Tennis Picks 2019 (June 29th)

The Wimbledon draw was made on Friday morning and the excitement for the tournament has begun to build.

There are some interesting First Round matches to come on Monday and Tuesday, while the potential for some huge matches in the days ahead has to excite the fans.

I will say the men's draw looks much more 'predictable' than the women's draw as has been the case in the last few Slams, but you can never tell how a draw will shape up. In saying that I would be surprised if one of the big three men's players is not holding the trophy in two weeks time.

The bottom half of the women's draw looks the weaker of the two sections and I can see someone like Venus Williams making a big run if she can get through the first couple of matches. Karolina Pliskova and Angelique Kerber are both competing in the Eastbourne Final and have to be respected, while i could make a serious case for the likes of Ashleigh Barty, Serena Williams here too, but then again it wouldn't be a huge surprise if we see something like we did in Paris and the final four being a mix of new faces and experienced campaigners.


Sam Querrey - 1.5 games v Taylor Fritz: Two American players will compete for the Eastbourne title on Saturday and we should see a big serving match develop between them. Taylor Fritz and Sam Querrey shared out four matches on the hard courts in 2018, but this is the first time they will be playing on the grass.

Out of the two players I do think Sam Querrey has shown more belief in his ability to play on this surface. He has had a strong week coming out of his injury lay off on the Tour and the Querrey serve remains a huge weapon for him having been the main reason he was able to see off Thomas Fabbiano in the Semi Final.

He has also continued to return effectively, although Querrey will know he can't be as loose with his break points in the Final as he was in the Semi Final. Saving break points was also a huge reason why Taylor Fritz was able to win his own Semi Final against Kyle Edmund, but he was very fortunate in the match and will need to be better if he is going to win the title here.

The Querrey numbers have been slightly stronger than what Fritz has been able to perform in Eastbourne so far this week. Where Querrey has held 95% of his service games, Fritz is at 91%, while the veteran American has broken in 23% of return games compared with Fritz' 22%.

Even in their previous matches Sam Querrey has had the edge over Taylor Fritz with a slightly better hold percentage compared with Taylor Fritz. I have little doubt that both players are going to be able to run through some service games without being threatened, but I expect Querrey may get into a position to return a few more serves with some depth that can make the difference in this Final.

The spread is rightly a tight one because it won't take a lot to shift this in favour of Fritz, but I think he has been a little more fortunate to get into the Final than his opponent. With the momentum picked up behind the serve, I think Querrey can be trusted to get through his service games with a little less concern than Fritz and I think that leads to a win and a cover for the former Wimbledon Semi Finalist.

MY PICKS: Sam Querrey - 1.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Karolina Pliskova - 1.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 9-9, - 2.68 Units (36 Units Staked, - 7.44% Yield)