Kyrgios faces dangerous lucky loser

Nick Kyrgios always seems to come up against high seeds in Indian Wells. He lost to Rafael Nadal in his last match in 2022, beat Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev in 2017 and was also due to meet Roger Federer and Jannik Sinner. Sinner gave Kyrgios a walkover three years ago, with the Australian pulling out against Federer (stomach illness) after his wins over Zverev and Djokovic in 2017.

If Kyrgios is to meet pal Djokovic in the second round on Saturday, he’ll have to beat a lucky loser. The signs aren’t good, since he cut short practice this week due to pain in his problematic right wrist.

The lucky loser, too, is none other than Botic van de Zandschulp. The Dutchman engineered two huge wins in 2024, beating Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open and downing Rafael Nadal in what turned out to be Nadal’s final match. Is the stage set for another van de Zandschulp upset this week?

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Kessler looks for first Indian Wells win

Glancing at the women’s calendar-year standings, six Americans feature in the top 20. They are Madison Keys, Emma Navarro, Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and a player that might be lesser known — for now — McCartney Kessler.

A three-time All American at the University of Florida, Kessler is making a smooth transition to the pro tour. The Georgia native — who hails from a tennis family — won her first WTA title in January in Australia, then made another final just last week in Austin, losing to Pegula. In the middle, Kessler downed Gauff for a maiden top 10 win.

The 25-year-old plays Anna Blinkova, whose biggest claim to fame might be winning the longest singles tiebreak in Grand Slam history last year against Grand Slam winner Elena Rybakina (22-20).

Blinkova also beat Pegula last year in Indian Wells. If the pair needed any extra motivation, the winner gets top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the second round.