Indian Wells 2021: Bianca Andreescu vs Alison Riske preview, head-to-head & prediction | BNP Paribas Open
Match details
Fixture: (16) Bianca Andreescu vs Alison Riske
Date: 9 October 2021
Tournament: BNP Paribas Open
Round: Second round (Round of 64)
Venue: Indian Wells, USA
Category: WTA 1000
Surface: Hardcourt
Prize money: $8,761,725
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel & ESPN | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Bianca Andreescu vs Alison Riske preview
Defending champion Bianca Andreescu will launch her 2021 BNP Paribas Open campaign against Alison Riske in the second round on Saturday.
While Andreescu received a bye in the first round courtesy of her seeding, Riske breezed past qualifier Liang En-Shuo 6-2, 6-2 in just over an hour.
The 21-year-old Canadian has a 100% win rate at Indian Wells, but she cannot afford to take things for granted, considering her patchy form in recent weeks. Andreescu fell early in Montreal, Cincinnati, and Chicago and only made it as far as the fourth round at the US Open.
Andreescu has only ever taken part in the BNP Paribas Open once, in 2019, when she ended up lifting the trophy.
Alison Riske, on the other hand, is making her seventh appearance at the WTA 1000 event. She has only two wins to her name at Indian Wells, one of which came in the first round this year against Liang. The American's previous win at her home event came way back in 2015.
Riske looked in decent touch in the first round, feasting on Liang's feeble serves. The American notched up a whopping 13 break points, converting on seven instances. Riske also won a mammoth 65.5% of her return points, which shows exactly how dominant she was on the Liang serve.
Considering Andreescu's service woes this season, Riske will fancy her chances of making quite a few inroads into the Canadian's service games and potentially pulling off the upset.
Bianca Andreescu vs Alison Riske head-to-head
Bianca Andreescu and Alison Riske have never faced each other on tour before, which is why their head-to-head stands at 0-0.
Bianca Andreescu vs Alison Riske prediction
Although Alison Riske possesses a decent defense and return of serve, big-hitters often prove to be her undoing. Bianca Andreescu hits the ball as big as anyone on the women's tour, meaning Riske could be in for a difficult time throughout their second-round encounter.
The American needs her serve to work well against the Canadian, without which she will find it tough to stay in the rallies. Riske is also good at finding short angles and she will need to keep the World No. 21 moving.
Andreescu, on her part, should look to avoid directing too much of the traffic to the World No. 51's backhand as the American is an expert at redirecting pace off that wing.
Many of Andreescu's matches this season have gone the distance and that could be the case in this contest as well. While an upset can never be ruled out given Andreescu's poor form, she should have the firepower to see off the challenge of the American.
Prediction: Bianca Andreescu to win in three sets.
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