While admitting his opponent did play well, Novak Djokovic was plenty critical about his own level of performance and this is something he will want to address in Miami and when the clay court season gets underway in April.
Something similar came out of his camp after the crushing loss to Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open and there is little doubt that the rest of the field are getting closer to the World Number 1.
Novak Djokovic will go into the next three Grand Slams as the favourite, but the feeling is that the days of the Serb being an odds on favourite or a very short favourite to win Slams looks to be over.
He can make a mockery of that prediction by dominating the clay court season ahead of the French Open, while Novak Djokovic is still amongst the top two players in the world on a grass court, but it is only good news for Men's Tennis that players are not heading onto the court already defeated.
There looks to be positive news on the Rafael Nadal front with reports suggesting the issue picked up at Indian Wells is not one that should prevent him from lining up in the Monte Carlo draw.
You just hope Nadal can get through the tough clay court season and be well prepared, but most importantly healhty, when the French Open comes around as it seemingly looks more and more likely that this could be the final season he plays on the Tour.
Things can change if Rafael Nadal has a really strong nine months, but the body is not on the same page as the heart and mind and I can only hope he gets to go out on his own terms.
A positive run on Monday has turned this tournament back around for the Tennis Picks, but it still feels like a vulnerable position as we move into the Fourth Round at Indian Wells.
Tuesday does look a much tougher day to make predictions with some very good looking matches heading to the courts, but there are some selections made, which can be read below.
Stefanos Tsitsipas - 2.5 games v Jiri Lehecka: The improvements being made by Jiri Lehecka means he has to be massively respected ahead of this Fourth Round match at Indian Wells.
He has won a title on the hard courts and played well in big events in Dubai and now at Indian Wells and there is a feeling that his own belief is growing against some of the elite players on the Tour.
Beating Andrey Rublev will have Lehecka moving into this Fourth Round clash with a lot more confidence and his serving threat has to be respected.
However, he is facing an opponent in Stefanos Tsitsipas who looks to have bounced back from whatever has been ailing him.
That is reflected by his fall out of the top ten in the World Rankings, but Tsitsipas will force his way back into those positions if he can keep things rolling in Indian Wells. He has looked very good through the first two wins and Tsitsipas will have the slight mental edge over this opponent having beaten Jiri Lehecka in both previous matches on the Tour.
Both players have been solid servers in those matches, but Stefanos Tsitsipas has gotten a little more out of his return game.
The last of those matches was at the Australian Open in 2023 and there is little doubt that Jiri Lehecka has grown as a player since that match. The return against top 20 Ranked opponents have still not been quite up to top level, but Jiri Lehecka has won three of his five matches against those opponents on the hard courts this year, including beating Karen Khachanov in Dubai and Rublev in the Third Round here.
Stefanos Tsitsipas has a perfect 10-0 record when facing opponents outside of the top 20 in the Rankings and Jiri Lehecka is still trying to crack that mark in his career. This should be close and competitive, but the feeling is that the Greek player will have more of the Break Point opportunities and that can see him progress into the Quarter Final and cover this mark set.
Jasmine Paolini - 1.5 games v Anastasia Potapova: Confidence can be a funny thing in a sport like tennis and it can make all of the difference for a player.
Jasmine Paolini is playing with real confidence and it has seemingly come out of the blue.
Not many would have predicted that the Italian player would love opening matches in Linz and Doha and then win seven matches in a row to take home the biggest title of her career in Dubai and then progress into the Fourth Round at Indian Wells.
The numbers suggest it is not a sustainable run, but Jasmine Paolini will only worry about what she can produce on the courts as she prepares to face Anastasia Potapova for the first time.
The World Number 33 has been a comfortable winner in her opening two matches at Indian Wells and Anastasia Potapova has won nine of the fourteen matches played in 2024 on the hard courts. However, the challenge has been to beat a player Ranked higher than her and not those she is expected to beat and Potapova has won just one of four matches against those above her in the World Rankings.
Her serve has been ok in those matches, but Potapova has been struggling on the return.
However, she should have a bit more joy against this Jasmine Paolini serve, although the latter is likely to put Potapova under pressure with her own return.
The layers are not great believers in Paolini right now, despite her moving into a career high World Ranking mark. As stated, it looks like she is performing and producing results at an unsustainable level, but Jasmine Paolini does have enough quality in her return of serve to win this Fourth Round match.
Caroline Wozniacki v Angelique Kerber: The last time these two veterans met on the Tour was back in June 2018 when Caroline Wozniacki came from a set down to beat Angelique Kerber in the Semi Final at Eastbourne.
Both players are former Grand Slam Champions and both were amongst the elite on the Tour, but Wozniacki and Kerber have spent considerable time away in recent years as they have both become mothers.
Caroline Wozniacki retired and only returned at the back end of last year, while Angelique Kerber made it clear she would return to the Tour having spent the entirety of 2023 enjoying her life.
There have been similarities in the return to the Tour with both Caroline Wozniacki and Angelique Kerber struggling to find their best form on a consistent basis.
It has been different in Indian Wells and both players will be keen to progress to the Quarter Final and pick up some massive Ranking points at the same time.
The German leads the head to head 8-7, but it is Wozniacki who has a 6-5 lead in their hard court matches.
None of that really matters here, but it does mean there will be little to surprise the other in this big match.
In their limited time spent on court prior to Indian Wells, Caroline Wozniacki had perhaps shown a bit more competitiveness than Angelique Kerber. The former had at least pushed opponents and perhaps been a little unfortunate to lose matches, while Kerber had not really found anything near her best tennis when losing six of her first seven matches in 2024.
The two have performed well at this tournament, but the slight edge has to be with Caroline Wozniacki who is perhaps setting up a few cheaper points thanks to the first serve.
It cannot be ignored that Angelique Kerber has the more impressive wins having seen off two top 20 Ranked opponents and only having dropped a single set in those two wins. The return has been really effective from Kerber and made up for the lack of consistency on the serve and this feels like a match that will have a lot of breaks of serve throughout.
However, the slight edge is with Caroline Wozniacki on form at this tournament and in 2024 in general and she can get the better of her long-term rival in a big Fourth Round match.
MY PICKS: Stefanos Tsitsipas - 2.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (2 Units)
Jasmine Paolini - 1.5 Games @ 1.75 Coral (2 Units)
Caroline Wozniacki @ 1.91 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Indian Wells Update: 19-16, + 1.26 Units (70 Units Staked, + 1.80% Yield)
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