Indian Wells Round of 16 Previews: Swiatek vs Muchova; Norrie vs Hijikata; Tien vs Davidovich Fokina; Sinner vs Fonseca

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Well, we'll start with some of these men's matches.

I'm going to get the draw up on the screen.

So stay with us as we race through some of these previews.

All right, well, let's hone in on the top match you see here.

Rinshi Hichikata is going to be playing Camnory in the round of 16,

as I saw Vanche Tweet earlier, expectation,

public versus demonore, reality, Hichikata versus Camnory.

Camnory, by the way, and his win today over Alex Demonore,

very impressive, actually.

Could easily have been 6462 for Cam.

He was serving for it at 5.2, but Demonore broke back.

And given Alex's incredible mental strength, you did wonder.

But the lungs himself, there was some, by the way,

some epic rallies in that match, as you can imagine, Camnory's speed

against Camnory's endurance abilities.

And it was Cam, who got over the line, the 2021 champion.

I think it was 2021, the title.

Coming up against Vanche Hichikata.

Which I'm just going to check.

Was it in 2021 that Noli won Indian Wells?

Yeah, 2021.

It was the winter one, of course.

That was a great period of his career, where he won five titles

across two seasons.

And Indian Wells, of course, being the highlight,

being Baselash Vili in that final.

As for Vanche Hichikata, he came from a set down

to win in three sets against Bubli.

But let me tell you now, even though it looks like an epic encounter,

Hichikata, I would say, first of all, was the better player,

but secondly, didn't have to face a single break point on his serve.

And if we look at how Vanche Hichikata got to this stage in Indian Wells,

he's come through qualifying, beating Reddy in straight sets

and Boussa in three sets.

Boussa, of course, having a great South American swing recently.

He then beats the Italian Vanche Hichikata,

Maistrelli, 7664, before coming through in epic three sets over both Darderi

and Bubli, coming from a set down in both of those.

So showing great mental strength and ability to overcome issues, if you like.

That win over Darderi, of course, the match point was very interesting

because Darderi called hindrance at one point,

but there was no hindrance.

And then Darderi said he hadn't actually called hindrance,

but it was clear that he had stuck his hand up in the air.

And by the way, Darderi was so far down in the point,

he was almost in Phoenix already.

I don't even know if he's playing that Phoenix challenger.

So anyway, Hichikata has come from a set down in three of his five matches

to get to this stage.

So an incredible run for him to set up this round of 16 clash.

As for Cam Nori in the desert, let's have a look at his run so far.

Well, of course, he didn't have to come through qualifying,

and in fact, he had a buy to the round of 64.

But a nice, maybe a nice-ish round of 64 clash for him

against Mackenzie McDonald.

He won that one two and three,

and then beat Domenore in straight set.

So he's not dropped the set thus far in the desert.

If we look at the Nori Hichikata head-to-head, by the way,

that reads as follows.

They've not played each other.

So, yeah, tail of the tape.

Nori, the more experienced of the players.

Five years Hichikata's senior.

Nori currently ranked 29,

and obviously a master's 1,000 title winner before,

Rijikata Rinki, Hichikata,

nowhere near that level.

Currently ranked outside the top 100, by the way.

But, yeah, never played each other before.

I don't see any challenger or future matches between the two.

Got a lefty up against a righty.

Lefty in the form of Cam Nori,

and a righty in the form of Hichikata.

So, what's my prediction?

Well, I think Nori, two straight sets win,

and that impressive win today.

Hichikata hanging on by his fingertips at times,

but still hats off to him to get to the round of 16

in the Indian Wells.

Let's have a quick look where he is in the live rankings,

by the way, he might be breaching the top 100.

That might be an interesting milestone for him.

Looks like he might be going up to 62 in the world,

which will be incredible.

No, maybe not.

Up to 95.

So, it's due to get back in the top 100.

What's his personal highest ranking, by the way?

Highest ranking is 62.

So, he's not got there yet.

That was in 2024, but he is set to go back

into the top 100 after this Indian Wells one,

but I do expect that Indian Wells one to come to an end,

probably in straight sets against Cam Nori.

Okay.

Next match I'm going to have a look forward to

is Novak Djokovic against Jack Draper.

They're coming up against each other

five years after they first met in Wimbledon.

Jack Draper mentioned, by the way,

in his interview on court afterwards

that he's looking forward to coming up against

what he called the goat in Novak Djokovic.

I think it's hard to disagree with saying

he's the greatest player of all time.

Jack Draper on his journey back from injury

and facing Novak Djokovic next year,

because he has been injured, of course.

Draper, by the way, was down an early break in his second set.

He broke the Surundalo, served three times

in that first set to win it six one,

then served first at the beginning of the second,

and Surundalo went up an early break.

Surundalo, I think, also served for that second set at five four,

but Draper broke back and then also held serve

and then broke again to get over the line

and win that one, six, one, seven, five.

Draper had an unbelievably good serving day.

He also has the pedigree in the desert.

Djokovic has pedigree in terms of him

being a multiple champion,

but it's been a decade of disappointment for Novak

since his last title.

They're head-to-head, Leo.

Let's go back, by the way, to their head-to-head,

because I think it's just one match that they've played

and that was at Wimbledon in 2021.

Not Yannick Sin, and I want Jack Draper.

Head-to-head.

Just the one match, yeah, Wimbledon,

but their career's quite different.

Of course, Jack Draper, going into this tournament,

was ranked 14.

He is the defending champion.

We've seen Minoan Draper, the defending champion

on the women's side go out today,

but Jack Draper had no such issues in overcoming Surundalo.

Djokovic, by the way, in terms of how he's looking

at this tournament, I'd say it's more of the same

in terms of where we're at the last couple of years.

In terms of his level, this thus far.

But then when Djokovic gets his teeth into a tournament,

we know he can get going.

But I think this is the match that may well define

Novak's tournament in so many respects.

Because thus far, it's not been great.

Coming from a set-down to beat Mishack in his first match

in the round of 64 clash.

Then in the round of 32 today,

Djokovic disappeared for a set and a half, I would argue,

against Kovacovich, but he struck

as Kovacovich was serving to stay in the match.

But I think the overall points, Tally,

was very, very close between the two.

And Kovacovich was serving bombs at times.

Djokovic, by the way, with the exception of one or two

months in that second set, he was also serving

very, very well as well.

And it is the serve that is helping Djokovic go as far

as he is in many of these tournaments,

none more so than I think in Miami last year.

So where do I see this one going?

Well, I think if Draper can repeat the serving day

that he had today, and also the form that he shown

over the last, well, 12 months in Indian Wells,

winning the title last year, and then winning

a couple more matches this year.

How many matches is that unbeaten for Draper in the desert?

I think I'm gonna tell you right now.

I'm gonna say it's seven, but I could be wrong.

Eight actually, last year, he won the title,

dropping just one set on route that was to Carlos Alcoa,

as by the way.

So that's six matches last year that he won,

and then two more this year.

So he's unbeaten for eight matches in the desert.

When we look at Djokovic in Indian Wells,

we go back to winning the title.

He won it in 2015, didn't he, be in Federer in the final?

He was the defending champion as well.

I think he was on an unbeaten run at the time.

He won it in 2016 as well, being Milos Mounich,

two and a no in the final.

What a dominant win that was.

Of course, he'd be Raffer in the Darlin, the semi's as well.

But, I think he was on an unbeaten run at the time.

He won it in 2016 as well, being Milos Mounich,

two and a no in the final.

But, his unbeaten run in the desert

came to an end in 2017 at the hands of Nick Kirios.

And it was an incredible unbeaten run he had.

But he's enjoying winning ugly, he said today in an interview.

Well, actually, let me get this right.

Djokovic wins ugly as the headline,

and he calls it that himself,

to make fourth round of Indian Wells for the first time,

since 2017, by the way.

But he says, I'm not enjoying myself.

Just a quick ride up here from Will Conway on the TNT website.

No, but Djokovic isn't the fourth round in the Wells

for the first time in nine years

after what he described as an ugly win

over the American Alexander Kovacovich.

The Serbian overcame a significant slump

in the middle of the third set,

sorry, the second set, as I explained.

But the world number three set after is that

he's not really enjoying himself at most times,

or all times.

But he said, we're in ugly as what counts.

So yeah, I'm just not sure

if Novak's tennis is there right now.

And I'm not sure if there's something about this run

over the last nine years that hasn't read too great.

Of course, there were years when he missed the tournament,

2022, due to not being vaccinated.

It's COVID, of course, not being allowed into the country.

But the last couple of years as well,

I mean, they've been some pretty inexplicable losses,

but disappointing losses for him in 2024.

He lost to, yeah, Luke and Nadi in the second round.

And we saw it coming after a rough first round

against Vukic that year.

So it was kind of on the cards.

And then in 2025, losing in the first round,

all of his first match against Botic Final Sansook.

So yeah, didn't play the tournament,

of course, in 2023 for the same reason

he didn't play in 2022.

So where do I see this one going?

I think I'm talking myself into a Jack Draper win,

but I'm gonna do it over three sets,

maybe a tight third set, maybe another 75 or 76

for Draper in the third.

Okay, let's move on down the draw.

Artifice is gonna be coming up against Felix Ocean,

Alia Seam, Artifice, by the way,

he's got to this stage by the 21 year old.

After wins over, please mention the first round,

it was five of a walk over,

although he was up a set at the time.

He then had a comfortable win,

or comfortable-ish win over Marton,

Fludge of it, 6, 3, 7, 5.

That was yesterday, of course, over the Hungarian

and sets up a match against Felix Oji, Alia Seam.

Felix Oji, Alia Seam, by the way,

his run to this stage has included wins over Gailon Feast

in the round of 64,

where he had to come from a set down

against the Frenchman, the Frenchman, of course, is now.

Not gonna be back in the desert again

as a professional tennis player anyway,

because he's retiring this year.

Felix then also came from a set down

against Gabriel Diallo.

Felix doesn't normally do well in super slow conditions,

but he is in the round of 16 here,

looking at Indian Wells last year for Felix.

He went out to Jensen Brooksby in his first match.

It was a round of 64.

In 2024, he lost to eventual champion Carlos Alcaras

in the round of 32.

2023 also lost to Alcaras,

that year was in the quarter final.

So it's the furthest he's been in the desert since 2023,

so the last three years have been so good for him.

As for Arthur Feast,

his performances in the desert have been like this,

thus far last year,

Arthur Feast got to the quarter final

before losing that third set tie break,

it didn't hear, epic tie break,

that never ever went nuts over when he won it,

but had softer Daniel.

At the previous year,

Arthur Feast in 2024 got to the round of 32

when he lost to Casper Rude.

So that is Feast's and Felix's pedigree in the desert,

neither have been as far as the semi-final.

Not sure that either will be getting to the semi-final

this year.

Let's have a look at Felix and Felix head-to-head,

because that may well give us a few clues.

They've only played once before,

and it was Felix who won that one encounter.

At least on the main tour,

it looks like they had a match also in Leon,

but that might well have been,

that was via walk over, so we don't count that one.

Okay, so if the one match was in Montpellier,

indoors this year,

we know that Felix is the indoor goat.

We also know that I think that was the first tournament

back for Arthur Feast,

after a lengthy spell-out injured with a back issue

that saw him basically play hardly any tennis

after the French Open last year.

Feast's outdoor hard court pedigree is really up there,

of course, this year as well,

since that Montpellier, he does get to an A to B 500 final

for getting blown off the court by Carlos Alcarez,

but he did make the quarters here in Indian Wells last year,

and so I think he does like the conditions,

and I'm gonna go for a Feast win in three sets.

Okay, next up is Francis Tiafo against Alexander Svedev.

Tiafo avenging his Mexican open loss

with a straight sets win over Flavio Coboli

in the previous round.

Svedev having to come from a set down

to breed Brandon Nakashima.

6, 7, 7, 5, 6, 4.

Svedev, of course, never been as far as the semi-finals

in Indian Wells, which is a kind of a surprise

for a guy who obviously does very well on all surfaces.

It all conditions, I would argue, maybe not glass,

but certainly Svedev, not ever being in the semi-finals

in Indian Wells is kind of surprising.

Last year, he went out to a Greek sport in his opening back,

did make the quarters in 2024 before going down to Alcoa's,

that is the furthest he has been in Indian Wells.

As for Francis Tiafo in recent years,

well, last year, Francis Tiafo went out to

Citipass in the round of 32.

So that was two years ago to Citipass.

Last year, he went out to Watanuki,

also in the round of 32.

In 2023, Tiafo did make the semis,

which is obviously around that Svedev

has never made in the past.

And their form, well, Tiafo's form, pretty good, I guess.

Maybe turning a corner in recent weeks, recent months,

getting to the Mexican open final,

before losing to Kobolo, as I mentioned,

and then also getting some nice wins this year

at the Indian Wells Tournament.

Svedev making the semi-finals in Australia,

but disappointing early loss to Ketsumatovich

in the Mexican open,

but he has had a couple more wins here at Indian Wells,

including that win, of course, over Makashima.

Prior to that in the previous round,

as Svedev beat Baratini in straight sets,

that was a match I actually saw.

Svedev's level pretty good,

but Baratini a long way off the plow.

He was 2021, 2022, 2023.

Obviously a lot of injuries since then.

Two right-handers coming up against each other,

Svedev, obviously, with a stronger player on serve,

and eight-one is their head-to-head.

In fact, Svedev has not lost to Francis Tiafo since 2017.

Outdoor hard matches, they played each other in Beijing in 2019.

They've not played each other a lot, though.

It's the first time they've played each other in almost two years.

They are including, of course, a Labour Cup clash

that went the way of Svedev there,

which some people might not include in their head-to-head,

but eight-one, nevertheless,

is a comfortable reading for Svedev.

You would expect him to win their clay matches,

but there's only been, I think, one clay match between these two.

But eight-one would suggest a Svedev win,

and I'm gonna go for Svedev,

maybe coming from a set down to do so,

and therefore Svedev to progress.

Okay, Lerner Tien is gonna be playing Alejandro Davidich Fakina.

Dvish Fakina knocking out Mensik, by the way.

That is a very impressive win for the Spaniard.

Spaniard, of course, has never won a main tour title.

If he was to win in the desert, boy, oh boy, oh boy.

What a title that would be to get off,

to get your maiden title.

I know one person amongst the talking tennis community

who would very much like that.

I'm including Jane as part of the talking tennis community, by the way.

And by the way, I'm including you as part of the talking tennis community,

goes to even though we have different opinions on the lay of a cup.

It's okay, it's allowed.

Lerner Tien, by the way, very good win for him,

coming from a set down in the clash of the all lefties against Benchell.

It's a match I didn't see,

so I'd love to know your thoughts on the shell and Tien match,

either in the live comments or in the comments below

if you're watching this retrospectively.

And yeah, Dvish Fakina also having to come through

in three sets over Yack of Mensik.

Should we have a look at the head-to-head between these two?

Because actually, I don't know off the top of my head

how Dvish Fakina and Lerner Tien match up.

I will share that with you on the screen right now.

Okay, they've played once before,

and it went the way of Dvish Fakina.

Okay, where was that clash?

Last year in Washington,

a tournament that of course saw Dvish Fakina reach the final.

I actually thought that Lerner's

North American swing last year was a bit disappointing

and ending in that very comfortable win

that Djokovic had over him on Arthur Ashe.

I heard Djokovic talk about this recently.

It was very interesting what Djokovic said about that match

against Lerner in New York last year

because I actually had the same feeling

that Lerner just maybe wasn't quite ready for the occasion.

That was my interpretation.

A Djokovic said it in a roundabout way as well

that maybe he was a bit fortunate in how comfortable

that win was for Novak just because of Lerner

and being new to that environment.

Dvish Fakina, of course,

is the more experienced for the two,

the higher ranked of the two as well.

Dvish Fakina, by the way,

in terms of his pedigree in the desert.

Well, last year Dvish Fakina went out in the round

of 128 so his first match against McKenzie McDonald.

That was a three set loss for him.

In 2024, he also lost in his first match.

That was against Artifice though.

So it was a tough opening match.

But yeah, basically he hadn't won a match at Indian Wells,

Dvish Fakina since 2023 when he made the quarters

before losing to Medvedev in straight sets.

So he went three years without winning a match

but he has won matches this year

over Spiderman in the round of 64 straight sets

and then coming up against Mensik, Mensik very much in form,

making a nice semi-finals at the ATP 500 recently

where he beat Yannick Sinner in that run.

And he also had a good run in Australia

before we had to withdraw from the fourth round class

with Novadjokvich, the injury.

But maybe Mensik will play a bit better in Miami.

As for this clash with Lerner Tien,

I see Lerner avenging that Washington loss last year

and therefore I'm gonna go for Lerner in three sets.

Oh, now this is an exciting clash.

I think it's the first one between Yannick Sinner

and Jalfon Sekka.

Fon Sekka really getting his seas

and very much on track with this running Indian Wells

because it has been a rough start to the year for Jalf.

Obviously not being able to defend his title,

not even come close to defending in Argentina

where he lost in the opening round.

But he did highlight the injury.

So he said, I think this is the first time

that he felt like he could dial into a match

as he did in his previous win over Tommy Paul

in the previous round.

He says the first time he's like,

I mean, obviously he went out in the first round

in Australia where he obviously dropped a few points

compared to his run last year

when he had a couple of wins there.

Did he have one or two wins in Australia

and actually last year, I'm not sure.

By the way, he's forehand against,

oh, of course he had more than a couple

because he came through quality, didn't he?

So he had four wins in Australia

before losing two Sonic and the second round in five sets.

But his forehand against Tommy Paul in the previous round

was off the charts.

And he was a deserved winner in straight sets.

As for Yannick Sinner,

well, of course he also had an early exit in Rio

but that does seem to be a bit of a difficult one for him.

I just think mentally he's back in a way,

Charles Fonseca.

Sinner, by the way, very impressive

in his straight sets wins over for the China

and then yesterday against Dennis Schappelfall of three and two.

I thought Schappel would push Yannick a bit more.

I did expect Yannick to win

but I thought he would get pushed a bit more.

So we can see where Yannick Sinner's form is very much at.

Of course, even by his high standards,

Yannick Sinner's having a little bit of a wobble,

semi-finals and all those break point opportunities.

I think there was 17 in all against Novak Djokovic

but he only took two of them and lost that five set.

And we know how he is in five sets

but fortunate for him that this won't be a five set clash

with Charles Fonseca.

In Katai, what a couple of matches

over Mahatch and Popper in before going down in three sets

to Jakob Mensig but now he's won a couple more matches

and of course he is a former semi-finalist in Indian Wales.

He's never been beyond that stage

but I think with the draw he might well be going

beyond the semis this year.

And I think he's beating Charles Fonseca

but let's go for three sets.

All right, I think that's it on the men's side.

We've got to wait for Medvedev Bias

and Alka has Windenck to round off the men's side

but I've got a lot of those done.

Let's have a look at the women's singles now, shall we?

Okay.

So looking at this section of the draw.

Saba Lenka against Diomeo Saka.

I think it's the first time they've played each other

in many years by the way.

I saw somebody tweeting about this earlier.

Let's have a quick look at the Saba Lenka, Osaka head-to-head.

It will take a bit longer because the women's WTA website

is not normally as efficient.

Yeah, they played just once before

and it was an epic match in Indian Wales in 20...

Oh, sorry, no, no, tell a lie.

In New York, the US Open of 2018, my bad.

But it was in North America at least or in the US.

Yeah, they had an epic three setter.

This is 2018.

So Saba Lenka's a long way away from that player.

She's improved no end since then.

Arguably, this is the peak of Osaka's career

as it turned out, this sort of 2018 to 2020 period.

It was the round of 16.

I know Saka won the first set, 6-3 before losing the second,

6-2 and then went on to win 6-4 in the third.

So 1-0 is the head-to-head between these two.

Let's have a quick look on the Twitter speech.

I thought some people were talking about this earlier.

I thought it was very interesting.

Oh yeah, it was interesting as well because

my top 10 for year end has noemioSaka at number nine.

I don't know what we think about that.

But anyway, Osaka and Indian Wales

will be on stadium one.

I think it's the first match as well tomorrow.

Some people suggesting on social media

that the daytime match suits Saba Lenka more

in terms of the heat, et cetera.

It's just the second time ever.

Yes, set your alarms.

Do you need to set one alarm for 11 AM maybe?

Anyway, that is it.

Saba Lenka coming through,

Jacqueline Christian in the previous round.

Christian, of course, beat Janice Tren,

previous to that.

Osaka coming from winning the first set of a Sawdia,

but needing three sets to overcome Camilla,

6-1 in the third.

Let's have a look as well at some of the other matches

that Osaka has played.

She played, Jimenez Kazin saved in the first round.

That was a straight sets win in New Wales.

Of course, she has been injured as well, Naomi.

She couldn't play her third round match in Australia

against Madison, English, after pulling up

or injuring herself, I think, in the back.

I thought she looked sluggish in her wins over Lutsich

and Castella in the first two rounds in Australia.

And I think that was then explained by her

not being able to take the court against English

in the third round.

But yeah, she's won two matches now in the desert.

As for Saba Lenka, she's not dropped a set yet.

She won her first round match against Sakat Sumi 4 and 2

and then be Christian 4 and 1 in the round of 32

to set up this clash.

Saba Lenka, of course, is trying to win

the Indian Wells title for the first time.

She was in the final in 2025 before losing in three sets.

She won the first set over Midarandrava.

She was in the final in 2023

before she went down in straight sets to Alena Rabakana.

2024, she lost to Emma Nevada in the round of 16.

That was a bit of a surprise.

It was a three set loss.

But she has pedigree in the desert, certainly

in terms of getting to the final.

And I expect her to beat Naomi Osaka,

probably in three sets.

Okay, next up we have Victoria and Bockel

coming up against Amanda and Isimovah.

And Isimovah crushing Emma Raducano 1 and 1.

Callin Skyer was the victim 4 and Bockel, 4 and 1.

Let's have a quick look at their head-to-head

on Bockel and Isimovah.

I'm gonna share that with you on the screen as well.

Two players been in excellent form over the last 12 months

or so.

Ah, they've not played before.

Okay.

I thought they had, but there we go.

Mine's contricus.

And Isimovah winning four career titles and Bockel too,

but given that Bockel is just 20, 19 years of age,

two titles at 19 years of age,

including a 1,000 title in our home land last year.

Their form, Bockel winning four of her last five.

And Isimovah winning three of her last five.

It's a tough loss for Anisimovah against Pagula,

wasn't it recently?

I think she was up a set in a break.

Four-three, she was leading with a break in the second set,

but as soon as Pagula got that back

and knowing their head-to-head,

you did fear the worst for Anisimovah,

but she's playing well again now in the desert

in terms of her previous matches here this year.

She came through.

She was a set down to blink of the first round,

but she ends up winning of her last, by the way,

in terms of where we're at with Anisimovah,

she's won her last four sets.

Six-one, six-love, six-one, six-one.

So she's won 12-24 of her last 27 games.

So that's pretty cool from her perspective.

As for Bockel, she came through.

She's in double's action right now,

alongside Midah and Draver,

coming up against Hayley Baptiste and Yelae Nostopenko.

She beat Birell in straight sets in the first round

and then Kalinskaya in the second.

So she's not dropped a set yet

in this year's Indian Wells.

And it is her debut appearance in the desert.

And it said Mova last year, by the way, in Indian Wells,

went out in the round of 64

to Blinder Benchich in three sets.

That was a bit of a surprise,

particularly, Anisimovah was coming off

for 1,000 win prior to that.

Didn't play it in 2024 in 2023.

She also lost in her first match that year against

Linda Noscava.

She did win in 2022 in the opening round against Emma Navardo

before giving a walk over in the second round

to Leyla Fernandez.

But anyway, this year's Indian Wells

got her first wins under her belt in the desert since 2022.

How do I see this match with Bockel going?

I think it's really tough to call,

but I'm leaning.

I'm leaning on Bockel.

I've got a few worries about Amanda's form.

I'm not saying long term.

She may well win a slam this year

or certainly get to another final,

or she's been in two slam finals last year

back-to-back at Women and US Open.

But I think the loss to Pagula,

or the losses to Pagula in Australia,

and then more recently in the last time they play each other,

I think have dented Amanda's confidence.

That last match, by the way, against Pagula, was in Dubai.

I think the confidence of Amanda is still a bit shaky.

She's either just so confident, it's unbelievable.

Or there's a bit of a wobble.

And I think we're just in the midst of a slight wobble

for Amanda, only a slight one.

It's not to think nothing of worry about long term.

And as a result, I'm leaning Amanda and I said,

Mova, in three close...

Sorry, what am I saying?

I'm leaning Victorian Bockel in three close sets.

The Alexiala Linda Noscovas preview

I've already done, it's out there.

All right?

Wow, Gibson.

What a run she is having in the desert

from qualities all the way through to the round of 16.

And what a win she had over Cloud of Towson yesterday.

Seven, six, four, six, six, four,

upsetting the number 17 seed.

Meanwhile, Jasmine Powellini came through in three sets

against Tom Yanovich, great win for Jasmine,

particularly as her form has been a bit sketchy

and she had to battle hard coming through seven, five,

five, seven, six, one to set up this clash with Gibson.

Let's see if they've played each other before.

Does Jasmine Powellini against Talia Gibson from Australia?

No, they haven't.

Okay, I had a feeling they might not have done.

Jasmine, of course, the more experienced of the two.

She's won three singles titles now.

The biggest of which I would argue was the one in Rome

being in Birmingham, it was 1,000,

but also in her homeland.

She has won another 1,000 as well.

Career high of number four for Jasmine.

I'm not sure she'll ever quite get back to that level,

but she is still inside the top 10, at least for now.

But yeah, nine years, Jasmine is nine years Talia's senior,

both of these writers, of course.

Paulini, in terms of her pedigree in Indian Wells

and by the way, in terms of her run so far,

she has come through against Potapova in three sets

and then Tom Yanovich in three sets.

But Talia Gibson, well, what a run she has had to this round

where she's come through qualities

being a Brangle and Callieva.

Brangle was straight sets, but Callieva,

she was a set down against her

before coming through in three sets.

She then beat Lee in straight sets,

Alexandrovra in straight sets,

and then Cloud of Towson in three sets.

Just an incredible run.

Five matches already, she's won.

Obviously, coming through qualities, as I said.

And before that, I mean, her year in Australia,

yeah, she had a good run beating,

well, for her, winning around against Blinkerva

before going down in three sets to Schneider.

In Hobart, she only had one match

and she lost it against Wong.

And in Brisbane was the same losing in the opening match

to Yastremska.

How do I see this one going?

Do you know what?

I think I see an upset.

I think I've got Gibson.

I'm just seeing how well she's playing at the moment

and seeing where Jasmine Paulini's form is at.

I'm not quite sure if we're gonna see the real Jasmine stand-up

maybe until the play season.

I think she's lacking a bit of confidence right now.

And I'm gonna go for Gibson

and I'm gonna go for a three set epic once again.

Let me know in the comments whether you agree

or disagree with that.

Some people might call that a big call.

Okay, we're gonna have in the next round, Jessica Bagoula

is gonna be coming up against Belinda Benchich.

Benchich coming through in straight sets over at least

a month today, six, two, six, three.

I think she might have been a breakdown

at the beginning of the second set,

but was a comfortable victory as the scoreline suggests.

Bagoula's win over and it Osterpenko was anything

but comfortable.

Osterpenko was up a set in a break,

but Bagoula came fighting back.

And in fact, until the midpoint of the second set,

I think it was one set three, one for Osterpenko

and Bagoula had yet to garner a break point

on the Osterpenko surf.

Osterpenko was playing with some lights out tennis

and was serving really well.

But once Bagoula got that back on serve, you thought,

okay, I sniffed a momentum shift

and it was a significant shift

because Bagoula would then go and win 11

of the next 13 games from three, one down in the second set.

And ended up being the deserved winner

as Osterpenko fell apart a little bit,

but Bagoula needs to get some credit for the way

she forced that issue.

As for the head-to-head between Bagoula and Benchich,

let's have a look at that right now.

Bagoula, of course, chasing her first title in the desert.

Benchich likewise, ooh, this was very interesting reading.

Four matches between the two

and four wins for Belinda Benchich.

That is a surprise.

Regarding their form, of course,

Bagoula's won her last five matches

and Belinda's won three of her last five.

But yeah, look at this.

They've not played each other since 2023

and that was on clay, by the way,

which I might just lean Belinda,

but not sure, especially as it was in Charleston.

They played each other though,

oh, Jessica Bagoula's not even won a set

and their head-to-head, by the way,

rivalry goes back all the way to 2015

in S-Hurt Tungoppen Bosch,

which I'll probably messed up in the Rosemarland Open.

Anyway, yeah, Bagoula's not won a set.

My goodness, me, that is a surprise.

It's almost inexplicable.

I mean, part of it is because they haven't played

on a hard court in a long time since 2021,

but their first three matches were not on clay.

So the first match was on grass,

second, next two matches were on a hard court,

and then most recently it was 2023 in Charleston.

But this head-to-head is a surprise.

Bagoula, by the way, is playing the best tennis

of her career, maybe.

She got to the semis in Australia,

but could easily have maybe progressed there

against Rebecca and her.

She really had her chances in that tie break

to make it go three sets at least

before losing to the eventual champion, Rebecca.

Then in Dubai, she won the title,

and now she's in Indian Wells.

So she's on a pretty good run in Brisbane, by the way.

She got to the semis before going down to Costuk,

but she's on a pretty good run, having won five matches

in one loss in Australia,

and five wins in Dubai.

So that's 10 and one before coming into Indian Wells,

and she's now made it 11, 12 and one for the year.

And I think she's gonna make it 13 and one

against Belinda Benchich, to spite that head-to-head.

I'm gonna go for a bagoula win in three sets.

Okay, Siniakava is gonna be playing Sviterlina in the next round.

Sviterlina coming through 6462 against Ashling Kruger today.

Siniakava, what an epic encounter she had with mid-o'an driver.

She was up a double break against mid-o'an driver

in the first set, three love, but mid-o'an real-der-in

and eventually overtook her in that first set.

One, when mid-o'an driver,

she was in the first set,

overtook her in that first set.

One, when mid-o'an driver first set 6464,

I thought, okay, the defending champ is gonna be fine now.

She's winning this in straights.

Siniakava was like, uh-uh, I have other ideas.

She won the second set on a tie break,

and then the third set had a few twists and turns as well.

By the way, it's a bit of a break fest.

And of course, they are slow conditions.

So we have seen a lot of breaks,

especially on the women's side of serve.

And it was incredible win from Siniakava.

Yeah, maybe a little bit of a break down from mid-o'an.

Of course, we saw mid-o'an reaction at the end of the match

through her racket away and used an expletive or two.

Curse words, as you would say,

in the U.S. to some people, I think, in the crowd.

I don't know.

She also looked like she was upset with her coach,

Conchita Martinez.

And I think mid-o'an is in a rough spot right now,

and I think she's gonna be dropping outside the top 10.

But bringing it back to Siniakava,

hats off to her for an incredible win today,

showing some of her court-guile,

although not that good at the net,

which is unusual for her.

But this match with Svitterlina, by the way,

Siniakava, Svitterlina, head-to-head, reads as follows.

I'm gonna have a quick look at their match up.

Svitterlina, of course, is the higher ranked of the two

by some distance, has the more glittering CV.

But let's have a look at their head-to-head

to see if we can see anything.

Svittering CV, at least on the single side.

Siniakava wins that.

If we got it down to the double side,

it would be a very different situation.

And the head-to-head, by the way, another four and O,

this time it's Svitterlina leading the head-to-head four and O.

Winning 19 career singles titles to the five of Siniakava.

But look at those doubles, titles 33 Siniakava winning

to the two of Svitterlina.

But this is a singles encounter.

So I do think we should hone in on that side of things.

Form, last five matches before this tournament,

that is two wins for Siniakava from five.

So not great, four out of five for Svitterlina

after she made the final and lost to Bagoula recently.

But yeah, their head-to-head, the most recent encounter

came in Indian Wells two years ago, okay?

So they have played in Indian Wells before.

And that was a three-set win for Svitterlina.

And I think I'm leaning Svitterlina again,

but this time I'm gonna go for a straight-sets win for Alina.

Ooh, maybe the most anticipated round of 16 clash of them all.

Aegis Fiontec against Carolina Mukava.

Sviontec had a potential banana skin today against Maria Sacri

and she was down an early break and you thought,

okay, is Maria gonna win back-to-back matches against Aegis Fiontec?

But no, Aegis had other ideas, came roaring back,

and ended up winning it pretty comfortably.

A lot more comfortable, I think many of us thought

after Sacri won their most recent clash in three sets.

Mukava, by the way, very comfortable.

It did seem like there was a bit of a gaping class today

between Mukava and Rootsitsch and the scoreline,

which suggests that two, oh, and three.

Mukava, by the way, has reached this stage in Indian Wells

after a win over Bondar in the first round.

So she's yet to drop a set on Root to this stage.

Sviontec has also not dropped a set,

beating day in straight-sets, six-love, seven-six,

and then coming through today against Sacri losing

just five games on Root.

And setting up this clash, by the way, of course,

this is a repeat of the 2023 French Open Final.

And Mukava, in the biggest match of her career,

was up a break in the deciding set.

I think it was four-three with a break,

so she was very close to the finish line.

But ultimately, Ega prevailed and won another French Open

title, and Mukava is still seeking her first Grand Slam

title, and she's still seeking it three years later.

The head-to-head, by the way, reads four and one

in favor of Ega's Sviontec.

But Carolinas, very much in form.

Before this tournament, she'd won her last five matches,

and Ega had won three from five, losing two,

Elena Rebecca, and I was well as Maria Sacri,

Elena Rebecca, of course, that was in the Australian Open.

The only win for Carolina Mukava, by the way,

came in their first-ever match on Clay in Prague.

In a tournament, I don't think it exists anymore.

So it is a run of one, two, three, four wins in a row

from Maria Sacri, sorry for Ega's Sviontec,

and the most recent clash between these two came

in Indian Worlds.

And it was a straight set to win.

In fact, Mukava could barely leg love on Ega

in that round of 16 clash.

So exactly the same stage of the tournament as well.

So it's an interesting head-to-head,

but it is very much in favor of Ega,

particularly as the only win that Carolina Mukava had

was in 2019, and that's a long time ago.

If we think about where Ega is at, pretty much,

she hadn't won her first grand slam at that stage,

she was another year away,

she would have been super young as well.

But having won that slam, the Ega 2.0,

or the Ega Sviontec that we've come to know

over the last three or four years,

which has seen spells of dominance.

Since then, she's won them all.

And she's won the last two, both on hard courts,

in straight sets, and won at Indian Worlds.

So yeah, and I do think the conditions here

are really, really good for Ega.

And as a result, I'm gonna go for an Ega Sviontec win,

but let's go much closer than that clash

that had last year, which was one on one,

because I think Carolina Mukava is in

almost the form of her career,

but she's gonna need to reproduce

probably the best form of her career

to be Ega Sviontec in a domain

that I think is very much Ega's.

I think she's gonna bring it more than she did last year,

but I still see Ega prevailing.

But let's go for three sets.

Thank you for joining me for this stream.

Make sure you join us for plenty more live streams tomorrow,

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