Tennis: Abrams picks 5 1st round womens matches from Indian Wells

Indian Wells
Women’s first round picks

Genie Bouchard over Kristen Flipkens
Bouchard is getting her game back and competing well. Normally I’d pick the 33-year-old from Belgium, as Flipkens is a much more consistent player at this point in their careers. But something tells me that Bouchard is ready to resume her climb up the rankings, and that will start here. This will be close, but I like the Canadian here in the desert.

Alison Van Uytanck over Alison Riske
These players have played once with the American having taken that match. However, Van Uytanck, the 24-year-old Belgian already has a title under her belt this year and is striking the ball well. Her only weakness is that she’s a bit slow, and Riske is the better athlete, but based on recent form I’d go with Van Uytanck.

Kaia Kanepi over Johanna Larson
Kanepi holds a 3-0 lifetime record over Larson, although they played in 2012 and twice in 2014—a long time ago in tennis years. The faster the courts the more it favors the Estonian who, at 5’11” has a better serve and stronger groundies. If Larson can get herself to net she stands a good chance to win this match, but I’m guessing that Kanepi won’t let her get in.

Vika Azarenka over Vera Lapko
Both of these players are from Minsk. Both of them are six feet tall. And both of them are very appealing tennis players. But that’s where the similarities end. Lapko is 20 years old and has never won a WTA tournament. She has collected a bit over $500,000 in total career prize money and is looking to break into the upper echelons of women’s tennis. Azarenka, however, has won 20 titles to go with over $29 Million and has won two Australian Opens as well as getting to the finals of the U.S. Open twice and the semis of the other two Grand Slam tournaments. Although she is coming back from just giving birth, last week she demolished American Danielle Collins in Acapulco and is showing that she’s getting her old game back. In this interesting matchup I’d go with the veteran over the promising youngster.

Amanda Anisimova over Alexsandra Kruni
I’ve been waiting for Anisimova, the exciting 17-year-old American, to play in a WTA tournament again. Because of her age and the WTA restriction on how many pro tournaments youngsters can play, this is her first tournament since the 2019 Australian Open. Last year, as a 16-year-old, she had her coming out party here at Indian Wells when she took out 9th ranked Petra Kvitova in straight sets in the third round to serve notice to the tennis world. She’s got an interesting challenge ahead of her here in Kruni, the 25-year-old Russian, but at 5’11’ Anisimova should be able to simply overpower Kruni from the baseline. I think Anisimova is bigger, stronger, faster, and the better athlete between the two. I expect the New Jersey native to move on.