Indian Wells 2023: The best tennis bets, odds and predictions for Sunday 19th March
The best tennis bets for the Indian Wells men’s and women’s finals
If you’re looking to bet on the BNP Paribas Open final for either the men’s or women’s in Indian Wells then you’ve come to the right place. We have a game of both games at the ‘fifth major’ for Sunday March 19th and hope you’ll cap off the tournament with a visit. These picks were very profitable over the course of this event. Read on for our tennis predictions for the day and make sure to check back in a few days to see what we have for the Miami Open.
MORE: Check out our Pro Tips page for everything our experts have to offer on March 19th
Women’s final: Elena Rybakina vs. Aryna Sabalenka
Rybakina pulls off an insanely impressive victory as she defeated world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in straight sets. This should be a tournament Swiatek should be unbeatable in, but Rybakina took it from her with her powerful groundstrokes. She made sure Swiatek never looked comfortable and she deserves all the props in the world for that. But it’s still hard to imagine her beating Sabalenka at the moment.
When these two met in the 2023 Australian Open final, Rybakina won the opening set and looked like she was on her way to winning back-to-back majors. But Sabalenka settled in from there and eventually won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. That was Sabalenka’s first Grand Slam title and the way she’s playing this season suggests that 2023 may not be her last.
The only thing holding Sabalenka back in a bad year last year was a mistake in her serve. The Belarusian couldn’t avoid each other as she regularly made double faults and wasted only holds. But Sabalenka completely swung the other way with this shot, and her hold percentage is 86.7% this year.
Now that Sabalenka looks like one of the best servers in women’s football, it will be really difficult to beat her. And doing so in this square is no exception. It takes a lot of power to consistently hit winners on slow hard court, but that’s no problem for Sabalenka. She won’t have any trouble hitting the ball from Rybakina, who sometimes struggles with her movement.
The slow courts also give Sabalenka some time to pick up Rybakina’s serve. The Belarusian has already braked at an absurd rate this year, but in that regard she is more dangerous here. This just seems like a game not to be missed, especially considering that Rybakina wasn’t one to do much damage in this event.
Bet: Sabalenka ML (-160)
Men’s final: Daniil Medvedev vs. Carlos Alcaraz
Medvedev comes into this tournament after winning three tournaments in a row and we cashed him in to beat Frances Tiafoe in straight sets in the last game. Medvedev isn’t a guy who plays in these conditions, but Tiafoe has fought on clay his entire career – and we’ve treated this like a clay court event. Besides that, it was too hard to do without such a discrepancy. But this match will be difficult for Medvedev to win.
It’s pretty fair to argue that Alcaraz is the best player in the world, which is crazy considering Novak Djokovic is still at the top of his game. And Alcaraz is good on every single surface, so his game won’t let up at all in the desert. In fact, this is a surface that could get the best out of him as he moves so well on hard courts and has a little more time to react to things like he does on clay. For a guy like Medvedev who hits low, flat shots, the fact that these courses play slowly and cause higher bounces is a serious disadvantage for him.
Alcaraz is also slightly better than Medvedev as a returner, which is also a bit crazy considering how well the Russian serves his opponents. But you have to take that into account here, in addition to the fact that Alcaraz is just a bit more versatile from the baseline.
Watch out for Alcaraz using his drop shot quite often when this happens, as he can completely unbalance Medvedev if this shot works. But even if he doesn’t, we just think Alcaraz has a bit too many weapons that Medvedev might struggle to find an answer for.
Bet: Alcaraz ML (-135)
