The First Round of this tournament was surprisingly not televised, especially considering it is the first Masters Event of the season, but it is generally the way.
The biggest surprise to me was seeing Bernard Tomic being knocked out by Gilles Muller and it goes to show how difficult it is to have a true breakthrough in the professional ranks.
A couple of months ago, during the Australian Open, people were talking about this being a break-out tournament, but it is not the first time Tomic has performed well at a Grand Slam only fail to follow it up with some positive results. The Australian is still young, but needs to find some consistency soon as he shouldn't really be losing to players like Muller at this stage of his career when he is looking to make an impact at the top of the Men's game.
The picks went 1-1 again yesterday as Michael Llodra won but failed to cover by 0.5 games, while Denis Istomin won and covered by 0.5 games so I can't complain too much. Now the big boys have entered, I am hoping for some more positive success going forward.
John Isner - 4.5 games v Frederico Gil: This is not as straight forward as it looks as John Isner can sometimes struggle to break an opponent's serve, but I think he will get chances against Frederico Gil who is not the biggest server and so I am taking this pick.
Isner played very well to help the United States win a Davis Cup tie in Switzerland, knocking off Roger Federer on a clay court no less, but I have been a little disappointed that he didn't win one of the two tournaments he entered in North America recently.
However, he is playing a player in Gil who is much more comfortable on a clay court rather than the hard courts. It is easy to understand that the Portuguese player decided to play on the clay courts during the South American golden swing recently, while he only qualified for this event as a 'Lucky Loser' following a defeat in the final Round of Qualifying.
Isner should create lots of pressure by holding his own serve more comfortably and he usually decides to start serving first, something that could be the entire key to the cover.
Andy Roddick - 3.5 games v Lukasz Kubot: I am also backing another American today as Andy Roddick, who is barely seeded these days, takes to the court against Lukasz Kubot, a player that has won their only other meeting.
Andy Roddick has struggled early this season, possibly due to a lingering injury from the Australian Open, although he looked like he may be recovering some form last week at Delray Beach where he did reach the Quarter Final.
Roddick has had some success here in the recent past, getting to the Final a couple of seasons ago and the Semi Final the year before that, but this will not be an easy match for him.
Lukasz Kubot has really made a name for himself in the latter part of his career, with his career high singles ranking coming a couple of years ago. He beat Ivo Karlovic in the First Round, so the serve of Roddick will hold no fear, but his best surface remains a clay court rather than a hard court.
Even though Kubot beat Roddick on a hard court in their only previous meeting, I just think the American is finding his form a little bit and I think he will be good enough to find a break in each set to go through.
Kevin Anderson - 1.5 games v Philipp Kohlschreiber: Kevin Anderson will play his first match at Indian Wells this week fresh off his title win at Delray Beach so I have no doubt the confidence will be flowing through the South African.
He plays a Philipp Kohlschreiber that has been playing well in recent weeks, but having too many silly losses for me to have faith that he can push Anderson today. The German is comfortable playing on the surface and did reach the Third Round here last season, but he can be hit and miss against the bigger servers on the Tour.
Kevin Anderson should keep the pressure on for the most part, and I think he can take advantage of the number of second serves that Kohlschreiber can throw in during sets. I also think he is less likely to crumble on his own service game and should be able to move forward to a potential Third Round clash with Novak Djokovic.
MY PICKS: John Isner - 4.5 games @ 1.90 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Andy Roddick - 3.5 games @ 2.05 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Kevin Anderson - 1.5 games @ 1.92 Sporting Bet (2 Units)
Weekly Update: 2-2, - 0.20 Units (8 Units Staked)
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