Tennis Picks 2018 (June 15th)

After a mixed Wednesday, Thursday proved to be another effective day of Tennis Picks with the five completed matches returning four winners.

One of the matches, Kirsten Flipkens vs Kiki Bertens, was postponed until Friday in Hertogenbosch as the weather has affected the WTA tournament being played there. That is one of a couple of matches that has to be competed on Friday in the Second Round with the winning player scheduled to play again later in the day in the Quarter Final.

The rest of the tournaments being played this week have all reached the Quarter Final Round and there are plenty of matches scheduled for Friday as all of those tournaments reach the business end of the week.


Richard Gasquet - 2.5 games v Stefanos Tsitsipas: It is going to be very interesting to see the development of Stefanos Tsitsipas in the years ahead, but I think he is being priced up in this Quarter Final as someone who has already begun to prove himself on all surfaces.

All credit has to be given to Tsitsipas for what was a strong run on the clay courts which is an important step in his development, but he is yet to show he can consistently produce on the other surfaces. Playing on the grass courts are perhaps the steepest of the learning curves for players who are not accustomed to the surface and Tsitsipas is going to get a tough lesson from Richard Gasquet on Friday.

You have to also respect the fact that Tsitsipas has won two matches here, but both have come against players who are someway inferior to Gasquet on the grass courts and both wins were closer than the youngster would have liked. While it is important to show you can win matches when not at your best, but this is just the seventh match Tsitsipas will have played on grass and I think Gasquet exposes that.

While his opponent is learning and perhaps been a little fortunate to get past Malek Jaziri on Thursday, Gasquet was a dominant winner. Over the years it could be argued that the grass courts are the favourite surface for Gasquet who has a quality slice and strong numbers in both the serve and return department.

Gasquet won't be as strong as he was in his win over Evgeny Donskoy in every match, but he is someone who will feel he can produce enough variation on the grass to give Tsitsipas some tough looks to deal with. The Frenchman returns well enough to get more joy against the Tsitsipas serve than his last two opponents have, while Tsitsipas' 15% career break percentage on the grass courts have only been improved slightly by his 17% break percentage in his first two matches against players who simply don't play as well as Gasquet.

This could be a good looking match for the fans, but Gasquet should have the edge and I think he wins and covers a number I expected to be a little higher.


Denis Istomin-Lucas Pouille over 22.5 games: Two players who have enjoyed playing on the grass courts in their careers and who come into this Quarter Final with some solid wins behind them meet on Friday in Stuttgart.

The Denis Istomin wins over Philipp Kohlschreiber and Florian Mayer are made all the more impressive when you see the fashion in which he controlled the matches against two very good grass court players. You could say that both German veterans have declined in general, but on this surface they are not an easy out yet Istomin was the dominant winner in both matches.

Lucas Pouille is the defending Champion in Stuttgart and he was a strong winner as expected in the Second Round and I think these two players can combine for a very good match.

Istomin serves very well on the grass courts and his hold percentages have been very strong over the last few years. Where there can be some struggles for Istomin is on the returning side of the court, but if he serves as he can then it is going to be very tough for Pouille to break his game down on the grass.

That is down to the limitations that come with the Pouille returning game and is one of the main reasons I struggle to see him lasting in the top 20 of the World Rankings for the long haul. He has talent, but Pouille has to improve his break percentage to really take the next step in his career and I do think Istomin will be able to serve well enough to get through his games and into potential tie-breaker situations in the match.

The Frenchman's own serve has worked effectively on the grass in the last couple of seasons with 82% and 83% hold percentages in 2016 and 2017. With Istomin also having some problems in the returning aspect I think it will be tough for either player to retrieve a break position so there is every chance we will need a deciding set in this one.

One break may be enough to separate the two over two sets too and I will look for these two players to combine for enough holds of serve to cover the total games line, even if it is a touch on the high side.

MY PICKS: Richard Gasquet - 2.5 Games @ 1.72 Ladbrokes (2 Units)
Denis Istomin-Lucas Pouille Over 22.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet365 (2 Units)
Coco Vandeweghe - 3.5 Games @ 1.95 Sporting Bet (2 Units)
Donna Vekic - 2.5 Games @ 1.83 Boyle Sports (2 Units)
Johanna Konta - 5.5 Games @ 1.83 Paddy Power (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 13-7, + 9.26 Units (40 Units Staked, + 23.15% Yield)