Tennis Picks August 1st (London Olympics Day 5 and Washington)

Sabine Lisicki + 4.5 games v Maria Sharapova: This is a rematch of one of the surprise results from the tournament at Wimbledon and I am a little surprised that Sabine Lisicki is given such a head start considering her form on the grass courts.

I don't like under-estimating Maria Sharapova, but Lisicki has the game that can cause her to feel a lot of pressure and has also overcome the mental burden of never having beaten the Russian in three previous meetings before their latest one.

Lisicki also earned a tough win in the last Round against Yaroslava Shvedova and should be confident having reached the Quarter Final at Wimbledon the year after reaching the Semi Final.

Sharapova is also very comfortable on the grass courts and this match has all the makings of being a close one that could potentially need a deciding set to separate the players. In that case, taking the games at a little under odds against looks the call.

Feliciano Lopez v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: This is a pick made on the basis that Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had an extremely long match yesterday that ended with a record breaking third set at the Olympic Games.

I just think Feliciano Lopez is being under-rated anyway considering his form on the grass courts in his career. He has posted wins over the likes of Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick over the last couple of season although I do have a concern with his form in recent weeks.

Still, there has to be a mental obstacle for Tsonga to get past in this match, while physically he has to be a little tired after his exploits yesterday.

Lopez has lost all three previous matches against Tsonga, but the long nature of the Frenchman's Second Round match makes me think it is definitely worth a small interest play and could give us a run for our money.

Marcos Baghdatis + 4.5 games v Andy Murray: As I said with the Sabine Lisicki pick, I think Marcos Baghdatis is being under-rated here considering how much trouble he gave Andy Murray in their match at Wimbledon, particularly in the first three sets.

He has Miles Maclagen in his corner so will have the inside information on Murray and Baghdatis is also very adept at playing on the grass courts despite having a couple of downward years on the Tour.

Generally these players do match up well against one another and that makes for close contests and, with that in mind, getting 4.5 games looks pretty big.

It wouldn't surprise me greatly if Baghdatis is able to take this into a decider and that may be enough for the cover to come in.

MY PICKS: Sabine Lisicki + 4.5 games @ 1.92 Bet 365 (2 Units)

Feliciano Lopez @ 4.00 Stan James (1 Unit)

Marcos Baghdatis + 4.5 games @ 1.80 Ladbrokes (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 4-6, - 1.92 Units (18 Units Staked)