Ben Shelton vs Francisco Cerundolo Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Indian Wells

Prediction published on 09/03/2024, 12:30  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 09/03/2024 at 13:30 in ATP Indian Wells Prediction

Ben Shelton is again showing how strong he can be on outdoor hard courts. The 16th seed  takes on 22nd seeded Francisco Cerundolo in round three of the Indian Wells tournament. The winner will face either third seed Jannik Sinner of 25th seeded Francisco Cerundolo. Shelton was highly impressive on this surface last year when getting to the last eight of the Australian Open and then the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows. He's again been on good form this year with semi-finals in both Auckland and Dallas. His most recent tournament saw him get to the last eight in Acapulco. The 20-year-old had to fight hard in his first match at this Masters 1000 tournament. He dropped the first set to in-form Jakub Mensik but then won the next two to progress.

Francisco Cerundolo was ranked 22nd when this tournament began, six places below his opponent. The Argentinian is up a place in the live list after beating Alexander Shevchenko in his first match. He led by a set and 3-1 when his opponent retired injured. Cerundolo is in the third round at Indian Wells for the second successive year. He's won two ATP Tour singles titles in the past but they were on clay and grass. Hard court results haven't been that impressive this year and he's yet to win two matches in a hard court tournament this year. On this surface we back Shelton to win in straight sets.