American tennis player Alex Michelsen will face Spain's Jaume Munar at the 2024 ATP Indian Wells tennis tournament soon. This will be a first-round match at the 2024 BNB Paribas Open, a high-tiered event on the ATP Tour. The American teenager, Michelsen, opened as a strong favorite for the match, priced at -275 on the moneyline (bet365). As of Tuesday evening, he remains priced at those odds. Michelsen has been coming on strong in recent months and has gained some confidence on tour. My Michelsen vs Munar prediction is that the latter player will win UNDER 11.5 games in the match.
Schedule of Play: Right-click/Open in the New Tab to check match times: subject to change
Alex Michelsen vs Jaume Munar Head-to-Head Series
The Michelsen vs Munar h2h is 0-0. These two players have not faced one another yet on the ATP Tour. There is some parity between the rankings as Michelsen is currently ranked 80th while Munar is ranked 75th. However, the American is a climbing player over the last several months. At about the midpoint of last season, he was ranked just 250th in the world.
The Draw: Right-click/Open in the New Tab for the draw for the 2024 BNB Paribas Open
Alex Michelsen's Recent Tennis Results
Michelsen has played a ton of tennis over the last several months. He appears to be on the verge of graduating from the challengers.
He has not been eliminated in the first round in any of his most recent ATP events. Michelsen went 2-1 in Los Cabos two weeks ago, taking a set off of Jordan Thompson in the quarters. The American also went 1-1 in Delray Beach, taking a set off of Tommy Paul in the second round. Lastly, Michelsen went 1-1 in Dallas about a month ago. Back at the Australian Open, he won two main draw matches. At the age of 19, he seems to have a bright future on the men's tour.
Jaume Munar's Recent Tennis Results
What stands out with Munar is that he has entered elective clay-court tournaments in recent weeks. In February, there are options for players on the ATP Tour. They can play in either hardcourt events or claycourt events. That's a little different than some points in the season.
Munar entered Santiago, Rio, Buenos Aires, and Cordoba. He did well enough in these events, going 5-4 in what were all claycourt matches. The last time that he played a hardcourt match was January 29th, a first-round loss at the ATP Montpellier event. That is just a 250-level event on tour, much lower the 1000-level for Indian Wells. The skillsets between clay and hardcourt are different and Munar might be in a different mode right now than Michelsen.
Michelsen vs Munar Prediction: Munar wins UNDER 11.5 games
This is a match where the surface has determined the favorite, in my opinion. I think Munar would be a small to moderate favorite if they were playing on clay. The situation as it is, Michelsen is hard to bet against here.
Munar is switching over from clay to hardcourt without a lot of time between his last event. He was playing on March 1st in Santiago, Chile. When you factor in rest and travel, he might not be fully prepared for Indian Wells, especially with the change in surface. I am not expecting a lot out of him in this tournament. My recommendation is for bettors to take UNDER 11.5 games at -120 (bet365).
Munar vs Michelsen prediction: Draw at the 2024 BNB Paribas Open
The winner of this match will have a tough second-round match. Tommy Paul was a strong player in American-based tournaments in February. He is the No. 17 seed and already into the tournament's second round by virtue of a bye. I think a well-rested Paul would easily handle Munar and likely beat Michelsen.
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