The tournament in Washington, which is an ATP 500 event, will be beginning on Monday, but any picks from that event will be made tomorrow once all the markets are up.
Santiago Giraldo - 1.5 games v Steve Darcis: Steve Darcis caused the biggest surprise of First Round in the Olympics when he knocked out Tomas Berdych, my dark horse pick.
That may have seen his chances of winning this match being a little over-rated and I do like the Colombian, who was an impressive straight sets winner over Ryan Harrison in the First Round, to come through this one.
First off, Darcis may just have a let down performance after playing so effectively against Berdych and he is still the same player that was beaten in five sets by Guillermo Rufin in the First Round at Wimbledon and he failed to qualify for that Grand Slam last year.
Santiago Giraldo has also won his two previous meetings against Darcis, although he doesn't have the best grass court pedigree. However, Giraldo has a decent serve and a solid ground game and I think he is going to be a little too good for Darcis in this one.
Gilles Simon - 1.5 games v Grigor Dimitrov: Gilles Simon has perhaps been better known outside of tennis circles as the 'evil man who dared to suggest equal pay is stupid at Grand Slam level', but it shouldn't be forgotten that he is a former top 10 player.
To be honest, I think Simon's style is quite off-putting as he seems to prefer keeping the ball in play as long as possible and waiting for errors rather than putting the front foot forward and trying to outright win points.
He might still be too consistent for Grigor Dimitrov at this stage of their careers and he does hold a 3-0 head to head over 'Baby Federer' including a straight sets win over him in Nice earlier this season.
Simon also holds a win over Dimitrov on the grass courts and I think he is worth backing to move to 4-0 against the Bulgarian in this Second Round match.
Jeremy Chardy - 2.5 games v Edouard Roger-Vasselin: This is one of the matches taking place at the tournament in Washington and I like Jeremy Chardy to be too strong for his compatriot in the First Round match.
Chardy is moving up the Rankings after struggling last season and I think he has shown enough form in recent weeks to suggest he will be too good for Edouard Roger-Vasselin in this one. Roger-Vasselin also had to pull out with a stomach issue from the tournament in Gstaad a couple of weeks ago so he could also be a little rusty.
Roger-Vasselin does lead the head to head 2-1, but it was Chardy who won their last meeting. That also occurred on a hard court, the only meeting that has been played on a surface other than clay, and I think Chardy may be a little too good in this one too.
MY PICKS: Santiago Giraldo - 1.5 games @ 2.18 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Gilles Simon - 1.5 games @ 2.13 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Jeremy Chardy - 2.5 games @ 1.95 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Weekly Update: 1-3, - 2.98 Units (7 Units Staked)
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