The BNP Paribas Open 2nd round takes place this Saturday in Indian Wells with the top seeds making their debut on the men’s competition. Bookmakers Review breaks down the fixtures below and lists the best available odds from green listed bookmakers.
ATP Indian Wells – Kukushkin vs. Isner
Playing in Indian Wells brings great memories to John Isner with the American holding a terrific 20 – 9 career record on this event. Adding to this, eight of John’s nine defeats in Indian Wells occurred against top 10 opponents with the world no.22 winning 93.75% of the matches when priced as favourite. Known for his outstanding serve, the high bouncing conditions in the Californian desert clearly suit Isner’s game style.
Despite his defeat in the last round of the qualifying against Darian King, Mikhail Kukushkin benefit from Dmitry Tursunov’s withdrawal to secure a place in the main draw as a lucky loser. Looking now at Kukushkin’s campaign on the main draw, the Kazakh reaches this stage of the competition after Jordan Thompson’s retirement due to an ankle injury while trailing 3 – 0 on the decisive set.
This will be the 3rd career meeting between these two players with Isner leading on the h2h by 2 – 0.
Due to Isner’s edge over this opponent and astonishing record on this event, the American is the undeniable favourite to win this match with Ladbrokes offering 1/4 for his victory while Kukushkin is available at 333/100 at BetVictor. Even though we expect a good win from John, it’s hard for us to bet on his -3.5 game handicap at 9/10 at Bet365 because we should have at least one tie break. On th1e other hand, Isner’s -1.5 Set Handicap is clearly the best betting approach on this match since he only needed two sets in 75.00% of his prior triumphs in Indian Wells.
WTA Indian Wells – Jankovic vs. Venus
Two former world no.1 – Jelena Jankovic and Venus Williams – will fight this Saturday for a place in the BNP Paribas Open 3rd round.
Venus returns to Indian Wells for the 2nd consecutive season after a 15-year boycott. After losing in the opening round last year against Kurumi Nara, Williams is looking for a better campaign this season. However, playing in Indian Wells brings too many emotions to Venus and it won’t be easy for the 36 years old to present her best tennis.
Even though the last months haven’t been easy for Jankovic, the Serbian is always a tough opponent. Famous for her astonishing two-handed backhand, the conditions in the Californian desert clearly suit Jelena’s game style with the 2010 BNP Paribas Open champion holding an outstanding 25 – 13 career record on this event.
These two players know each other very well with Jankovic winning 7 of their previous 13 meetings.
Looking now at the odds for this contest, the bookmakers consider Venus the main favourite to win this match at 53/100 at William Hill while Pinnacle offers 167/100 for Jankovic’s victory. Although we understand Williams’ favouritism after her amazing run in Melbourne, it’s impossible to find value on her current price. Besides Jelena’s tremendous success on this event, the Serbian was always a tough match-up for the American. On the other hand, Venus is far from familiar with the conditions in Indian Wells since this is only her 2nd match in 16 years. With this in mind, Jankovic is the right play on this contest with her +1.5 Set Handicap at 18/25 at Pinnacle also presenting huge value.
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