World number one Novak Djokovic faces USA’s world number 128 Bjorn Fratangelo in his Indian Wells Masters campaign-opener on Saturday, March 9. The exact timing for this match will be revealed soon and you can get the Novak Djokovic v Bjorn Fratangelo live streaming options here.
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Novak Djokovic v Bjorn Fratangelo Head to Head
Rather interestingly, Djokovic has faced Fratangelo once before this and that meeting came at the 2016 Indian Wells Masters, a tournament that the Serbian had gone on to win. If the American can take anything out of that encounter, it is the confidence that he was the only opponent who took a set off Djokovic in that edition of the Indian Wells Masters, before the Serb ran through the rest of his opposition and won the title.
Djokovic Returns after Australian Open
While both of Djokovic’s arch-rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal enter this tournament on the back of an appearance in an ATP tournament, the Serb himself had opted out of playing any competitions since he featured at the Australian Open.
A crushing win over Rafael Nadal would have given him immense satisfaction and with three Grand Slam titles under his belt now, it would be interesting to see how Djokovic goes here. Will there be signs of rustiness or will this be another routine victory for the world number one.
Counting the two matches he played at Mubadala, Djokovic has featured in 13 matches this season and he has won 12 of them. The only loss came at the Doha Open semi-final against Roberto Bautista Agut, and while Denis Shapovolav and Daniil Medvedev did take a set off him, it comes as no surprise he was a four-set winner over them too.
A best-of-three encounter gives his opponents some chance but Bjorn would have his task really cut out to even take a set off him.
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Fratangelo’s Main Draw Forays
With a ranking outside the top 100, Fratangelo has found the going obviously tough but his showing this season would leave him with hope. There have been a couple of losses in the qualifiers of events like at Brisbane and Delray Beach but when it’s been needed, he has held his hand up and made things count.
Take, for instance, his Australian Open campaign that saw him fight through three qualifiers, and two three-setters out of them, to qualify for the main draw. Or the Dallas Challenger where he made the semi-finals before having to retire because of a left leg issue and now here at the Indian Wells.
Fratangelo won his first qualifier at this tournament in straight sets but then needed two tie-breakers and three sets to defeat Andrey Rublev. In the opening round, he defeated Elias Ymer to set up this meeting with Djokovic and while he might still fall short, one thing’s for certain – expect the American to fight hard.
Novak Djokovic v Bjorn Fratangelo Tips & Predictions
A fighting Fratangelo might push Djokovic, but would that be enough for the American to win a string of games? We don’t think so, and Djokovic could romp this home in not just straight sets but also with minimal loss.
Tip: Under 18.5 games in the match: 15/16 (Unibet)
You can watch & bet on Novak Djokovic v Bjorn Fratangelo on Saturday, March 9 here .
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