ATP Masters in Indian Wells, 1st Round, Wednesday, 08.03.2023
US-American duel at the beginning of the Indian Wells Open. John Isner and Brandon Nakashima will meet in the first round.
This means that two top 50 players will meet directly in the 128-player field. Who will advance to the next round? In my Isner Nakashima tip I analyse the duel and recommend a suitable bet
John Isner is the record holder on the ATP Tour for the most aces hit. The 2.08-metre tall man from North Carolina secured the record last year at the world’s most prestigious tennis tournament in Wimbledon.
In the match against Sinner, he served ace number 13,729, making him the world record holder. The 37-year-old replaced the Croatian Ivo Karlovic. Isner’s ace count now stands at 14,186.
Now the world number 39 has to play his compatriot Brandon Nakashima in the first round of the Indian Wells Open, the odds on the match are pretty even.
Bet-at-home has the service giant at 2.01. Nakashima (1.78) is slightly below and therefore in the favourite role.
Will he live up to his role as favourite? Beating Isner in Indian Wells is a tough task. The statistics also show that. The service GOAT has not been eliminated in the first round in any of his 14 appearances.
In 2012, he even made it to the final, losing in two sets to Roger Federer. Two years later, he achieved his second-best result at the Californian tournament by reaching the semi-finals. In doubles, he was even victorious twice.
The one-time Masters triumphant last played in Acapulco but failed in round one against Taylor Fritz (6-3, 3-6, 4-6) in three sets.
Isner had more fun at the Dallas Open in mid-February, knocking out Daniel Altmaier (6-3, 7-6) and Jeff Wolf (3-6, 7-5, 7-6) among others on his way to the final.
In the final, he lost a close match to Yibing Wu from China (7-6, 6-7, 6-7), in which there were three tiebreaks. The last one even went over 26 points. Isner let hail 44 aces. In the whole tournament there were 138 service winners.
In his last ten matches, there was at least one tiebreak in eight games, a total of 13 tiebreaks were played in this series.
Should the match against Nakashima go over at least two tiebreaks, a bet on over 25.5 games would also be worthwhile.
This also covers the three-set scenario without tiebreaks.
Isner and Nakashima have already met three times at the professional level. All of the meetings took place in 2021, with Nakashima coming out on top in Los Cabos, Mexico, in July (7-5, 6-4). A week later, he lost in Atlanta (6-7, 5-7).
At the end of August, it came to another duel in the first round of the US Open (7-6, 7-6, 6-3), in which Nakashima was again victorious.
Nakashima is one of the best newcomers on the tennis scene. He was able to confirm his reputation at the latest with his victory at the Next Gen ATP Finals 2022.
After the success in November, however, he starts 2023 with two defeats. In Adelaide, it was all over against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (2-6, 6-7) and at the Australian Open he narrowly lost to compatriot Mackenzie McDonald (6-7, 6-7, 6-1, 7-6, 4-6).
A month later, the man from San Diego continued in Acapulco. He beat Germany’s Daniel Altmaier in three sets, but failed again in round two to McDonald (2-6, 0-6).
With three defeats from four matches this year, the form of the 48th ranked player in the world does not fit yet. He now has the next chance against Isner.
Nakashima has not been able to make a mark after his triumph at the Next Gen ATP Finals. In 2023, the US American made a clear false start with three losses from four matches.
Now he will meet his compatriot John Isner, who has reached the first round every time in 14 appearances. Will the streak now be broken against Nakashima?
I doubt it and bet on a win for John Isner at Bet-at-home at odds of 2.01.
