win, Kecmanovic has made the quarterfinals in each of his last three ATP tournaments.
Taylor Fritz owns a 1-0 head-to-head record against Miomir Kecmanovic. That win came on the hard courts of Atlanta in 2019. Friday’s match at Indian Wells will be a fantastic opportunity for both of these two players to headline the business end of the most prestigious Masters 1000 tournament. Kecmamovic, for me, needs to continue with the same mindset and mentality that worked to perfection against the likes of Berrettini and Cilic. He needs to be ultra-aggressive and force Fritz to go for more behind serve. If he can control his nerves early on, this looks like a very winnable quarterfinal for the Serbian.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Miomir Kecmanovic to win in 3 sets
Want more Free Tennis Picks from our Experts? Check out our latest Tennis Predictions now!
Join TopCourt now to learn from some of the best tennis players in the world! Find our exclusive 14-day FREE-trial here!
All betting odds/banners presented on the site are advertisements. Opinions of our experts are solely opinions. Please gamble responsibly and BeGambleAware.org.
