This is the final week before the fourth Grand Slam of the Tennis season begins in New York and the WTA event in New Haven is clearly the tournament with more contenders playing in it.
The ATP event in Winston Salem has some decent players involved, but the main contenders in New York are all resting up to get ready for an assault on the title. There may not be as many Tennis Picks this week simply because my focus is beginning to turn to the Grand Slam which begins soon, but there may be some good options to play after two pretty poor weeks for the Picks in Canada and Cincinnati.
On Tuesday I begin this week with three Picks from the two tournaments being played.
Daniil Medvedev v Alex De Minaur: Both of these young players have produced some very good tennis on the hard courts over the last month which will give them some confidence to take into the final Grand Slam of the season. However for both Daniil Medvedev and Alex De Minaur will see the week in Winston Salem as the chance to add some much needed World Ranking points which can stand them in good stead over the next twelve months.
Some could argue that both of these players should be looking at this week as arguably being even more important than the upcoming US Open. There is no guessing what kind of draw unseeded players like Medvedev and De Minaur will receive in New York so winning this match and moving deep into the event here is very important to them.
I don't think it could be a big surprise that both Medvedev and De Minaur have been so inconsistent in 2018. The latter has reached two Finals at this level on the hard courts which is very impressive, but De Minaur has not really had a big impact in any other event outside of Sydney and Washington, especially when it comes to the hard courts.
This does feel like it is going to be a very close match with their numbers on the hard courts being very similar over the course of 2018. One of the differences between them on the day could be the fact that Daniil Medvedev has already won one match in the tournament while the Seeded Alex De Minaur received a bye through to the Second Round.
Having some familiarity with the conditions will be a boost to the Russian underdog and he does have the slightly better numbers than De Minaur over the course of the season. The Medvedev form has been good and I think he can overturn the expectations from the odds and that is by winning this match as the underdog in the Second Round.
Johanna Konta - 4.5 games v Carla Suarez Navarro: The last twelve months have not been as positive for Johanna Konta as she would have liked and she has been more testy in press conferences as each month has passed by. The British Number 1 will be the first to admit that she has perhaps underachieved but her results have been poorer than the performances and I don't believe Konta is far away from moving back up the World Rankings.
The hard courts should be the favoured surface for Konta and her 15-10 record in 2018 is perhaps a little harsh on her with some tough losses taken. You can't deny the numbers are down on the serve compared with the last couple of years when Konta has thrived in her stunning run up the World Rankings, but she should still have enough from that side of her game to give Carla Suarez Navarro plenty of problems.
Suarez Navarro has slipped down the World Rankings and her hard court numbers have declined in each of the last three seasons. The Spaniard remains a feisty competitor who can take advantage of any opponent not reaching a decent level of tennis, but she has a serve which can be vulnerable on the faster surfaces and Konta could definitely take advantage of that side of her game.
The key for Konta will always be how well she serves and that has been an aspect of her game which has been inconsistent at best. When at her best Konta can be very tough to break down, but if she is slightly off her game it could result in giving up too many breaks of serve which makes a cover of this number almost impossible.
Konta did crush Suarez Navarro when they met earlier in the year. Matching that won't be easy with the up and down nature of the Konta performances in 2018, but I do think she can return well enough to put Suarez Navarro under constant pressure. As long as Konta does look after her serve by holding Suarez to three or fewer breaks of serve in the match I think it will be enough for the British player to move into the next Round with a cover of the big number.
Caroline Garcia - 3.5 games v Aliaksandra Sasnovich: In all honesty it has been a disappointing season on the hard courts for Caroline Garcia and this player still feels some way away from winning a Grand Slam title on any surface. That might be strange to say for a top 10 Ranked player, but I would be stunned if Garcia is able to make a significant impact at the upcoming US Open.
The Frenchwoman has really struggled when she has been asked to step up and take on the best players on the Tour, while her overall game still needs some real improvement. The Garcia serve is a decent weapon for her, but her return is not quite up to the level required to make an impact at the highest level.
However there has been a significant improvement when Garcia has faced players outside of the top 20 in the World Rankings. Those are highlighted by some strong numbers on the hard courts and there are improvements across the board in those matches compared with her overall numbers on this surface.
Garcia will respect Aliaksandra Sasnovich after needing three sets to beat this opponent at the Australian Open, while Sasnovich has already won four matches in New Haven after coming through the Qualifiers to reach the main draw.
Earlier this season Sasnovich reached the Final in Brisbane having seen off some top 20 opponents on the way, and she has a serve that needs to be respected. However the return game has been an issue for her and I think Sasnovich may just be put under enough pressure by the Garcia serve to feel scoreboard pressure and ultimately crack under that.
Both players will need the second serve to be effective to win this match and I am just about giving the edge to Garcia there. I also think she is the slightly superior returner and I will back the Frenchwoman to get through this match.
MY PICKS: Daniil Medvedev @ 2.10 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Johanna Konta - 4.5 Games @ 2.10 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Caroline Garcia - 3.5 Games @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)
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