My biggest problem with the Tour at the beginning of a new season is trying to find a way to watch the matches, particularly with the early tournaments that are not necessarily covered very well. That means I have only see bits and pieces of the action so far this week, but at least I can get up a little earlier these days and watch whatever I have recorded during my sleep.
That will be the case for the early matches next week at the Australian Open too, although hopefully the majority of the courts will be covered by Eurosport so I shouldn't miss too much of the action. Of course, it does mean that the 'big' players are shown more than the competitive matches without the ability to switch on the other courts until I get up, but that's the way it goes I suppose.
Yesterday proved to be a mixed bag of results which has ended with a slight loss for the day. Hopefully these early struggles will be replaced soon enough by a good run of form, but I was least happy to see Philipp Kohlschreiber make it through to the Second Round in Auckland.
Sam Stosur - 4.5 games v Kristina Mladenovic: Backing Sam Stosur in Australia has proved to be a poor choice over the last few years for her fans but this looks a match up that she should still be able to take advantage of and move through to the Quarter Finals in Hobart.
I don't what it is about being back home, but it hasn't sat well with Stosur who lost 3 of her 4 matches in this portion of the season last year, while she has begun this year with 3 straight losses at the Hopman Cup in Singles action.
The serve is still her strength though and I think that is a key difference between her and the up and coming Kristina Mladenovic.
Mladenovic is moving up the Rankings on the WTA Tour and has shown her ability when pushing Maria Sharapova in a loss at Wimbledon, while the hard courts are also her favourite surface. However, she has found herself coming up a little short when it comes to the best players on the Tour as she builds experience and I think Stosur will have opportunities to break the serve as long as she can relieve the pressure with easy holds of serve.
The form in Australia is one concern for Stosur backers, while Mladenovic is capable of serving very well, but I still believe the home favourite comes through with a 64, 63 win.
Sara Errani - 4.5 games v Tsvetana Pironkova: On first glance, this could look like a big spread for Sara Errani to cover, but she is playing the erratic Tsvetana Pironkova who has played plenty of tennis already this week as she has come through the qualifiers.
I can see why Pironkova has dropped out of the top 100 in the World Rankings as she had a terrible year in 2013 and I still don't believe she is consistent enough to see off someone like Sara Errani that makes life so difficult for her opponents.
Errani will look to force Pironkova to play closer to the lines and that can lead to mistakes, although I do think the latter also has the power to at least cause some trouble when it comes to the Italian holding serve. That is the aspect that worries me a little in this one, but Errani has played well so far this week and I do think she can come through with a 62, 64 win.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands v Madison Keys: If you take away the image of a girl playing in a wild range of clothing, Bethanie Mattek-Sands is actually a pretty decent Singles player that has shown signs of improving over the last twelve months.
I think she can get the better of her compatriot, Madison Keys, in this Quarter Final where the layers are very unsure as to who will win. Mattek-Sands has the ability to at least pressure the Keys serve, the youngster's big weapon, and that could give her the chance to beat her here.
If Mattek-Sands can continue winning points on the Keys serve in the manner she has in the last two matches between these two, she will give herself every chance to win this match, but she has to continue serving well.
Coming through the qualifiers can be tough as the tennis does catch up with you with this tournament being played through quickly to get it done before the Australian Open begins, but Mattek-Sands has shown enough to think she can deal with it. She reached the Semi Finals in Stuttgart from that situation last year and I think she can at least match that performance with a tight win in this one.
Bernard Tomic - 4.5 games v Blaz Kavcic: I was very surprised to see Blaz Kavcic come through his match with Jarkko Nieminen yesterday in straight sets, but he will have to serve better if he is to beat Bernard Tomic here.
In a career that has yet to really take off, Bernard Tomic did win the title in Sydney twelve months ago and got off to a flyer in the defence of that title with a comprehensive win over Marcel Granollers.
Tomic has a decent serve, although I think there is room for improvement considering how tall he is, and has the grind it out style that can cause plenty of problems for those players outside of the top 100. He will have to deal with a confident Kavcic who has now won 4 matches in a row here after coming through the qualifiers, but it is a big ask for the Slovenian in front of a crowd that will be firmly behind Tomic.
The spread is perhaps a tad high considering the brittle nature of Tomic's game at times, but I think the home support will focus him enough to come through 63, 64.
MY PICKS: Sam Stosur - 4.5 Games @ 2.05 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Sara Errani - 4.5 Games @ 1.95 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Bethanie Mattek-Sands @ 1.90 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Bernard Tomic - 4.5 Games @ 2.00 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Weekly Update: 2-3, - 0.42 Units (7 Units Staked, - 6% Yield)
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