Daily Tennis Tips – Thursday March 13

See below for our daily tennis tips and best bets around the courts for Thursday March 13 at Indian Wells, including the top tips and players to back in our tennis betting markets!

Featuring in his first ATP 1000 quarter-final, French tyro Arthur Fils takes on six-time Masters title winner Daniil Medvedev at Indian Wells.

Medvedev, the finalist at Indian Wells in 2023 and ’24, won their only previous encounter in straight sets at the 2023 Vienna Open.

World No.6 Medvedev has emerged from a rough start to 2025 to cruise past Yunchaokete Bu (6-2 6-2), Alex Michelsen (2-0 ret) and 10th seed Tommy Paul (6-4 6-0).

Fils, ranked 21st, was just 4-4 this season when he arrived in Palm Springs – including a crushing 6-2 6-1 defeat to Nuno Borges in his last outing in Dubai – but has found his feet again with wins over Gabriel Diallo (6-2 6-2), 15th seed Lorenzo Musetti (3-6 7-6 6-3) and Marcos Giron (6-2 2-6 6-3).

Medvedev looks very much back in the groove, while his vast big-stage experience is a huge advantage here, with Fils never having been past the third round of a Masters tournament or the fourth round at grand slam level.

Another first-time ATP 1000 quarter-finalist, Tallon Griekspoor is aiming to maintain a perfect record against 12th seed Holger Rune at Indian Wells.

Griekspoor is 2-0 against Rune, winning tight clay-court encounters at the 2022 Hamburg Open and the 2024 Madrid Masters.

World No.41 Griekspoor has been outstanding in Palm Springs on the back of a semi-final run in Dubai that saw him upset Ugo Humbert and Daniil Medvedev.

The Dutch 28-year-old outlasted Miomir Kecmanovic and top seed Alexander Zverev after droppin the first set in both matches, then powered past Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Yosuke Watanuki in straight sets.

Rune, a former Paris Masters champion, has played his best tennis in some time to defeat Corentin Moutet (6-2 6-4), 18th seed Humbert (5-7 6-4 7-5) and in-form eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas (6-4 6-4).

Arguably boasting the higher ceiling, Rune is the $1.53 favourite – and he was outstanding against Tsitsipas. But Griekspoor’s giant-killing form can’t be ignored, while his head-to-head record here makes him an enticing underdog.

Mirra Andreeva and Elina Svitolina square off for the first time after claiming big scalps in the Indian Wells Masters’ Round of 16.

World No.11 Andreeva is increasingly looking like a slam winner-in-waiting, backing up her capture of the WTA 1000 Dubai Championships title – including maiden victories over Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina – with a sizzling run at Palm Springs.

The 17-year-old has disposed of Varvara Gracheva (7-5 6-4), Dubai final opponent Clara Tauson (6-3 6-0) and Rybakina again (6-1 6-2).

Svitolina, an Indian Wells semi-finalist in 2019 and a four-time Masters champion, has outlasted Ashlyn Krueger (6-1 6-7 6-3) and world No.4 Jessica Pegula (5-7 6-1 6-2) either side of a comfortable win over 14th seed Danielle Collins (6-2 6-4).

The 30-year-old Ukrainian is ranked 23rd, while the geopolitical tensions that have been thrust into the spotlight again in recent week add another edge to this encounter…likely ensuring crowd support for Svitolina and making things uncomfortable for Russian Andreeva.

But the level the phenom is playing at should negate any outside influences and propel her into another WTA 1000 semi.

Iga Swiatek will have a bit of revenge on her agenda – as well as keeping alive her bid for a third Indian Wells Masters title – when she takes on Qinwen Zheng in the quarter-finals.

Swiatek boasts a 6-1 record in the rivalry (4-0 on hard courts), but Zheng caused a massive boilover in their most recent clash – a straight-sets win in the Paris Olympics semi-finals.

The 2022 and ’24 Indian Wells champ, world No.2 Swiatek reached the Australian Open and Qatar Open semis, and the Dubai Championships quarters – but she will have itchy trophy-lifting hands after going title-less since last year’s French Open.

The 23-year-old has been ruthless over the past week, destroying Caroline Garcia (6-2 6-0), Dayana Yastremska (6-0 6-2) and Karolina Muchova (6-1 6-1).

Eighth seed Zheng came into Indian Wells with a 1-3 record in 2025 but has regrouped with wins over Victoria Azarenka (6-3 6-4), Lulu Sun (6-4 7-5) and Marta Kostyuk (6-3 6-2).

Whether she’s turned it around enough to compete with the might of Swiatek is debatable, however. Swiatek dropped just five games in three of her previous four wins over Zheng and a similar result looms here.