The director of Indian Wells, Tommy Haas, chose his favorites to win the title in the Californian desert, both in men and women. Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka are the main contenders for the title for the former German player, who believes that if the world number 1 does not win, the world would classify him as a “failure.”
March arrives and with it the dispute of the first Masters and the third WTA 1000 of the season. The tournament of Indian Wells It stands as one of the most anticipated events of the year and fans begin to place their bets on which two players will win the title in men’s and women’s singles. The tournament director and former world number 2, Tommy Haas, seems to be clear about who will achieve such a feat in 2024: Novak Djokovic y Aryna Sabalenka They seem to be your favorites. The Belarusian will use her recent results at the Australian Open and her power to impose her game, according to the German. In the case of the Serbian, Haas has something else to say.
It is quite clear that the world number 1 will always have every chance to take the title wherever he goes. Nole has not won in Indian Wells since 2016, but he is the tournament’s top winner along with Roger Federer with 5 titles. Thus, for the tournament director, the Serbian has more chances than anyone to continue adding crowns in the Californian desert. “Djokovic has had a lot of success there, he will return“, he said to Eurosport. And the fact is that, although Nole has not set foot in the Californian event for four editions, he has accumulated too much baggage there to not be considered the great threat to beat.
However, Haas points out that, if he does not win, the fans would consider it a total fiasco, something that should not be the case: “I feel like every time he doesn’t win a tournament we all see it as a failure, and I hate using that word anyway. Even in the semi-finals of the Australian Open we all said, ‘oh, he lost in the semi-finals, he didn’t win in Australia.’ How many people would love to reach a semi-final sometime…. It’s really outrageous, so you can never rule it out. Obviously he will always be the favorite and will always see himself as the favorite to win the title.”
Sabalenka, favorite over world number 1
On the female side, things change a bit for Tommy. Although Every Swiatek remains at the top of the rankings and managed to score the WTA 1000 in Doha, believes that Aryna Sabalenka will be the toughest to face on the Californian courts, where she lost the title against Elena Rybakina last year: “Sabalenka has a great and powerful game. That sometimes also gives him a little more time in Indian Wells, but he moves well. He is feeling very good about his game and has been able to defend his title at the Australian Open. So I also give him the first advantage, no matter what happens in the next few weeks.”
2024-03-03 17:02:49
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