Indian Wells best bets for Friday, March 8th
It feels like the tennis season never slows down, but that’s a great thing for bettors. This sport offers all sorts of betting opportunities, which is why I’m going to provide you with tennis best bets as often as possible. Over the next two weeks, the ATP and WTA Tours stop at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California. This venue is known as “Tennis Paradise” and many consider this 1000-level event to be the fifth slam. That said, all of the top players are in the fields this week, making this a tournament you won’t want to miss. With that in mind, keep reading for my best bets for Friday, March 8th. Also, I’d strongly suggest coming back to this story throughout the day. I’ll occasionally add picks to the bottom of the story. I’ll also throw them on the Pro Picks page.
MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts are betting!
2024 Record: 115-125 (+3.43 units)
Andy Murray vs. Andrey Rublev
Murray hasn’t looked like himself on a tennis court in quite some time, but he got off to a great start in Indian Wells. The three-time Grand Slam champion wiped the floor with David Goffin in the first round. He has now won three of his last five matches. That’s real momentum for Murray. Now, the Brit will have the fans firmly in his corner against Rublev, who has been dealing with drama the past few weeks. The Russian defaulted in the semifinals in Dubai for yelling directly in the face of an official. He cost himself a spot in the finals and also looked like a bit of a jerk — which is interesting considering he’s one of the nicest guys on tour.
Rublev has always had issues keeping his cool. That’s one of the main reasons I like Murray here. I think that the combination of a pro-Murray crowd and the Brit’s all-world defense will get to Rublev. Murray is going to force him to play a ton of shots in this match. He’s still a tremendous defender, even if he has no business being one. That could lead to unforced errors from Rublev. I also think Murray has the ability to be the better server between these two.
Rublev also wasn’t playing his best tennis before arriving in Dubai. He has looked beatable in recent months. So, I like Murray to win a set in what should be a great atmosphere. I also think he will give himself a real chance to win the match.
Bet: Murray +1.5 Sets (+114 – 2 units) & Murray ML (+400 – 0.25 units)
Brandon Nakashima vs. Jiri Lehecka
Nakashima just earned an impressive 6-3, 7-6 (3) win over Christopher Eubanks. That allowed the American to get his feet wet in these unique Indian Wells conditions. Now, I like his chances of beating Lehecka in the second round. Nakashima is just a really difficult player to play on slower courts. He is lightning fast along the baseline, capable of tracking down balls relentlessly. So, it’s going to be super difficult for Lehecka to hit winners in this match.
Lehecka also isn’t playing the best tennis right now. He comes into this match after having lost three of his last five. Meanwhile, Nakashima has been stacking wins at the Challenger level. In fact, he’s 20-6 in the matches he has played since the start of 2024. Of course, some of those victories came against low-level players. But there’s no substitute for winning matches and finding your rhythm. So, I think he’ll be the more confident between these two on Friday. And I expect him to get the job done in front of pro-American crowd.
Bet: Nakashima ML (+110 – 1.5 units)
Katy Volynets vs. Ons Jabeur
Jabeur is still the sixth-ranked player in the world, but it has been months since she played like a top-tier player. In fact, we haven’t seen much of Jabeur in action at all lately. The Tunisian has played just five tour-level matches in 2024, and she has lost three of them. She also lost in straight sets to world No. 37 Lesia Tsurenko in Doha three weeks ago, and that match wasn’t even close. With that in mind, I just don’t see any reason not to put a partial fade on Jabeur here. Volynets is 7-3 in the 10 matches she has played since the Australian Open, and she is coming of a very impressive straight-set win over Mirra Andreeva. She’s just trending in the right direction and Jabeur is doing the opposite. I’m not sure Volynets will actually get the job done on the moneyline here, but I think it’s very likely she wins a set. And this is a very reasonable price to take it.
Bet: Volynets +1.5 Sets (-140 – 2 units) & Volynets ML (+174)
Added Plays
Juncheng Shang ML (+125 – 2 units) vs. Alexander Bublik
Dusan Lajovic +1.5 Sets (-160 – 2 units) vs. Frances Tiafoe
Dusan Lajovic ML (+170) vs. Frances Tiafoe
Hailey Baptiste ML (+166 – 2 units) vs. Madison Keys
