Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis (L) reacts after a point as he plays with Australia's Nick Kyrgios against Spain's Marcel Granollers and Argentina's Horacio Zeballos during their men's doubles semi-final match on day eleven of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 27, 2022. - -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo by BRANDON MALONE / AFP) / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE -- (Photo by BRANDON MALONE/AFP via Getty Images)
A confident Thanasi Kokkinakis takes on Brandon Holt from the USA in the round of 128 of the 2023 Indian Wells on Thursday.
The Australian star has been in decent form this season. He reached the semifinals in the Adelaide International 2 with impressive wins against seeded players, Andrey Rublev and Miomir Kecmanovic. Kokkinakis went on to win a Challenger event in Manama in February.
In the first round of qualifying at Indian Wells, Kokkinakis defeated the experienced Japanese player, Yuichi Sugita. In the final round of qualifying, Kokkinakis eased past Matteo Arnaldi in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. Last year in Indian Wells, Kokkinakis couldn’t progress beyond the round of 128. This time he is in decent form and will fancy his chances of a deeper run.
The 24-year-old lost in the first round of qualifying in the Challenger event in Canberra. He progressed from the qualifiers and reached the second round of the Australian Open for the first time with a win against Aleksandar Vukic. Holt couldn’t get past the second round in the Challenger event in Cleveland and the first round in the Dallas Open.
The Delray Beach Open was a disastrous campaign for him as he lost in the first round of qualifying. The Challenger event in Monterrey followed where he lost to Daniel Atlmaier in the first round. Prior to Indian Wells, Holt competed in the Mexican Open. He lost to Taro Daniel in the final round of qualifying.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as the two players have never faced each other as yet.
Prediction: Thanasi Kokkinakis to win in straight sets.
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