Action nears the semifinals at the Indian Wells Masters on Friday. With one matchup already set, will it be Nadal and Federer in the second?
The first of two semifinals matches is set at the 2019 Indian Wells Masters in men’s singles. That match features Austrian tennis star Dominic Thiem and Canadian great Milos Raonic. Thiem sneaks into the semis following the withdrawal of Gael Monfils due to injury. Monfils was apparently suffering from a problem with his achilles for at least the last several days.
While we hate to see Monfils miss out on another title shot, a Thiem versus Raonic meeting is fantastic in its own right. Take a look at their career head to head here.
Raonic has the edge over Thiem, going 2-0 against him throughout their careers. The two don’t have a deep history of playing one another though and this match could go either way. Both players have played brilliant tennis this month at Indian Wells.
The second semifinals match is yet to be determined. Action on Friday will makeup the meeting between potential former champions or up and coming stars. Quarterfinals action features Roger Federer taking on 22-year-old Hubert Hurkacz and Rafael Nadal taking on the 12th seeded Karen Khachanov.
These quarterfinals matches have to favor both Federer and Nadal, but the rising ATP stars they take on represent the future of the sport. Federer probably has the more favorable of the two matchups, but Nadal has been red hot so far. Both Federer and Rafa are yet to drop a single set at the 2019 Indian Wells Masters.
Can Nadal close the gap between he and Federer and Novak Djokovic in terms of titles at the event? Federer has a resume of success to fall back on at Indian Wells though and he will be difficult for anyone to knock out.
We have to think that action in men’s singles at Indian Wells will feature at least either Federer or Nadal in the semifinals if not both of them. The potential meeting is highly anticipated and it’s up to Hurkacz and Khachanov to play spoiler. Stay tuned to see who advances to make it one step closer to the finals.