The Rome Masters continue and there is another busy day of tennis in the Italian Capital.
The two selections from the host of matches to be played can be read below after a solid Saturday to turn the week around and move the profit/loss from the red into the black.
Elena Rybakina - 4.5 games v Bianca Andreescu: Both of these players are former Grand Slam Champions, but injuries have really held back Bianca Andreescu.
She enters the tournament in Rome as the World Number 121 having reached a peak of Number 4 in October 2019 and the Canadian is still only 24 years old. Back to back wins to move through to the Third Round will have given Bianca Andreescu a boost in confidence, but this is another significant obstacle for her to overcome.
There will be no doubt about that after Bianca Andreescu was beaten by Elena Rybakina in Madrid and the former also suffered a very early exit at a Challenger event that Andreescu took in between the two Masters events.
The higher Ranked player has not been in great form of late, but Elena Rybakina won the tournament in Rome two years ago and she was a solid winner in the Second Round.
The match up has also suited Elena Rybakina having won all three previous matches against Bianca Andreescu with the first serve being a dominant part of those wins. It was the case last time out when the players met in Madrid and that has allowed Elena Rybakina to have success with her aggressive style of play.
Nothing has been happening easily for Elena Rybakina in recent weeks, but the relative comfort level of this kind of match up should help in her bid to move into the second week of the event.
Mirra Andreeva - 4.5 games v Linda Noskova: Two very young players on the Tour meet for the fourth time and you have to give Mirra Andreeva a real edge in this Third Round match.
Her overall form across the clay court season has been much stronger than Linda Noskova's, while the 18 year old Russian has pushed through to the top 10 in the World Rankings.
A real concern for Linda Noskova ahead of this match is the vulnerability of the second serve and that is something that Mirra Andreeva will be looking to exploit. It has been a real problem for Noskova in the previous three matches played against Mirra Andreeva and the World Number 30 is simply not returning well enough to cover for that vulnerability.
She has been able to challenge Mirra Andreeva, and it has to be noted that the World Number 7 has not been at her absolute best over the last month. Mirra Andreeva is still developing into the kind of server she is going to be on the Tour, and that has allowed opponents to put her under some pressure.
Even then, the talent edge is with Andreeva against most opponents and that has allowed her to win the big points and put up strong scores across the board.
This is a big spread all things considered, but Mirra Andreeva is capable of breaking serve enough times to secure the cover. Linda Noskova is talented and has to be motivated in trying to beat the younger player making the big headlines on the Tour, but she may come up short for a third time in a row in this Third Round match.
MY PICKS: Elena Rybakina - 4.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Mirra Andreeva - 4.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Rome Update: 5-4, + 0.25 Units (9 Units Staked, + 2.78% Yield)
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