Article previews tennis matches involving Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Roger Federer vs Ryan Harrison. Rafael Nadal vs Somdev Devvarman.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are both on the Order of Play at ATP Indian Wells for Wednesday March 16th and they both play opponents that have a relatively low ranking, at least for a fourth round Masters series match.
Federer will face Ryan Harrison, a player ranked outside of the top 150, while Nadal will face Somdev Devvarman, a player ranked outside of the top 70.
Harrison is a very talented 18 year old American player who has been tipped as the future of American tennis. Based on his current run at ATP Indian Wells, it is not hard to see why many consider him to be a player with a bright future.
Federer and Harrison have never met in a tour match however Harrison has never beaten a player ranked in the top 15, let alone the top 5.
Despite Harrison's improved play, it would be surprising to see him hold his own against Federer in their fourth round match on Wednesday evening.
Rafael Nadal should not face much of a challenge either as he faces India's Somdev Devvarman.
Devvarman is into the fourth round having come through the qualifying draw at the event and having defeated both Marcos Baghdatis and Xavier Malisse in the main draw.
While those are solid victories for Devvarman, Nadal is on exceptional form at Indian Wells as he is into the fourth round having lost just six individual games combined against Rik De Voest and Ryan Sweeting.
Devvarman's appearance in the fourth round is surprising as it's not what we've come to expect on tour from the former NCAA champion. Despite his improved play the fact remains that Devvarman is very inexperienced for matches of this magnitude and he cannot have much confidence heading into a match against the current world number one.
Harrison and Federer are on the Order of Play for Stadium 1 where they will meet in the final match of the day following the Rafael Nadal vs Somdev Devvarman match. The Nadal match is set to start not before 7pm PT.
