Jack Draper vs Andy Murray Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Indian Wells

Prediction published on 12/03/2023, 23:31  by Kennedy Kechula | Modified on 13/03/2023 at 06:45 in Tennis Predictions

A British player in the last 16 of the Indian Wells tournament is guaranteed. That's because England's Jack Draper takes on Andy Murray from Scotland.  Draper is playing in his first tournament since being eliminated from the Australian Open in the first round by Rafael Nadal. He has shown no signs of lacking match fitness and has won both his matches in California by straight sets. He beat compatriot and 24th seed Daniel Evans 6-4, 6-2 in the second round. The match took two hours, one hour more than the first-round domination of the qualifier Leandro Riedi (6-1, 6-1). His lack of matches had seen him drop to a season-low 56th place in the world ranking but his performance here so far has seen him move up to 48th in the live ranking and he will hope to keep this going for as long as he can in his debut tournament.

Andy Murray too has had long spells of inactivity this year and has only played 11 matches spread out across four tournaments. He arrived in California after losing 2-0 to Daniil Medvedev in the final in Doha. He served off here ranked 55th in the world but has since moved up to 52nd in the live ranking and can move further up to 45th with a win over Draper. The former world number one defeated lucky loser Radu Albot 6-4, 6-3 to book this round which is the first time he had won a match by straight sets this year. In the first round, he was forced to come back from a set down by Tomas Etcheverry to win 6-7, 6-1, 6-4. These players have met once before, at the Battle of the Brits tournament three months ago and it was Murray who ended victorious after three sets. Progressing from this round will set up a fourth-round clash with either first seed Carlos Alcaraz or 31 seed Tallon Griekspoor.