The Sunshine Double leg is upon the tennis world as the prestigious events in Indian Wells and Miami are all set to start from March 4. On the men’s side, Carlos Alcaraz is the top seed and the undisputed favorite to win the title. The Spaniard has been undefeated in 12 matches this year so far, winning his seventh Major title at the Australian Open and also clinching the Qatar Open last week.
In a pre-tournament preview, Roger Federer’s former coach, Paul Annacone, and former WTA player Alison Riske Amritraj made their picks on players who might have a chance of stopping the World No. 1.
Paul Annacone and Alison Riske Amritraj Give Their Picks on Who Might Stop Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells
While on the Tennis Channel, Annacone and Riske assessed the other players and weighed in on who might have a good chance of beating Alcaraz at Indian Wells, handing the Spaniard his first loss of the season.
Annacone was big on the defending champion, Jack Draper, having a decent chance of stopping the top seed. The Brit played Alcaraz in the semifinals at Indian Wells last year, winning in three sets, and then went on to beat Holger Rune in the final to win the title.
Annacone referred to that match, stating that the British player had raw power behind his shots, and his lefty serves were some of the key ingredients that made him a potential threat on the surface of Indian Wells.
“I really want to see Jack Draper play him again, because I was able to sit courtside and see that match last year. Jack Draper has had such a rough go of it with injuries, but I love his style of play, and in the conditions down there, I actually think Jack’s got a really good game to beat everybody….because the lefty served the athleticism and the weight of shot off of both wings. he does cause some problems, and i think that he’s got a good chance if he’s healthy and he can get the match reps to get him far enough in the draw,” said Annacone.
With Draper, the major concern has been injury, as pointed out by Annacone. The British player started his season in Dubai, which was his first event since his second-round withdrawal at the US Open. He started well, winning his first round against Quentin Halys, but lost in the second round to Arthur Rinderknech.
His lengthy injury layoff has also seen him drop out of the Top 10Â on the ATP Rankings, so it remains to be seen where he would potentially meet Alcaraz in the Indian Wells draw.
Riske, on the other hand, picked home favorite Ben Shelton to make the big move and win against Alcaraz. The former WTA star cited the pair’s meeting at Roland Garros last year, where the American won a set against Alcaraz on clay and also had opportunities to win another. Riske also stated that Shelton was a good enough player to win two sets against any player in the world in a best-of-three-set battle.
Riske said, “I’m going with the American Ben Shelton. I think that he has the game to really disrupt a lot of players on tour, and we have to remember it’s best of three sets. At Indian Wells, so he just needs to play well for a couple of sets. He had that epic match against him at Roland Garros last year, where he lost in four sets.
“He did have some chances in the first to take it as well, so he has the confidence to know that he can play alongside Carlos. And like I said, for two sets I take Ben Shelton against anybody.”
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If individual head-to-heads are anything to go by, then Draper has a better chance of winning against Alcaraz, as he has won 2 out of the 6 matches against the Spaniard, whereas Shelton has yet to win a match against the World No.1 in three attempts.
Whoever it might be, stopping an in-form Alcaraz at Indian Wells would be no mean feat, as the Spaniard has an exceptional record in the Californian desert, winning 20 of the 23 matches in five appearances and winning the title twice.
