It turned out to be a much better day yesterday for the picks, although it has been a tough week to open the tournament. My biggest saving grace has been the serene progress of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the Men's event, while Maria Sharapova and Na Li continue to be amongst the leading contenders in the Women's event.
Today we well see the start of the Fourth Round matches and hopefully it will be the beginning of a fine end to the tournament.
Day 8 Picks:
Stanislas Wawrinka v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: This is a rematch of their Third Round clash here at Roland Garros from last season. On that occasion, Stanislas Wawrinka had to fight back from 2-1 down in sets to down Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in five sets.
This is a hard match to predict as Wawrinka has already spent a lot of time on court during the tournament already, but I do think he has the edge on the clay courts over Tsonga.
The Frenchman is a dangerous player, but he has been a little up and down with his performances so far in the tournament and his comments about having 'no chance' of winning the event before it started makes me question how he would react if he fell behind in the match.
Wawrinka will feel a little happier with the match up compared with Gilles Simon in the last round as he will not necessarily need to hit as many shots to find winners as Tsonga is almost certain to provide errors as he will be going for his own shots.
Like the Juan Monaco match with Milos Raonic yesterday, I think the wrong person has been made the underdog and so I will back the Swiss Number 2 to cause the minor surprise.
Tomas Berdych v Juan Martin Del Potro: Tomas Berdych has been made the underdog for this contest, but anyone who saw Juan Martin Del Potro against Marin Cilic will surely feel the Argentinian is there for the taking as he has looked fatigued and severely hampered by his knee injury.
Berdych has the serve and powerful groundstrokes to really pressure Del Potro in this contest and I think he is being a little under-rated as he had to have the trainer look at him in the last round.
However, I think the Czech player has played the more solid tennis in the tournament so far, while he also has the mental momentum after beating Del Potro in straight sets earlier this season in Madrid. Del Potro will want to finish this match as soon as possible, but I don't think Berdych will allow him to do so and that could be the difference between the players.
As with my first pick, I think the wrong player is the underdog and will back Berdych to spring the surprise win.
Svetlana Kuznetsova - 2.5 games v Sara Errani: Both of these players come into the match off of surprising upsets of players, but I think it was Svetlana Kuznetsova that was the more impressive as she dismissed Agnieska Radwanska with absolute disdain.
Sara Errani had an impressive win over Ana Ivanovic despite losing the first set of that match. However, she was helped massively by a poor couple of sets played by the Serbian and I don't think she will be so fortunate in this one.
There is the danger that Kuznetsova could have a let down performance, but that is less of a concern as Errani is in the same spot. The Italian has also definitely been the player in better form this season, but Kuznetsova has clearly gained a lot of confidence from her win over Radwanska and the draw seems to opened up a little for her.
Kuznetsova has also won all 5 previous meetings against Errani, including 3 in the last 12 months and the Russian would have covered this spread in every one of those matches. Kuznetsova beat Errani 6-4, 6-3 in Auckland earlier this season, but they haven't played on clay before. However, I think Kuznetsova is more than comfortable on the surface and I expect her to come through this test.
Dominika Cibulkova + 4.5 games v Victoria Azarenka: Anyone who read my outright preview of the tournament will know I said this is the potential upset in the top half of the Women's draw as Dominika Cibulkova seems to give Victoria Azarenka fits.
The last five meetings between the players have all needed a final set decider to separate them, although Azarenka has generally had the best of their matches with 7 wins from 8 matches played.
Cibulkova missed match points in Miami when they met earlier this season and she has been playing well enough in the tournament to suggest she can give Azarenka plenty to think about. The World Number 1 has also been looking a little vulnerable of late and so the games in hand looks the call in a match that could potentially go all the way again.
The Slovakian would have done enough to cover this spread in their last 4 matches, although she would not have in their first 4 meetings, and I think she has enough confidence and belief in her game that she can cause a surprise in this one. I'll be happy enough if she can play Azarenka close.
MY PICKS: Stanislas Wawrinka @ 2.15 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Tomas Berdych @ 2.17 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Svetlana Kuznetsova - 2.5 games @ 1.92 Bet365 (2 Units)
Dominika Cibulkova + 4.5 games @ 1.85 Pinnacle (2 Units)
FRENCH OPEN UPDATE: 14-17, - 0.78 Units (58 Units Staked)
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