Indian Wells Masters: Ruud vs Garin Tennis Prediction & Pick

TennisSection previews the 2023 Indian Wells Masters as Casper Ruud takes on Cristian Garin in the third round on Sunday, March 12, 2023.

Casper Ruud has yet to win back-to-back matches this year and faces a potentially tricky match against Cristian Garin in the third round of the Indian Wells Masters. So who will prevail?

Casper Ruud vs. Cristian Garin Match Preview

Casper Ruud returned to winning ways as he eased past Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman in the second round of the Indian Wells Masters, winning 6-2 6-3 in one and a half hours. The Norwegian has runner-up points to defend in Miami, so it is imperative he goes very deep at the BNP Paribas Open this fortnight to keep his top-5 ranking. How will he fare against Cristian Garin?

Cristian Garin has enjoyed a resurgence of some sort at the 2023 Indian Wells Masters, winning four matches in a row and not dropping a single set. He came through a pair of qualifying matches, and demolished World No. 34 Yoshihito Nishioka 6-4 6-0 on Friday in the second round, serving notice he will be a tough nut to crack in the third round when he battles Casper Ruud.

Casper Ruud vs. Cristian Garin Prediction and Pick

Cristian Garin leads Casper Ruud 2-1 in their head-to-head. The Chilean won two of those meetings on clay, in Sao Paulo and Houston respectively. Ruud took their hard court meeting at the ATP Cup in 2022 in a routine fashion. This will be a lot tighter than what the odds suggest with clay-loving Garin feeling more at home on the Indian Wells playing surface. Ruud’s season hasn’t really caught fire, but he should be winning this one, albeit in three sets.