It feels like we are back in the first week of the French Open in May when the rain lashed down in Paris and really messed things around for the organisers.
Two weeks were available to ensure that Grand Slam tournament finished on schedule, but only one week is allocated to the Olympic Games where the heavy, continuous rain of Friday moved into Saturday and decimated the order of play for the day.
At least two of the courts have roofs so there were some matches completed, but all will be hoping that the upturn in the weather forecast comes true.
Increase in temperature and a bright sky is expected from Sunday through the next week, or majority of next week, and that should mean the tennis at the Olympic Games is able to be completed on time. Sunday is going to be an incredibly busy day with almost the entirety of the First Round to be played with plenty of Doubles matches likely to be scheduled too.
Another tough day of finding good picks looks to be in the offing though and so there are only two selections on Day 2 of the tournament and both from the Women's event being played.
Elina Svitolina - 5.5 games v Moyuka Uchijima: The early Rounds of the Olympic Games can have unfamiliar names entering the draw thanks to the different qualification rules as we would expect for the Tennis Tour.
Moyuka Uchijima may not be a name too familiar to fans, but this is a player operating at a career high World Ranking mark of Number 66, which will see her compete in the First Round at the US Open next month. The Japanese representative has to be afforded plenty of respect having won twenty-two of the twenty-six matches played on the clay courts in 2024, while Uchijima was able to win three Qualifiers and a First Round match at the French Open.
Ultimately the run was ended by Aryna Sabalenka and there has to be a slight feeling that Moyuka Uchijima has an inflated Ranking mark having dominated at a level below the main WTA Tour. This is backed up by the fact that this will be just the seventh match against a top 100 Ranked opponent on the clay courts and Uchijima has been beaten in four of the last six in that situation, including at the French Open as mentioned.
There is more experience of facing top 100 Ranked opponents on the other surfaces, but it has proved to be a step too far for Moyuka Uchijima who has lost 84% of her matches played against those opponents.
Her opponent in the First Round of the Olympic Games will not be lacking for motivation- Elina Svitolina has been very vocal about the issues affecting her homeland in Ukraine and being able to wear the colours of her nation is only going to have Svitolina performing with that much more inspiration.
Elina Svitolina is very comfortable on the surface having reached the Quarter Final at the French Open in consecutive tournaments and she has won six of seven matches played on this surface against opponents Ranked outside the top 50. The style of her tennis means Svitolina can be dragged into tough battles even when winning matches, and that has to be a concern with this handicap mark.
However, there is that additional motivation behind her tennis in Paris this week and Elina Svitolina is already much loved in France having married one of their top players from recent times. That support and the colours should inspire Svitolina and the feeling is that this could be the start of a very big week for the Ukrainian.
Barbora Krejcikova - 4.5 games v Sara Sorribes Tormo: When it comes to the Ladies tournament, Wimbledon has continued to throw up a surprise Champion and 2024 has proved to be no different from recent seasons.
This time it is Barbora Krejcikova who will spend the next twelve months being referred to as the Wimbledon Champion and a second Grand Slam Singles title for the Czech player has to be respected. She endured a really poor clay court campaign and Krejcikova would not have had too many backers outside of friends and family when arriving at SW19, but the win should have restored a lot of the lost confidence that injury will bring to the table.
She had been slipping down the World Rankings, but Barbora Krejcikova will arrive in Paris as the World Number 10 after winning the title at Wimbledon earlier this month. It has been a couple of weeks of rest and recovery for Krejcikova as she looks to secure a first clay court win in 2024.
It is remarkable to think Barbora Krejcikova was beaten in all four clay court matches after suffering opening defeats in Stuttgart, Madrid, Strasbourg and then at the French Open. That run is even more surprising considering Krejcikova was the 2021 French Open Champion and she will arrive back on these grounds with a bit more belief about her all around game.
All of that will be needed against Sara Sorribes Tormo who is very comfortable on the clay courts, but who has been enduring a tough twelve months filled with inconsistent results. It has pushed the Spaniard down to World Number 71 ahead of the Olympic Games, while wins have been hard to come by of late.
Sara Sorribes Tormo has lost seven of her last eight matches, which includes an opening Round defeat in Paris at the French Open and also in a tournament played below the main WTA Tour level on the clay.
Over the last couple of seasons, Sara Sorribes Tormo continues to produce the majority of her wins on the clay courts and that does make her dangerous. She had decent runs in Madrid and Rome, while reaching the Quarter Final in Rabat before the disappointing defeat at the French Open.
However, this has been a tough match up for Sorribes Tormo having lost all three sets completed against Barbora Krejcikova and failing to win more than three games in any of those. The defensive skills on a clay court might be a little tougher to produce if the expected warmer temperatures arrive in Paris and Barbora Krejcikova is much better on the clay courts than her results from earlier this season indicate.
There can be some uncertainty as to how a player will respond to winning a Grand Slam title, especially an unexpected success, but Barbora Krejcikova has taken some time off to just settle down. The same happened after her win at the French Open in 2021 and Krejcikova managed to reach the Wimbledon Fourth Round that year.
As long as she is not thinking ahead to the hard court season, Barbora Krejcikova may have the tennis to wear down Sara Sorribes Tormo and cover this handicap line set in the First Round.
MY PICKS: Elina Svitolina - 5.5 Games @ 2.10 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Barbora Krejcikova - 4.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Olympic Games Update: 0-2, - 4 Units (4 Units Staked, - 100% Yield)
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