Indian Wells outsiders: Could Cameron Norrie, Jannik Sinner, Victoria Azarenka, Liudmila Samsonova surprise?
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Published 08/03/2023 at 14:47 GMT
Indian Wells has been unpredictable in recent years, so who are the players ranked outside the top 10 who could make a mark this time around? Iga Swiatek and Taylor Fritz are the defending champions, but will there be a surprise new winner? Former champion Cameron Norrie will be aiming for another good run while another ex-winner Victoria Azarenka could be one to watch.
Highlights: Norrie wins fifth ATP Tour title with superb win over Alcaraz at Rio Open
Picking a winner at Indian Wells over the last few years has been difficult.
Did anyone have Cameron Norrie beating Nikoloz Basilashvili in the 2021 final? Or Paula Badosa the same year? Or wild card Bianca Andreescu in 2019? Even Taylor Fritz last year?
One of the biggest tournaments of the season, Indian Wells will see most of the top players – aside from Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal – competing over the next 10 days.
But given it has been so unpredictable in recent seasons, who could cause a surprise this time around?
Cameron Norrie - World No. 12
A former champion who has been fantastic form over the last month? Would it actually be a surprise if Norrie challenged again?
The British No. 1 claimed the biggest title of his career at Indian Wells in 2021 and followed up with a run to the quarter-finals last year, losing to Carlos Alcaraz.
Norrie has made three finals this season and beat Alcaraz when they met in the Rio Open final last month. With slower court conditions in Indian Wells perhaps suiting his physical game, Norrie could be set for another run.
Jannik Sinner - World No. 13
Sinner has made the fourth round at Indian Wells the last two seasons.
Last year he withdrew from the tournament ahead of his fourth-round clash with Nick Kyrgios due to illness, having lost to Fritz at the same stage the previous year.
Now working with Simona Halep’s former coach Darren Cahill, Sinner has had a decent start to the year. At the Australian Open he lost to eventual runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets and he has made two other finals, winning one and losing the other to Daniil Medvedev in Rotterdam.
Sinner has seemingly been on the cusp of making a big breakthrough for a while – could it come at Indian Wells?
Grigor Dimitrov – World No. 25
Dimitrov has performed well at Indian Wells over the last couple of years and enters in good form.
He made the semi-finals in 2021, taking out Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz before losing to Norrie in straight sets, and got to the quarters last year, losing to seventh seed Andrey Rublev.
He also played some good tennis at the Australian Open, where if he had found a bit more he might have given Novak Djokovic a sterner test in the third round, and beat Hurkacz and Alex de Minaur to make the semi-finals in Rotterdam.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2023/01/21/3532063-71988428-2560-1440.png)
Djokovic downs Dimitrov despite injury struggles - Australian Open highlights
Jiri Lehecka – World No. 47
Having been ranked outside the top 140 at the start of last year, Lehecka has announced himself as an up-and-coming player over the last few months.
He reached the final of the NextGen Finals in November, took out Norrie and Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Australian Open, and then beat Andrey Rublev on his way to the semi-finals at the Qatar Open, where he squandered five match points against Andy Murray.
Former world No. 4 Tomas Berdych watched his fellow Czech train in Dubai recently and spoke highly of him afterwards.
“He’s very young, but what I’ve seen, it’s really the way he’s composed with his game. I think it’s very good,” Berdych told the ATP. “I think he has a bright future ahead of him.”
Liudmila Samsonova – World No. 12
A strong hitter who reached the fourth round at Indian Wells last year, Samsonova could be poised to do damage this time around.
Her form overall this season is mixed – 7-6 win-loss record – but would look a lot better if she had converted three championship points against Belinda Bencic in the Abu Dhabi Open final.
At that tournament she beat Barbora Krejcikova, fourth seed Veronika Kudermetova, and Qinwen Zheng to reach the final. Samsonova also outlasted Paula Badosa in a marathon match in Dubai.
If she gets on a roll over the next week – as she did last summer - she could be a tricky out.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2022/09/29/3462186-70628888-2560-1440.jpg)
Liudmila Samsonova
Image credit: Getty Images
Victoria Azarenka – World No. 14
Azarenka played some of her best tennis in a while at the Australian Open as she took out Jessica Pegula on her way to the semi-finals.
She is a two-time champion at Indian Wells and also made the final in 2021, losing to Badosa in a tight three-set match.
At a tournament where conditions don’t suit everyone, Azarenka seems at home at Indian Wells and that could count for something as she looks for another title run.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2023/01/26/3535861-72064393-2560-1440.jpg)
'She's playing great tennis, it bodes well for her' - Eurosport experts on Azarenka
Barbora Krejcikova – World No. 16
Coming off her superb victory in Dubai, Krejcikova is a player that many would have been looking to avoid in the draw this week.
The former French Open champion ended Aryna Sabalenka’s perfect start to the season in Dubai and denied Iga Swiatek back-to-back titles as she beat her in straight sets in the final.
Krejcikova has an excellent all-round game and looks to be returning to her best form after injury disrupted some of her 2022 season – although even after winning in Dubai she stopped short of saying she was all the way back.
“We will see,” she told the WTA. “It’s a long way. It’s still a long way. This is a really good tournament, a great start of the season, but I have to go step by step. So many players play well. So definitely a huge challenge for me and I’m looking forward to it.”
Linda Noskova – World No. 54
Noskova, 18, is the third-highest ranked teenager on the WTA Tour (behind Coco Gauff and 17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova, who is just one ranking spot above Noskova) and has a 10-4 win-loss record this season.
She was very impressive in reaching the final in Adelaide at the start of the year, beating Daria Kasatkina, Azarenka and Ons Jabeur, and also made the quarter-finals in Lyon in February.
Noskova has only played one match since Lyon – losing her opener in Linz – but could be one to track, along with Fruhvirtova.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement