Osaka’s coach identifies American Indian Wells – Sports News
Naomi Osaka’s coach Patrick Mouratoglou reckons the American trio of Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton and Alex Michelsen could all be in the frame to win the first Masters 1000 tournament of the year at Indian Wells.
The ATP Tour event kicked off in California this week, with the likes of Nick Kyrgios and Emma Raducanu having already been knocked out. Raducanu fell in straight sets to Moyuka Uchijima 6-3, 6-2, while Kyrgios was forced off in tears after having to retire against Botic Van de Zandschulp due to a wrist injury.
With World No.1 Jannik Sinner missing the tournament due to his doping ban, it is unclear just who in the men’s draw will be celebrating come the final. And while Mouratoglou reckons Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev are the favorites at Indian Wells, he has backed the trio of Americans to perform on home soil.
“With [Jannik] Sinner out of the BNP Paribas Open, there are many players that have a good chance to win it this year,” Mouratoglou said on Instagram.
“The first two are quite easy, for sure [Carlos] Alcaraz, he won last year, number three in the world, coming back to good shape [Alexander] Zverev, number two, more and more solid, and we feel that he can win any Masters 1000.”
And Osaka’s coach also highlighted just how impressed he had been by Michelsen too. “[Alex] Michelsen, the American who’s young too, who played great at the Australian Open, defeated Tsitsipas,” said Mouratoglou.
“He has a lot of power in his game and he is someone that we will follow also. As we know, and I always say it because it’s true, Americans in the US are extremely dangerous.
“So if there is a place where Michelsen can really do something big, it can be at the BNP Paribas Open.”
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