Indian Wells Masters 2023: Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Tommy Paul preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick | BNP Paribas Open
Match details
Fixture: (8) Felix Auger-Aliassime vs (17) Tommy Paul.
Date: March 14, 2023.
Tournament: BNP Paribas Open.
Round: Fourth round (Round of 16).
Venue: Indian Wells, California, USA.
Category: ATP Masters 1000.
Surface: Outdoor hardcourt.
Prize money: $8,800,000.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video.
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Tommy Paul preview
World No. 10 Felix Auger-Aliassime will square off against home favorite Tommy Paul in the fourth round of the 2023 BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday.
After a first-round bye, Auger-Aliassime kicked off his campaign here with a win over Pedro Martinez. He faced World No. 32 Francisco Cerundolo in the third round.
Auger-Aliassime started the match by breaking his opponent's serve to snag a 2-0 lead. Cerundolo leveled the proceedings in no time to get back on serve. The Canadian raised his level towards the end of the first set by sweeping the last three games to clinch it.
Auger-Aliassime built up a comfortable lead of 5-2 in the second set and was serving for the match after having a couple of match points. However, Cerundolo managed to break the Canadian's serve and won the next game as well to make the score 5-4.
Auger-Aliassime served for the match yet again. After saving a couple of break points and on his fourth match point, he closed out the proceedings to wrap up a 7-5, 6-4 victory.
After knocking out Jan-Lennard Struff, Paul was up against World No. 11 Hubert Hurkacz in the third round. The American led by a break in the first set, but surrendered his lead and went on to lose the set as well.
Paul broke his opponent's serve twice to go 4-0 up in the second set. This time, he remained in front until the end of the set to take it. The final set saw the American secure a break of serve in the seventh game to go 4-3 up.
Paul then saved three break points in the following game as held serve to make it 5-3. The match ended soon after that, with the American coming out on top to complete a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 comeback win.
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Tommy Paul head-to-head
This will be the first meeting between them, so the head-to-head stands at 0-0 for now.
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Tommy Paul odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs Tommy Paul prediction
Auger-Aliassime fought past Cerundolo, but will need to up his game going forward. While his ground game carried him through in the previous round, his serve was a bit of a letdown. He coughed up eight double faults and managed to get just 49% of first serves in play.
Paul played a consistent enough match to move past Hurkacz. He held his nerve better than his opponent and ended the match with 26 winners compared to 19 unforced errors.
Auger-Aliassime's record is a tad bit better on faster courts, where he's able to dictate the proceedings more easily. Paul will be a tough customer to get the better of in these conditions, especially as the American's rally tolerance is quite high.
If Auger-Aliassime is able to get his serve firing on full cylinders once again, he could have a shot at winning this encounter. Otherwise, Paul is likely to advance further.
Pick: Tommy Paul to win in three sets.