Sofia Kenin is still struggling to consistently play her best tennis, and she will try to unlock it on home soil in Indian Wells.
Kenin's career has been fascinating to observe, from a player who made a shocking run at the Australian Open to win her maiden Grand Slam final to a player who is struggling to win matches consistently these days.
Injuries are at fault as they completely derailed her career just as she was starting her breakout. A few solid runs in recent months show that her tennis is still in there somewhere, but she's not been able to win consistently, which is a shame.
Perhaps the Indian Wells Open brings something for her. The first-round opponent for the American is a very tricky one who can play a quality match, so she will have to be careful.
Viktoriya Tomova and Kenin have never played against each other, but I don't think that matters too much. It's pretty known how both play, so I don't think there will be any surprises.
In general, the matchup will be decided in the rallies. Neither has a serve that will swing momentum in either direction, but the consistency from the baseline certainly will.
Indian Wells has a rather high bounce, especially during the day, so the shots require a lot of power to really penetrate the opponent's defense. The player who does it more consistently should have the upper hand.
It's tricky to predict who will do better than that. Tomova has had a far better year so far and performed consistently better, but Kenin is a Top 10 talent. On her day, she would crush much better players than Tomova, and she's home.
I think the combination of all of that will carry Kenin to victory.
Prediction: Sofia Kenin to win in three sets.