Chilean Cristian Garin pictured in action during a tennis match between French Monfils and Chilean Garin, in the third round of the men's singles at the 'Australian Open' Grand Slam tennis tournament, Friday 21 January 2022 in Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia. The 2022 edition of the Australian Grand Slam takes place from January 17th to January 30th. BELGA PHOTO PATRICK HAMILTON (Photo by PATRICK HAMILTON/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)
23rd seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina takes on Chilean No. 2 Cristian Garin in the round of 16 of the 2023 Indian Wells on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old has reached a couple of quarterfinals this season. Davidovich Fokina began his campaign in Indian Wells with a confident win against the in-form Wu Yibing in straight sets 6-4, 6-1. The Spaniard served quite well and had a win percentage of 88 on the first serve. He also converted 3 out of 5 break points without facing one himself.
Davidovich Fokina took confidence from this win and got the better of 13th seed Karen Khachanov in an intriguing battle. The match ended 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 in favor of Davidovich Fokina. There wasn’t much to choose from in terms of stats. While Khachanov had a win percentage of 65 on the first serve, his opponent had a win percentage of 63. Khachanov converted 4 out of 10 break points while Davidovich Fokina converted 4 out of 11. However, the Spanish youngster managed to hold his nerves in crucial moments to take the W.
The Chilean qualifier has been quite impressive in his journey so far in the tournament. Out of the 5 matches he has played so far including the qualifiers, Garin hasn’t dropped a set. He made it to the main draw with wins against Learner Tien and Filip Milosic. In the round of 128, Garin eased past Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 6-2 with a win percentage of 83 on the first serve. The 26-year-old followed it up with another thumping win, this time against Yoshihito Nishioka. The match ended 6-4, 6-0 in favor of Garin as he smashed 8 aces.
In the round of 32, Garin produced a monumental upset as he defeated 3rd seed Casper Ruud 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). Garin out-served Ruud as he had a win percentage of 80 on the first serve compared to just 69 for the Norwegian star.
The head-to-head scoreline is evenly poised at 1-1. The Spaniard won their most recent encounter in the 2021 European Open 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Prediction: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina to win in three sets.
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