The draw for the US Open is made on Thursday morning Eastern Time and so the attention has shifted to the final Grand Slam of the season, but the Quarter Finals in New Haven and Winston Salem are also set for Thursday.
There might be eight matches to be played today, but I can only find picks from two of them.
Thomaz Bellucci - 3.5 games v Malek Jaziri: Both of these players should have built some confidence this week having won at least a couple of matches to reach the Quarter Final and this is a good chance to pick up some vital Ranking points too.
Both Thomaz Bellucci and Malek Jaziri will see this as a very winnable Quarter Final and chances to reach the Semi Final of an ATP event have to be taken when presented like this. Bellucci has had the tougher summer on the North American hard courts, but that is also because he has been playing at a much higher level than Jaziri for the most part and dealing with the better quality should give him an edge in this match.
The Brazilian has had to dig deep to win his two matches this week which have both gone to three sets, but he should still have enough in the tank to see of Jaziri. However, I have to respect the fact that wins breed confidence and Jaziri has done a lot of winning over the last couple of weeks which makes him a dangerous opponent.
Even with that in mind, Bellucci has served well enough in his win over Jiri Vesely on Wednesday to think he can keep Jaziri under pressure and he will get chances to break serve. With a little more focus through the match, Bellucci can win this one 64, 64.
Karolina Pliskova - 3.5 games v Lesia Tsurenko: She might be a Lucky Loser, but Lesia Tsurenko is a very dangerous opponent for Karolina Pliskova having reached the Quarter Final in Cincinnati last week. She put together a couple of very good wins in Cincinnati and Tsurenko also won the title in Istanbul over the last six weeks so is clearly going into the US Open with a lot of momentum behind her.
The defeat in the final Qualifier to Yulia Putintseva was very disappointing in the manner it came about, but Tsurenko was back to form with her win over Barbora Strycova in the Second Round.
Karolina Pliskova has to know this isn't going to be an easy match for her, but the World Number 8 was an impressive winner herself on Wednesday and did reach the Final in Stanford over the last six weeks. The problem for Pliskova has come in the two Premier Events in Toronto and Cincinnati where she failed to really fire, but she is a momentum player and has that behind her here in New Haven.
A tough match is in prospect in this Quarter Final, but I think Tsurenko has played a lot of tennis of late and that might see a bit of fatigue set in. If that is the case, I expect Pliskova will find a way to battle through with a 64, 64 win and move into another Semi Final on the North American hard courts.
MY PICKS: Thomaz Bellucci - 3.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Karolina Pliskova - 3.5 Games @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Weekly Update: 4-2, + 2.98 Units (12 Units Staked, + 24.83% Yield)
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