Tennis Picks 2015 (April 9th)

It was a frustrating Wednesday for the tennis picks that I made, mainly because they were bad picks on my part and that bothers me more than when a little luck goes against them. Bad luck can at least be justified by picks getting into winning positions, but bad picks which have no chance of ending in the winner's enclosure from early on are much more irritating.


Caroline Garcia - 2.5 games v Lucie Hradecka: Lucie Hradecka spent the majority of her time last season playing on the level below the main Tour when it came to clay court events, but she has already surpassed that with a strong week in Charleston.

She had to come from a set down to beat Zarina Diyas in the last Round, but the level of competition will increase again as Hradecka takes on Caroline Garcia in this Third Round match.

Garcia had a couple of really good runs on the clay courts last season and her tough win in the last Round should stand her in good stead for the remainder of this week. I think she has the better movement than Hradecka which is obviously very important on the clay courts when play can shift from side to side in extended rallies, but Garcia also has plenty of firepower to rely upon.

I do respect the fact that Hradecka can produce some big tennis and four wins this week will have given her plenty of confidence to take going forward, but Garcia is the better player with more upside and I expect her to come through 76, 64.


Kirsten Flipkens + 3.5 games v Monica Niculescu: Monica Niculescu crushed Kirsten Flipkens in Antwerp earlier this season, but I am looking for the latter to be a lot more competitive in this match in Katowice.

Both players have come through a Round in impressive fashion so far and neither player has the overwhelming power to expect to dominate, although Niculescu showed her variation can extract the errors from the Flipkens game.

Even though this is played on an indoor hard court, the rallies might be long and gruelling with a lot of slicing and dicing used by both players. Flipkens has picked up a few more wins since her defeat to Niculescu in Antwerp and I think that will help her compete better from a mental standpoint at the very least.

Taking a set should give Flipkens a good chance to at least stay within this number and I do think she has a real chance of overturning the recent match in Antwerp and win this one outright.

MY PICKS: Caroline Garcia - 2.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Kirsten Flipkens + 3.5 Games @ 1.92 Bet Fred (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 3-3, - 0.48 Units (12 Units Staked, - 4% Yield)