After a profitable first round in Indian Wells, Andy Schooler picks out two bets for round two of the BNP Paribas Open.
Tennis betting tips: Indian Wells round two
1pt Cameron Norrie to beat Jiri Lehecka at 6/4 (General)
1pt Jakub Mensik to beat Karen Khachanov at evens (General)
Karen Khachanov v Jakub Mensik
Readers of my outright preview will already have an interest here but for those that don’t, Mensik may well be worth siding with.
The young Czech has already beaten Casper Ruud and Ben Shelton this season, having claimed the scalps of top-10 stars Andrey Rublev and Grigor Dimitrov in 2024.
Khachanov’s season is not going so well. He’s just 3-5 so far in 2025 with virtually all of his numbers dropping.
Service holds have slipped to 80.9% while return games won are at 20.2%. His career averages at tour level are 82.5% and 21.2% respectively.
The Russian also has a string of early exits on his record in Indian Wells – he’s 7-7 in total in the Californian desert.
Despite having won the only previous meeting – a serve-dominated affair which featured just one break of serve in Doha last season – Khachanov looks a vulnerable favourite here.
Cameron Norrie v Jiri Lehecka
Norrie has always played well in Indian Wells, emerging as the surprise champion in 2021, and he may well be able to use conditions to his advantage in this one.
The Briton played what he described as his “best match for a long time” in round one when he defeated Luca Nardi for the loss of just three games.
He’s now won 14 of his last 17 matches at this venue and he after his latest victory he spoke about why that was.
Norrie said: “(I have) good vibes here. I think the conditions really help me, during the day especially – the ball is bouncing and it’s quite tough to finish points.”
This match is scheduled for the day session – beginning around 1pm.
With all this in mind – plus the fact he’s 2-1 up on the head-to-head – I think Norrie is an underdog worth siding with here.
Lehecka has enjoyed a strong season to date, boasting a win over Carlos Alcaraz on his record – that’s why he’s a clear favourite.
However, he was humbled in his most recent match in Dubai where he won just three games against Ugo Humbert.
Despite all the talk about the new Laykold surface, court pace remains sluggish – Norrie described it as “slow” on Wednesday night – and that won’t suit Lehecka.
Posted at 1050 GMT on 07/03/25
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