Francisco Cerundolo vs Carlos Alcaraz Prediction & Picks - ATP Indian Wells

Prediction published on 3/13/25, 7:51 AM  by Lou Aguila | Modified on 3/13/25 at 12:24 PM in ATP Indian Wells Picks

Three wins away from Indian Wells immortality, Carlos Alcaraz of Spain is set to face an upset-minded Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina in the quarterfinal on Thursday.

Alcaraz has lived up to the billing as the top betting favorite in this competition by destroying his first three opponents in straight sets. The four-time Grand Slam winner obliterated a heavily fatigued Grigor Dimitrov, who had survived a three-hour marathon with Gael Monfils in the previous round, to post an emphatic 6-1, 6-1 win. Alcaraz, vying to become only the third player to capture the Indian Wells title in three straight years, showed no mercy in his domination of Dimitrov, winning 77 percent of his first serves and securing 5 of 14 breakpoint chances. Dimitrov had survived a three-hour marathon match with Gael Monfils in the previous round to arrange a game with Alcaraz.

Cerundolo pulled off a huge upset win over Alex De Minaur of Australia 7-5, 6-3 to earn his first quarterfinal appearance at the Indian Wells Open. After topping Botic Van De Zandschulp 6-3, 6-4, the Argentine carried over his strong play into his match with De Minaur, breaking the Aussie six times in the match. Cerundolo is widely considered as a clay court expert. Yet, the Argentinian finds himself in the final eight stage in arguably the most prestigious hard-court tournament outside the Australian and US Open.