MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - MARCH 27: Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia comes to the nest against Denis Kudla during the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium on March 27, 2022 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
9th seed Thanasi Kokkinakis locks horns with 13th seed Matteo Arnaldi in the final round of qualifying on Tuesday.
The Aussie star has been in decent form this season. He already won a title in the Challenger event in Manama last month and prior to that, he reached the semis in the Adelaide International 2.
Kokkinakis has started his campaign in Indian Wells with a solid win against Japanese veteran Yuichi Sugita in the first round of qualifying. The 26-year-old Kokkinakis won the match in straight sets 7-6, 6-3. Last year in Indian Wells, Kokkinakis progressed from the qualifiers and was ousted in the round of 128 by Sebastian Korda.
The 22-year-old has mostly played in Challenger events this season. He won the title in a Challenger event in Tenerife last month. Arnaldi came to Indian Wells on the back of a loss to Daniil Medvedev in the round of 32 of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
In the first round of qualifying at Indian Wells, Arnaldi faced South Africa’s Lloyd Harris. The young Italian played well to ease past Harris in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.
This will be the first meeting between Thanasi Kokkinakis and Matteo Arnaldi. Therefore, the head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0.
Prediction: Thanasi Kokkinakis to win in straight sets.
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