Tennis Picks 2018 (April 9th)

The Davis Cup Quarter Final ties are in the books and so is a very strong week for the Tennis Picks which ended in a 9-2 record and moved the season totals back up to the position they were before the Indian Wells Masters tournament in March.

We now fully move into the clay court season with four tournaments played this week and all on the red dirt.

The majority of the top names on both the ATP and WTA Tours won't be in action this week, although this is a good chance for those just below the elite level to pick up some vital Ranking points and confidence to take into the events coming up. Next week is the first really big tournament of this part of the season at the Monte Carlo Masters and then we will move onto other big events in Barcelona and Stuttgart before the end of April.

And then May will see plenty of big matches with a couple of Masters events in Madrid and Rome before the French Open begins the day after the UEFA Champions League Final.


On Monday we have the tournaments from this week all beginning with First Round action at all of those events. As in most cases, Monday's tend to be the quietest day of the week with Qualifiers being completed and not as many main draw matches scheduled.

However I do have one pick from Monday in a bid to get this week off to a positive start. Like last week, I won't necessarily have Tennis Picks every day unless the matches hit enough of my confidence factor to make a play.


Henri Laaksonen v Dustin Brown: This is essentially a pick 'em First Round match between two players who perhaps are not the most comfortable on the clay courts.

However I do like the improvement Henri Laaksonen has made on the surface over the last couple of years and I do think he has passed veteran Dustin Brown on the slower courts.

Brown is really good fun to watch with his throwback style mixed in with flashiness around the court, but the flash shots do mean that he isn't always playing the 'right' shot. He may hit a few winners that surprises opponents and the serve will still be a big shot for him on any surface, but Laaksonen has to feel he can get the better of Brown as soon as he gets through the initial storm in any rally.

The younger player has also managed to look after this serve well enough to feel he is going to have the better of this match and I will back him to win this one.

This is the first match on the clay courts in 2018 for Laaksonen, but he played well on the surface in the last couple of years with the improving numbers on both the serve and return making me believe he is moving in a positive direction. On the other hand Brown's numbers have not been as impressive on this surface and I will look for Laaksonen to get through to the Second Round against his Wild Card opponent.

MY PICKS: Henri Laaksonen @ 1.83 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Season 2018: + 20.62 Units (450 Units Staked, + 4.58% Yield)