Indian Wells 2025 Day 2: Men's singles predictions ft. Jenson Brooksby vs Benjamin Bonzi, Matteo Arnaldi vs Aleksandar Kovacevic

The first-round matches of the bottom half of the 2025 BNP Paribas Open Men's Singles draw will be held in Indian Wells on Thursday, March 6. There will be some interesting battles, as the winners of these matches will play the seeded players in the second round.

Here are the predictions for some first-round matches:

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#1. Jenson Brooksby vs Benjamin Bonzi at Indian Wells

Former World No. 33 Jenson Brooksby will face World No. 62 Benjamin Bonzi. 24-year-old Brooksby will be making his first appearance in Indian Wells since 2022 when he reached the fourth round after knocking out Karen Khachanov and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Since returning from his suspension, Brooksby has had a disappointing start to his season. He lost his first-round match at the Australian Open against Taylor Fritz in straight sets before losing in the opening round to Tommy Paul at the Dallas Open.

Jenson Brooksby of the United States plays a shot against Tommy Paul of the United States during their Men's Singles Round of 32 match on day two of the 2025 Dallas Open - Source: Getty

Brooksby defeated Bonzi in their previous meeting at Wimbledon 2022 7-6(3), 7-5, 6-3. The American player also emerged victorious when they met at the Potchefstroom Challenger in 2021.

Meanwhile, Bonzi has a 4-5 win-loss record in 2025, starting the season with a quarterfinal run at the Adelaide International and reaching the third round of the Australian Open.

However, the Frenchman enters this match after three back-to-back losses and will look to snap that streak. It could be a close match but Bonzi could prevail, as he has played better tennis in 2025 and Brooksby's performance has not been impressive.

Prediction: Bonzi to win

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#2. Aleksandar Kovacevic vs Matteo Arnaldi at Indian Wells

World No. 35 Matteo Arnaldi will face USA's Aleksandar Kovacevic for a place in the second round. Their only previous meeting was in the qualifying round of the 2023 Canadian Open when Arnaldi won in straight sets.

The Italian has a 5-5 win-loss record in 2025, as he reached the Delray Beach semifinals and the Dallas Open quarterfinals. He suffered a first-round exit against Alexander Zverev in his last tournament at the Mexican Open.

On the other hand, 26-year-old Kovacevic played on the Challenger Tour mostly this season. His best performance of the year came in Montpellier, where he stunned World No. 10 Andrey Rublev to reach the final.

Arnaldi will be the favorite to win this match, as Kovacevic never won a game in his previous three appearances in Indian Wells. Arnaldi will have an edge as he defeated the American player in their last meeting. He also reached the second round of the BNP Paribas Open last year and won a set against the eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz.

Prediction: Arnaldi to win

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#3. Lorenzo Sonego vs David Goffin at Indian Wells

World No. 37 Lorenzo Sonego, who reached the quarterfinals at the 2025 Australian Open, will face the former World No. 7 David Goffin in the first round in Indian Wells. It will be their fourth meeting, as Italy's Sonego defeated his Belgian opponent twice last year.

The first meeting was in 2021, when Goffin won in straight sets, but last year Sonego defeated Goffin in the Monte-Carlo qualifying round and then in the semifinals of the Winston-Salem Open.

Lorenzo Sonego of Italy reacts after his win against David Goffin of Belgium in the semifinals of the ATP 250 Winston-Salem Open - Source: Getty

29-year-old Sonego failed to win a match in his first three appearances in Indian Wells but finally defeated Miomir Kecmanovic last year, so he has a 1-4 win-loss record at the event.

Goffin will make his eighth appearance at the event, with a 7-7 win-loss record. His best performance at the BNP Paribas Open was in 2016 when he defeated Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic to reach the semifinals, where Milos Raonic beat him.

35-year-old Goffin has a 2-6 win-loss record in 2025. He lost his first-round matches at the first five events this season but finally ended the losing streak at the Mexican Open, where he defeated Ben Shelton to reach the quarterfinals.

Sonego will be the favorite to win this match, as he defeated Goffin twice last year and has shown better performance than his opponent in 2025 so far.

Prediction: Sonego to win