Tennis Picks 2025 (Friday 20th June)

It has been a difficult couple of days for the Tennis Picks, but there is still every chance of ending this week on a positive.

All of the Quarter Final matches are scheduled to be played on Friday and this is the busiest day of the week for the Tennis Picks and one that may just determine whether it is a bounce back seven days for the selections or not.

Leylah Fernandez - 1.5 games v Dayana Yastremska: When this Quarter Final was set and the markets were released, Leylah Fernandez had been set as the underdog, but that is far from the case now.

It felt like the wrong way round considering the previous form these two players have displayed on the grass courts and Leylah Fernandez should have enough to reach the Semi Final in Nottingham.

She is a strange player- once in a while there is a big run, but Fernandez has struggled for consistency over the last twelve months and the 32-26 record highlights that. However, she is still the World Number 30 and the lefty has a decent game for the grass courts, although her best run at Wimbledon is reaching the Third Round last year.

During that summer on this surface, Leylah Fernandez also reached the Quarter Final in Birmingham and Final in Eastbourne, while her loss last week to Tatjana Maria at Queen's Club doesn't look nearly as bad considering the veteran went on to lift the title.

Both wins in Nottingham have been deserved, and Leylah Fernandez looks to be in good shape as she prepares to try and beat Dayana Yastremska for a third time on the pro Tour.

Any player that puts a couple of wins on the board at a tournament will be feeling confident, but Dayana Yastremska has bailed herself out of some tough spots. Continuing to face the Break Points and coming out on top is tough for any professional player and Yastremska is likely going to have to deal with a few more on serve in this Quarter Final.

In recent years Dayana Yastremska has been solid, if unspectacular, on the grass courts and this is a considerable step in terms of level of opponent compared with the Second Round win. Even in the previous two matches, the serve has been a little vulnerable and that should give the Canadian the edge in this Quarter Final and especially with the mental advantage of knowing she has beaten Yastremska twice previously.

Aryna Sabalenka-Elena Rybakina over 22.5 games: Would it surprise anyone if in three weeks time Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina are the last two standing in the Ladies tournament at Wimbledon?

Both players have had plenty of success on the grass and they have all of the weapons needed for another deep run at SW19.

It is Elena Rybakina who has gotten over the line by winning the title at Wimbledon, but the motivation will be very high in the Aryna Sabalenka camp to see their player join her in the winner's enclosure. Both Grand Slam runs have ended in the Final in Melbourne and Paris and the World Number 1 will be desperate to have at least one major title under her belt before heading back to New York City in August.

The one grass court match played underlined Aryna Sabalenka's capabilities on the serve, but it is the return that will be tested.

We can the exact same for Elena Rybakina who has a huge serve for this surface, but who has not been returning as well as she would have liked in her matches on the grass in 2025. The returning numbers can be picked up a little bit, but the Rybakina serve has been important for her and helped the World Number 11 win three of the four matches played on grass this season.

Matches between these players are usually very competitive and this Quarter Final could very much trend in that direction.

All six of the wins produced by Aryna Sabalenka have been in three set matches, while the straight set wins have been earned by Elena Rybakina in three of her four wins in this rivalry. However, only two of the ten matches played between these players has ended with less than 23 games shared out and both have the capabilities of serving well enough to secure at least a set each or, at the very least, push this into two tight, competitive sets that perhaps need at least one tie-breaker.

Jack Draper - 3.5 games v Brandon Nakashima: He made harder work of his win over Alexei Popyrin than anticipated, but Jack Draper did win and there will be a lot of hope and belief that the British Number 1 can enjoy a big two weeks at Wimbledon.

The draw will be key, but Jack Draper is a confident player on the grass and his numbers have been impressive over the last twelve months.

My one concern with backing Draper is that I can't remember being on the right side of too many of his matches, including that Second Round contest a couple of days ago.

He is a capable server and so Jack Draper will believe he can contain the threat of Brandon Nakashima and try and build some scoreboard pressure on the 23 year old American. Much like Draper, Brandon Nakashima has shown he can produce some real quality on the grass courts, although he has perhaps not had the big wins to really boost the confidence on the surface.

The serve can be a potent weapon for Brandon Nakashima too, but Alexander Zverev was able to string enough points together to break him twice in Stuttgart last week. Twelve months ago it was Jack Draper finding the breaks of serve at the same tournament to comfortably progress past Nakashima and the British player has won the last two matches between them on the Tour.

One poor service game let Jack Draper down as far as the handicap was concerned in the Second Round, but he may have a bit more success in this Quarter Final on the return and that could see him cover.

Holger Rune - 3.5 games v Roberto Bautista Agut: The World Number 9 has only just turned 22 years old and that should mean we have yet to see the very best tennis from Holger Rune.

Last year he reached the Fourth Round at Wimbledon and Holger Rune has shown he has the tennis that is needed to be a successful grass court contender. That run was ended by Novak Djokovic, but Rune may be hoping for better in 2025 with a potentially clearer draw into the Quarter Final and from there his confidence will be in a good place.

Two solid wins have been put together at Queen's to reach the Quarter Final and Holger Rune deserves to be the favourite against veteran Roberto Bautista Agut.

A former top ten Ranked player in his own right, Roberto Bautista Agut has slipped outside the top 50 in the World Rankings and there has been a decline in his performances over the last twelve months. However, the Spaniard is coming into the grass court season still believing he can be competitive on this surface thanks to his experience and previous successes.

He was beaten early in Hertogenbosch, but Roberto Bautista Agut has come through two matches at Queen's in three sets and that does display some confidence.

Of course he is going to have to be better to beat someone like Holger Rune who has won all three of their previous matches on the Tour.

One of those wins came at the French Open last month and Holger Rune looks to be the superior return player of the two, which may be decisive on this surface. Both have been serving well, but the younger player will have more in the tank and that should see the Dane come through with a solid victory to take his place in the Semi Final in West London on Saturday.

Daniil Medvedev - 2.5 games v Alex Michelsen: The United States have always been able to produce very effective grass court tennis players, even if the majority are built up on the hard courts. Movement is the one aspect that is perhaps hardest to understand, but the grass allows the big-serving American players to put plenty of pressure on the opponent.

It feels like 20 year old Alex Michelsen is going to be a solid grass courter in the years ahead having reached the Final in Newport twice in a row and picking up plenty of wins in the warm up tournaments being held in Europe ahead of the third Grand Slam of the season.

He has won two more here in Halle, including upsetting Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Second Round and Alex Michelsen will feel he can frustrate Daniil Medvedev if he is serving as well as he can.

In his relatively short grass court career, Alex Michelsen has won 67% of the points played and that is always going to give him a chance to use the scoreboard to make the opponent feel under pressure. He will feel there is room for improvement when it comes to the return and that will be tested by someone like Daniil Medvedev, especially after producing two solid wins in the main draw.

There was a time when Medvedev did not like playing on this surface, but the last couple of years have been much stronger and his serve can be just as effective as the one that Michelsen will bring onto the court.

Daniil Medvedev is another player who will feel there is more to come from the return, but he has looked better in that aspect this past few days in Halle. He has the capabilities of coming through a tight first set to break the back of the match and Daniil Medvedev can reach the Semi Final with a solid win under his belt.

MY PICKS: Leylah Fernandez - 1.5 Games @ 1.85 William Hill (1 Unit)

Aryna Sabalenka- Elena Rybakina Over 22.5 Games @ 1.87 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Jack Draper - 3.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Holger Rune - 3.5 Games @ 1.95 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Daniil Medvedev - 2.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 6-5, - 0.16 Units (11 Units Staked, - 1.45% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2025 (Thursday 19th June)

The majority of the selections made this week have followed the numbers- Joao Fonseca was a touch unfortunate, but Emma Navarro struggled for much of the defeat to Paula Badosa and that was reflected in the final score.

Jack Draper's failure to cover is the exception.

He had four Break Point chances in the first set, but failed to convert and was punished by dropping serve to lose that set 6-3... Even after winning the second set 6-2, Draper could not find a way to cover the handicap mark and it was a match where, once again, the dominant Break Point opportunities did not result in a successful outcome.

At least Alexander Zverev came through his First Round match, even if it was a disappointing day overall.

On Thursday the Quarter Final lineup will be completed at the four tournaments being played this week and so there are plenty of matches to get through with the remainder of the Second Round all to be played.

However, it looks like the research can only identify three selections- one from Nottingham, Halle and Queen's- that can be read below.

Carlos Alcaraz - 5.5 games v Jaume Munar: Back to back Wimbledon titles have been secured and there are no real concerns about the ability of Carlos Alcaraz when it comes to performing on this surface.

He is also a former Champion at Queen's Club in West London and so there were real reasons to consider withdrawing from the tournament and just using a couple of exhibition events to warm up for Wimbledon.

The main reason was recovering from the emotional and physical success in Paris earlier this month- Carlos Alcaraz defended the French Open title by coming from 2-0 down in sets to defeat Jannik Sinner and there was no doubt how much energy that was needed to do that in the manner it happened.

Eventually the decision was made to play at Queen's again, and Carlos Alcaraz made a comfortable start to the tournament with a routine straight sets win over Adam Walton. The scoreboard suggested a close match, but the World Number 2 was in complete control of the contest and he can build on that.

Carlos Alcaraz faces a compatriot in the Second Round and Jaume Munar is one of those Spanish players that has struggled to have an impact on the grass.

Jaume Munar came through the First Round when Jordan Thompson had to withdraw from the match after a single set was completed, but prior to the event, the World Number 59 had a career record of 3-13 when playing on this surface. Suffice to say it is a time of the season when Jaume Munar is not at his best and it will be tough for him to challenge someone of the confidence and quality of Carlos Alcaraz.

It would be a big challenge even on Munar's favoured clay courts, but on this surface it should be a bigger edge with Carlos Alcaraz, who should feel relatively comfortable in the match up.

He should be able to get into the rallies on the return and that should see Carlos Alcaraz exert his qualities over Jaume Munar- as long as Alcaraz serves as well as he can, he should have enough about him to earn the breaks of serve needed to cover what is a pretty big line for a best of three set match on the grass.

Andrey Rublev - 3.5 games v Tomas Martin Etcheverry: Last year was a disappointment for Andrey Rublev as far as the grass courts were concerned, but he was a very confident winner in the First Round. This is a player who has performed pretty well on the grass courts in the past and that crushing win over Sebastian Ofner will only have given Rublev some belief in what has been an inconsistent season.

He is next up against Tomas Martin Etcheverry in Halle and the World Number 63 is not someone who has a lot of grass court experience or success to call upon. His First Round win over Pedro Martinez, another Spaniard who prefers not to play on this surface, saw Tomas Martin Etcheverry improve his career record to 4-9 on the grass, but Andrey Rublev had double that number of wins in just the 2023 season alone.

An early loss in Hertogenbosch backs up the issues that Tomas Martin Etcheverry has had on the grass, but there has to be some respect for a player who gets plenty out of his serve.

On a surface like this one, serving well can keep a player in any match being played and Martin Etcheverry will certainly look to see how Andrey Rublev handles his own frustrations if the lower Ranked player is able to keep the service games ticking over.

A loss of focus when things are not going his way have held Andrey Rublev back, but he has shown enough patience on a surface like this one to produce some solid returning numbers. The way he dealt with the Sebastian Ofner serve bodes well for Rublev, especially if he can continue to serve at the level he was showing in the First Round.

When these two met on the hard courts in Canada last summer in the build up to the US Open, Andrey Rublev did display that patience to come through a tough first set before moving clear in the second. He may need something similar in this match in Halle, but Andrey Rublev can eventually make his superior grass court qualities display that on the final scoreboard.

Sonay Kartal + 3.5 games v Katie Boulter: All credit has to be given to Sonay Kartal for the year she has put together, which means coming into this tournament as the World Number 50, her career best World Ranking mark. It also means direct entry into the main draw at Wimbledon, where she reached the Third Round last year and the 23 year old will feel there is more to come.

She will certainly want to get up to the kind of level that Katie Boulter has reached as the two British players prepare to face off in the Second Round in Nottingham.

Losing to Amanda Anisimova at Queen's last week will have been a blow for Sonay Kartal, although the form of the American cannot be dismissed. In the same tournament Katie Boulter was not able to build on taking the opening set against Diana Shnaider, but the World Number 39 looked pretty comfortable in her opening win here in Nottingham.

Both are pretty comfortable on the grass courts, which is no surprise, but it has been mentioned before that Katie Boulter has struggled for big wins on the surface.

That is not the case for Sonay Kartal, who beat the World Number 16 last week and who upset a couple of top 50 Ranked players in her run at Wimbledon last year.

Their sole previous match up on the Tour ended in a three set win for Katie Boulter on the grass courts of Surbiton a couple of years ago, but Sonay Kartal was much lower in the World Rankings on that occasion. There is not so much between them now and Sonay Kartal has the grass court qualities to at least keep this one competitive with the games being given to her.

MY PICKS: Carlos Alcaraz - 5.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet Fred (1 Unit)

Andrey Rublev - 3.5 Games @ 2.00 William Hill (1 Unit)

Sonay Kartal + 3.5 Games @ 1.80 William Hill (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 5-3, + 1.04 Units (8 Units Staked, + 13% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2025 (Wednesday 18th June)

A couple of rolls of the ball or a mishit here or there may have led to a perfect 5-0 start to the week for the Tennis Picks, but it was not to be for Joao Fonseca, who had late Break Point opportunities to win and cover.

Instead he was beaten in a third set tie-breaker, but Andrey Rublev had already done all that was expected from him earlier in the day in Halle and that has prevented this week having the same slide as last week following a strong start for the selections.

Moving onto Wednesday means more big names are in action and the majority of the tournaments being played will be into Second Round action over the next couple of days. There some First Round matches to clear up in Halle as the organisers gave a couple of Finalists from the end of last week a bit more time to prepare for their event, but in the main it is onto Second Round action in what are the last really big events before the start of Wimbledon a week on Monday.

Emma Navarro v Paula Badosa: Both of these players produced very solid First Round wins in Berlin and previous form on the grass courts should mean Emma Navarro and Paula Badosa are set for decent impacts when Wimbledon gets underway.

The more matches that can be played now could pay off in SW19 and so this is an important Second Round match.

Last week Emma Navarro was beaten at the same stage at Queens Club in London, while Paula Badosa is playing her first grass court event of 2025, and the performances that have been produced in the opening wins should have given each plenty of confidence.

At the same time, both Navarro and Badosa have struggled for some consistency in the last few months and so they will be looking to rebuild some of the lost confidence by having a strong run in Berlin.

Emma Navarro was a Wimbledon Quarter Finalist last year, and that had followed a Semi Final run in Bad Homburg. She has yet to really find the same level on the surface in the opening three matches played, but all three have been against decent players on the Tour and going 2-1 will certainly help the American believe that her tennis is in a good spot.

In the same two events in 2024, Paula Badosa reached the Fourth Round in SW19 and Quarter Final in Bad Homburg, and she looked in strong shape in crushing home hope Eva Lys in the First Round. This is a significant step upwards in terms of a challenge having split two matches with Emma Navarro last year with the Badosa win being on a clay court and the Navarro win coming at the US Open on the hard courts.

Paula Badosa has all of the attributes to be a really strong grass court player- the serve can be a huge weapon and she showed that she can get her teeth into the return last year and in the strong First Round win.

However, that will be tested by Emma Navarro if the World Number 9 is anywhere near her best and the match up with the Spaniard has been one that she has enjoyed.

This has the makings of a close Second Round match between two players separated by one place in the World Rankings and Emma Navarro can secure the upset. It was something of a surprise that she has been set as the pretty strong underdog, and the American can make use of the games being given to her on the handicap.

Jack Draper - 3.5 games v Alexei Popyrin: Over the last twelve months, Alexei Popyrin has perhaps picked up a better understanding of playing on the grass courts, although it is still a work in progress. He is going to be Seeded at Wimbledon later this month and Alexei Popyrin has won six of his last ten matches on the surface having gotten the better of compatriot Aleksandar Vukic in the First Round.

That followed an early loss in Hertogenbosch and there is little doubt that Alexei Popyrin is a very dangerous player on this surface as long as he serves as well as he can. Doing that makes it very difficult to get on top of him and Popyrin won a set in a Third Round loss to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon last year, which will have given him a lot of confidence to perform on this surface.

Playing in London means it is tennis season and Alexei Popyrin has had previous experience of facing a British player at Queens Club when losing to Andy Murray in what turned out to be the last Singles win of the latter's very strong career.

This time he has to face the British Number 1, who is also the World Number 6, and Jack Draper has all of the tools needed to be a very successful player on the surface.

He won a title on the grass in Stuttgart last year, but Draper was disappointingly beaten early at Wimbledon and so there has been a tweak of the schedule. This time Jack Draper decided to have some time off before Queens got underway and he was a very strong First Round winner.

Jack Draper's improvement on the Tour has been behind the strong lefty serve, and that is a weapon that is considerably more dangerous on a surface like this one. He should be able to largely contain the Alexei Popyrin threat when he is serving and that should allow Draper the freedom to try and attack the Australian, who has given up seventeen Break Points in two matches played on the grass this month.

When he is serving at his best, Alexei Popyrin can be very difficult to break- he held 89% of his service games on the grass courts in 2024. This is not an easy surface to break serve, but Jack Draper has had some decent numbers on the grass and he can use his own serve to put some scoreboard pressure on the lower Ranked player.

The home player can take some encouragement from the fact he was able to break the Alexei Popyrin twice on the hard courts of Doha earlier this season too and Draper may have enough to cover the spread in this one barring a significant serving improvement from the World Number 21.

Alexander Zverev - 3.5 games v Marcos Giron: It was something of a surprise to not see Marcos Giron's name on the draw sheet at either of the two grass court events played last week.

In recent years, the 31 year old has been a comfortable grass court player and he has had some big wins and solid runs on the surface.

He arrives in Halle to face the home favourite, Alexander Zverev, who is also fresh off of reaching the Stuttgart Final before being downed by Taylor Fritz again. This is also a player who has regularly reached the business end at this tournament in the build up to Wimbledon, although Zverev will have plenty of respect for the kind of tennis that Marcos Giron can produce on the grass.

The serve was key for Marcus Giron last year and it helped him win the ATP title in Newport, as well as reaching the Quarter Final here in Halle. During that summer on the grass, Giron was able to take a set from Jack Draper and beat Andrey Rublev, which are impressive performances and his runs were ended by top ten Ranked players here and at Wimbledon.

The second of those defeats was to Alexander Zverev, who dismissed Marcus Giron at SW19 far more easily than anyone could have really imagined.

It is the kind of win that will give Zverev confidence as he heads out onto the court on Wednesday following the loss in Stuttgart on Sunday and the only real concern is whether he is that motivated for another long week with Wimbledon fast approaching. Having those wins in Stuttgart could be a distraction for Alexander Zverev, even if he is going to be well backed by the fans in the stands, although the match up is hard to ignore.

He has won all three previous matches against Marcus Giron and the two wins in 2024 both came in straight sets.

Overall it has been a real challenge for the World Number 41 to get into the Alexander Zverev service games and that has put too much pressure on his own serve.

It should be noted that Alexander Zverev is not the most convincing of return players on the faster surfaces, but he should have enough chances in this First Round match to win and go through with a cover of this handicap mark.

MY PICKS: Emma Navarro + 2.5 Games @ 1.85 William Hill (1 Unit)

Jack Draper - 3.5 Games @ 1.85 William Hill (1 Unit)

Alexander Zverev - 3.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 4-1, + 2.32 Units (5 Units Staked, + 46.40% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2025 (Tuesday 17th June)

If last week is anything to go by, a good start doesn't mean much more than a positive start.

That is the case in this new week of tennis tournaments with the Monday selections returning a positive number, but building on that is important and there is a long way to go between today and the Final of the big events in Berlin, Halle and Queens.

We also have a WTA tournament being played in Nottingham, but the majority of the top names in action on that Tour have ended up in Berlin, which is highlighted by the fact that Elena Rybakina vs Qinwen Zheng is a First Round match.

That will be played on Tuesday, but the remaining First Round matches in Berlin look to have been priced up pretty well and instead the focus for the selections will be on the ATP 500 events being played.

All three selections were routine winners on Monday and the hope is that another stress-free, comfortable day for the Tennis Picks is had as we move to within two weeks of the start of Wimbledon.

Andrey Rublev - 2.5 games v Sebastian Ofner: It has been a difficult season for Andrey Rublev, but he will be hoping that the move back onto the grass courts can spark some kind of return to form.

The French Open was not a terrible tournament for Andrey Rublev, but he will be well aware that the grass is a much tougher surface for the majority of players on the Tour to deal with.

He has had previous successes on the surface, including reaching the Quarter Final at Wimbledon and the Final in Halle as recently as two years ago, and Andrey Rublev has a big game which does suit the grass.

There is no doubt that Andrey Rublev is going to have to produce some of his strongest tennis as he goes up against Sebastian Ofner, a player who has won two matches in the Qualifying Round to get his grass court season underway. Last year, the Austrian reached the Final in Mallorca in the build up to Wimbledon and Sebastian Ofner will feel his serve gives him a chance to stay in this match.

Andrey Rublev has had plenty of serving success on the grass courts, but the key factor in this First Round match in Halle is that the World Number 14 has found a way to get into return games with a little more consistency compared with Sebastian Ofner.

The latter has had plenty of grass court wins under his belt in recent years, which again has to be respected, but his numbers suffer a significant dip when only considering matches against top 100 Ranked players.

Sebastian Ofner's serve can keep him in the match, but the feeling is that Andrey Rublev will find a way to earn a couple of breaks, and that may be enough for a win and a cover.

Joao Fonseca - 2.5 games v Flavio Cobolli: Very little grass court experience has been had by Joao Fonseca who played six matches on the surface in 2024 and was beaten in four of those.

It is no surprise that the surface is unfamiliar to an 18 year old who has really begun to make a big impact on the Tour, but who has spent his youth in South America where the clay courts are the go-to surface.

Despite the win-loss record, Joao Fonseca played pretty well on the grass in 2024 and the development over the last twelve months could make him much more effective this time around.

Nothing was wrong with the return game in those handful of matches, but Joao Fonseca was not able to get enough out of his serve and that is something that may change when he gets underway in Halle. There is no doubt that the serve is improving for him all of the time and Joao Fonseca can at least put Flavio Cobolli under pressure in this First Round match.

Much like Fonseca, Flavio Cobolli is much more comfortable playing on the clay courts, but the Italian has moved into the top 30 of the World Rankings and is set to be Seeded at Wimbledon.

He may be one of the more vulnerable Seeds in the early Rounds in SW19, but Flavio Cobolli did reach the Eastbourne Quarter Final last year. His 3-4 record on the grass in 2024 is nothing to write home about, but Flavio Cobolli made use of his serve and that is going to be an important factor in this match.

The return needed some work with the ball skidding through the court much more than Flavio Cobolli would be used to, but he served well in his seven matches in 2024.

It will be given another examination by Joao Fonseca and the lower Ranked player may just have enough to get through this match and progress into the Second Round.

MY PICKS: Andrey Rublev - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

Joao Fonseca - 2.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 3-0, + 2.41 Units (3 Units Staked, + 80.33% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2025 (Monday 16th June)

After a positive start to last week, it took a historic failure from Ekaterina Alexandrova to help end the week with a negative number.

It was a hugely frustrating Friday and Saturday considering the chances that the players selected had created.

Sometimes you have to accept you've made a poor selection, but when those players picked have more than double the number of Break Points compared with their opponents, but can't convert, it really is a case of bad luck and that can be very frustrating and disappointing.

Over the last month, it has felt like some of the luck needed for any Pick has been missing, although I have to be happier that the read on the matches has been about right.

Again, if a player is creating two or three times as many Break Points as the opponent, it means they are playing well enough to win matches in the manner expected, rather than missing the majority of those and handing over breaks of serve to scupper the selections. You have to believe that will change back around as long as players are not finding ways to blow matches when having ELEVEN Match Points come and go.

It is a really big week on the grass with some of the very best names on the Tour playing in events to get themselves ready for Wimbledon.

The WTA draw in Berlin looks incredibly loaded with the top talents, while the two Men's Finalists at Roland Garros are also back in action ahead of the start of the third Grand Slam of the season.

There should be plenty of good tennis to watch for the fans, but I hope that is backed up by a decent week for the Tennis Picks, which have suffered over the last three weeks.

Emma Navarro v Marta Kostyuk: She may be the World Number 10, but it has not been a strong calendar year for Emma Navarro and she is looking for some consistency to take into Wimbledon.

There are plenty of World Ranking points to protect in SW19 after a surprising run to the Quarter Final in 2024 and Emma Navarro as shown a liking to playing on the grass.

However, her inconsistent season was all on display at Queens last week where Emma Navarro was able to get past Beatriz Haddad Maia in a tough match before losing to Amanda Anisimova, the eventual Runner Up. The first serve was not working as well as Navarro would have been hoping last week and that has put pressure on ther return.

She is at least going up against an opponent in the First Round in Berlin who has not played a grass court match this season and Marta Kostyuk has not always been at her most comfortable on the surface.

Her numbers over the last couple of years on the grass have been a little disappointing and the early exit at the French Open will have knocked the confidence of the World Number 26. Over the last twelve months, Marta Kostyuk has dropped ten places in the World Rankings and the match up with Emma Navarro has been a tough one for her.

Both previous matches have been played on the hard courts and Emma Navarro is leading the head to head 2-0 as she has been able to get her teeth into the return games with a little more consistency. On the grass, you would have to give Navarro a bit more of an edge and she can win this match in the opening Round in Berlin.

Katerina Siniakova - 4.5 games v Viktoriya Tomova: Qualifying for the main draw should stand Katerina Siniakova in good stead in this First Round match and the World Number 73 should be able to display all of her grass court capabilities in this contest.

Being a strong Doubles player certainly helps on this surface where getting up to the net and putting the finishing touch to rallies can be important.

Katerina Siniakova was beaten early in Hertogenbosch, which will have been a disappointment, but the two wins here in Berlin should have given her a lot of confidence. She has not only served effectively in those wins, but Siniakova has had her eye in when it comes to the return and she has been creating a lot of Break Point chances in those wins.

Viktoriya Tomova will know all about the qualities of her opponent having been beaten twice by her on the Tour, including earlier this season on a hard court.

Despite being Ranked lower than Siniakova, Viktoriya Tomova was not forced to go through Qualifying and that means her sole match on the grass was a defeat in Hertogenbosch to eventual Champion Elise Mertens. That defeat does not look so bad after Mertens went on to lift the title, but Tomova has been a little inconsistent on the grass courts over the last few seasons.

The handicap mark is a significant one and that will need to be respected, but the feeling is that Katerina Siniakova can use the momentum of Qualifying to get the better of this opponent.

She has been the significantly better server in the head to head matches too and Katerina Siniakova can come away with a solid First Round win.

Alexander Bublik - 2.5 games v Alexandre Muller: The surprising run at Roland Garros may have ended in a relatively one-sided defeat, but Alexander Bublik will have taken so much from that performance.

In recent years his numbers on the grass courts have been impressive, even if the win-loss record could, and perhaps should, have been improved and that confidence from the second Grand Slam could set Alexander Bublik up for a very good third Grand Slam of the season.

There may be an outside chance of earning a Seed for Wimbledon with a big run in Halle, but the reality is that Alexander Bublik is still going to be dangerous with his capabilities of playing on a surface that so many find alien.

He returns for the first time since the French Open and Alexander Bublik can get the better of Alexandre Muller in the First Round.

The latter enters the tournament as the World Number 40, which is above Alexander Bublik, but Alexandre Muller has not really not enjoyed the grass court season.

The Frenchman has a career 3-5 record on the surface, but Muller can serve pretty well at times and that should show up on the grass courts. In those eight previous matches, Alexandre Muller has only won 58% of his service points played, but two of those matches have been against top 5 Ranked players and he has had stronger returning numbers when facing opponents that are not Ranked that high.

Alexander Bublik can be tough to trust- he is certainly someone who has to have got out of bed the right side on the morning of his match- but he does have solid serving numbers on the grass. If he can stick to that kind of level, Bublik can keep this opponent under some pressure and that may see him find a break or two that is needed to win and cover this handicap mark set.

MY PICKS: Emma Navarro @ 1.95 William Hill (1 Unit)

Katerina Siniakova - 4.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Alexander Bublik - 2.5 Games @ 1.66 Bet365 (1 Unit)

2025 Season: 93-79, + 6.75 Units (210 Units Staked, + 3.21% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2025 (Saturday 14th June)

I guess I should have been wary of Friday the 13th with both selections falling down the wayside, but the Semi Final Round has been reached at the four big tournaments being played and that offers an opportunity to bounce back.

Elena Rybakina never really got close to covering, but Madison Keys had her chances and was effectively punished for a slow start, even if she couldn't care less having found a way to bounce back and progress past Diana Shnaider.

These early grass court matches could be invaluable for those players who are competing before Wimbledon and all that are still involved this week will be looking to secure a title and important World Ranking points to take forward.

Ekaterina Alexandrova - 1.5 games v Elise Mertens: Two of the top three Seeds have worked their way through to the Hertogenbosch Semi Final and the winner of this match is going to be a favourite to win the title on Sunday.

You can't argue with the form that Elise Mertens has put together in her three wins in the tournament with a bagel handed out in each of the three matches played. The World Number 25 has yet to drop a set and Mertens has to be really happy with the quality of serving she has produced in the tournament.

It was not the most productive of clay court seasons for the Belgian, but she is a comfortable grass court performer.

Winning matches will always give a player confidence and winning in the manner that Elise Mertens has been doing in Hertogenbosch can only add to that belief. However, it should be noted that all of the players she has faced in the tournament have been Ranked between 76 and 85 and so facing the Number 2 Seed is going to be a significant increase in level of opponent.

It also becomes a much tougher test for Elise Mertens when noting how well Ekaterina Alexandrova has been able to play on the grass in recent years.

An illness forced her to miss Wimbledon in 2024, but the World Number 15 reached the Fourth Round in SW19 in 2023 and she is set for another strong run.

Ekaterina Alexandrova has been given more of a test to reach the Hertogenbosch Semi Final, but she will have benefited from that and has a win over a player Ranked inside the top 40. The second serve needs to be given a bit more protection if Alexandrova is going to win the title here, but she will be confident when facing an opponent she has gotten the better of more often than not in previous matches.

The higher Ranked player has won three of the four previous matches against Elise Mertens, although they are meeting on grass for the first time.

Those wins can still play an important mental role and Ekaterina Alexandrova has really enjoyed playing at this tournament, which will also help. She won back to back titles here in Hertogenbosch in 2022 and 2023 before losing in the Semi Final last year and Ekaterina Alexandrova can get the better of Elise Mertens and move through to the Final with a solid win behind her.

Elena Gabriela Ruse - 1.5 games v Elisabetta Cocciaretto: The higher Ranked player coming into this Semi Final is Elena Gabriela Ruse, but she was forced to win a couple of Qualifying matches to take her place in the main draw.

In some situations that may not feel ideal, but Elena Gabriela Ruse has used the momentum to shine through to the Semi Final in Hertogenbosch having won all of her matches in straight sets.

It should be noted that the World Number 80 has not really faced a deep competition to reach this Round, although the win over Bianca Andreescu in the Quarter Final deserves respect. The latter is returning from another injury layoff though and Elena Gabriela Ruse has won matches perhaps as she should do considering the Ranking of the opponents.

She is facing another player Ranked outside the top 100 in this Semi Final, but Elisabetta Cocciaretto has won a couple of matches against players Ranked higher than herself to take her own place in the final four.

Like her opponent, there has not been a deep appreciation of the grass as far as Elisabetta Cocciaretto is concerned, but she will have gained confidence from the level she has been producing here this week.

Both have served well, which has to happen on this surface, but it is Elena Gabriela Ruse who has been offering up a bit more on the return.

In a close match, that could be key and Ruse has shown a bit more on the grass in the last couple of years, and she could keep the momentum going in what has been a really strong week.

MY PICKS: Ekaterina Alexandrova - 1.5 Games @ 1.72 William Hill (1 Unit)

Elena Gabriela Ruse - 1.5 Games @ 1.72 William Hill (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 3-2, + 0.65 Units (5 Units Staked, + 13% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2025 (Friday 13th June)

The French Open frustration was largely built on the fact that too many matches had seen players dominate the Break Points, but find a way to miss out on winning those important points.

It felt like something of a hangover from that when the opening Pick of the week struggled to get over the line, despite having the better of the chances.

However, Diana Shnaider was able to rally together in time to produce the win needed and Elena Rybakina was then able to save some late Break Points to earn another winner.

Emma Raducanu rounded out the day, even after blowing a 5-0 lead in the first set, and that has produced a solid opener to the grass court season.

There is still some work to do to secure a positive return for the week, but that start at least puts a solid foundation to build upon.

Madison Keys - 2.5 games v Diana Shnaider: The opening Quarter Final at Queens looks a very good looking match on Friday and both Madison Keys and Diana Shnaider have had solid victories under their belt over the last few days.

Playing on the grass after a long grass court season can be challenging, but having those matches, and wins, to fall back upon should mean Keys and Shnaider are pretty happy with where they are.

Madison Keys was Seeded through to the Second Round and won her match on Wednesday, which means having had a day of rest ahead of the Quarter Final. That should be a help, while the fact that Diana Shnaider was pushed into a third set in her own Second Round win over Katie Boulter could leave the youngster a little vulnerable.

She has won a title on the grass in 2024 and so Diana Shnaider will enter the court with some confidence.

Serving well is going to be the key for the World Number 12 and the first two matches have shown enough from Diana Shnaider to believe she can give Madison Keys something to think about. Playing the Break Points with a bit more confidence will be important and Diana Shnaider has to be careful that she is not offering up too many looks at her second serve.

There is no doubt that Madison Keys is going to be serving well- this is a big part of her tennis and over the years the serve has been a key weapon for Keys on the grass. She has enjoyed some quality runs at Wimbledon and there is a new confidence around Madison Keys since winning the Australian Open earlier this year.

One of the criticisms of the American has been on the return of serve as Madison Keys has struggled with the balance needed to be really effective on this surface.

However, Keys got her eye in during the Second Round win and she did have too much for Diana Shnaider when they met in Miami in March 2024.

The younger player is much improved fifteen months later, but Madison Keys may just have the grass court know-how to get the better of Diana Shnaider again.

Elena Rybakina - 5.5 games v Tatjana Maria: At 37 years old, you can forgive Tatjana Maria if she is considering ending her time on the Tour at the end of the season, especially having lost more matches than she has won over the last twelve months.

Slipping down the World Rankings and having to Qualify for some of the important events on the Tour may not be something that Tatjana Maria is prepared to do, although her run at Queens will certainly help.

Her run is set to take her back inside the top 80 of the World Rankings, but Maria will be thinking about more than that.

It would mean upsetting a former Wimbledon Champion- Elena Rybakina won the title in 2022, but it was also a memorable tournament for Tatjana Maria who reached the Semi Final and was a set away from beating Ons Jabeur. Four wins here in Queens, including two against top 30 Ranked players, will have given Tatjana Maria confidence and her previous grass exploits deserve respect.

At the same time this is another significant test for the underdog, especially if Elena Rybakina has just found her range back on the grass court.

Only late nerves added some drama to the Second Round win over Heather Watson, but Elena Rybakina was very good on the day and she will have gained plenty from having that grass court match. Her game is tailored to be very effective on this surface and the Quarter Final could follow a similar pattern to the Second Round win.

Elena Rybakina will know there are some improvements to be made- she will need to do better on the second serve and the returning numbers can be improved, but the power in her tennis is hard to ignore.

A tough opening set is to be expected, but Elena Rybakina can find a way to move in front and then perhaps power through the second set, much like she did against Heather Watson.

The only previous match between Elena Rybakina and Tatjana Maria ended with the former coming through 7-5, 6-0 on a hard court at the back end of 2023. This one is unlikely to be as wide as that, but Elena Rybakina could still cover the handicap mark that has been set.

MY PICKS: Madison Keys - 2.5 Games @ 1.66 William Hill (1 Unit)

Elena Rybakina - 5.5 Games @ 2.00 William Hill (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 3-0, + 2.65 Units (3 Units Staked, + 88.33% Yield)