Indian Wells Masters: Kokkinakis vs Holt Tennis Prediction & Pick

TennisSection previews the 2023 Indian Wells Masters as Thanasi Kokkinakis takes on Brandon Holt in the first round on Thursday, March 9th, 2023.

Will Thanasi Kokkinakis get the win? Will Brandon Holt pull off the upset? This will be an interesting one, where we have a tight matchup which could be an electric one. Who will triumph and move through to the Round of 64 at the 2023 Indian Wells Masters?

Thanasi Kokkinakis vs. Brandon Holt Match Preview

Thanasi Kokkinakis hasn’t had the best time on tour lately, suffering a tough defeat at the hands of Andy Murray in an almost 6-hour battle after taking a 2-set lead, but Murray was too tough in the end. As Kokkinakis comes to Indian Wells, he took another tight loss to Borna Coric in Dubai, but things are certainly looking up for Kokkinakis with some of the tennis he’s played in the last few matches particularly at the Manama Challenger and in qualifying at the dessert. So I expect him to come out firing against Brandon Holt here at the 2023 Indian Wells Masters.

Brandon Holt made waves on the ATP Tour last season after knocking out Taylor Fritz from the US Open, and he looks to grab another big win in front of his home crowd. Thanasi Kokkinakis should play well on these courts though, and he has in the past. With a big serve and big groundstrokes, he can take advantage of the slow surface and be able to finish points more effectively than many other players, let’s see if he can do so at the 2023 Indian Wells Masters.

Thanasi Kokkinakis vs. Brandon Holt Prediction and Pick

Thanasi Kokkinakis and Brandon Holt have never met before, with this being their first career meeting. To take out a guy like Kokkinakis, particularly on a surface like this, I think Holt will need to focus on shortening the points and winning a majority of the sub-nine shot rallies. If he can do so, I think he can give himself a solid chance, but I expect the Australian to take care of business in the end as he looks ahead to the Round of 64 at the 2023 Indian Wells Masters.