Indian Wells Tennis Picks 2016 (March 17th)

After the first two picks from Wednesday Indian Wells didn't come through, it could have been a really poor day in the office for the picks to affect the weekly totals.

Thankfully the other three picks played later in the evening all managed to come through to at least keep the positive momentum behind this tournament with a few days left to go.


On Thursday there are four Quarter Finals scheduled to be played, but I am not exactly enthusiastic, from a picks perspective, for three of those. I think they will be very competitive on the court, especially the two Masters Quarter Finals that are played today, but the one pick comes from the WTA Premier Event.


Karolina Pliskova - 1.5 games v Daria Kasatkina: The layers are expecting a very close match between Karolina Pliskova and Daria Kasatkina and I don't think they are far wrong. However I do think the favourite will progress to the Semi Final and should be able to just about get over this number even though I am expecting a three set Quarter Final here.

When it comes down the pure talent the two players possess, I do lean towards Daria Kasatkina but I think she is still learning her craft. The other edge that Karolina Pliskova has at this moment is the superior serve which can prove to be a huge advantage on the WTA Tour when you are able to earn a few more cheaper points and reduce the pressure that is built up during a match.

There is no doubting that Kasatkina is going to improve her World Ranking in the coming months if she can continue to show the form she has over the last month. She has had some very strong wins and her victory over Monica Puig in a third set tie-breaker shows she is able to handle the pressure, while Kasatkina has made no secret of her desire to compete with the very best players on the Tour.

I do think she will give Pliskova a few problems in this one, but ultimately I think the Czech player might have a few more 'easier' service games which gives her the edge. I won't be surprised if we need three sets to separate these players in this Quarter Final but I believe Karolina Pliskova is going to win this one 63, 36, 64 to move into the Semi Final.

MY PICKS: Karolina Pliskova - 1.5 Games @ 1.91 Paddy Power (2 Units)

Indian Wells Update: 26-15, + 17.92 Units (82 Units Staked, + 21.85% Yield)