That is the case in this new week of tennis tournaments with the Monday selections returning a positive number, but building on that is important and there is a long way to go between today and the Final of the big events in Berlin, Halle and Queens.
We also have a WTA tournament being played in Nottingham, but the majority of the top names in action on that Tour have ended up in Berlin, which is highlighted by the fact that Elena Rybakina vs Qinwen Zheng is a First Round match.
That will be played on Tuesday, but the remaining First Round matches in Berlin look to have been priced up pretty well and instead the focus for the selections will be on the ATP 500 events being played.
All three selections were routine winners on Monday and the hope is that another stress-free, comfortable day for the Tennis Picks is had as we move to within two weeks of the start of Wimbledon.
Andrey Rublev - 2.5 games v Sebastian Ofner: It has been a difficult season for Andrey Rublev, but he will be hoping that the move back onto the grass courts can spark some kind of return to form.
The French Open was not a terrible tournament for Andrey Rublev, but he will be well aware that the grass is a much tougher surface for the majority of players on the Tour to deal with.
He has had previous successes on the surface, including reaching the Quarter Final at Wimbledon and the Final in Halle as recently as two years ago, and Andrey Rublev has a big game which does suit the grass.
There is no doubt that Andrey Rublev is going to have to produce some of his strongest tennis as he goes up against Sebastian Ofner, a player who has won two matches in the Qualifying Round to get his grass court season underway. Last year, the Austrian reached the Final in Mallorca in the build up to Wimbledon and Sebastian Ofner will feel his serve gives him a chance to stay in this match.
Andrey Rublev has had plenty of serving success on the grass courts, but the key factor in this First Round match in Halle is that the World Number 14 has found a way to get into return games with a little more consistency compared with Sebastian Ofner.
The latter has had plenty of grass court wins under his belt in recent years, which again has to be respected, but his numbers suffer a significant dip when only considering matches against top 100 Ranked players.
Sebastian Ofner's serve can keep him in the match, but the feeling is that Andrey Rublev will find a way to earn a couple of breaks, and that may be enough for a win and a cover.
Joao Fonseca - 2.5 games v Flavio Cobolli: Very little grass court experience has been had by Joao Fonseca who played six matches on the surface in 2024 and was beaten in four of those.
It is no surprise that the surface is unfamiliar to an 18 year old who has really begun to make a big impact on the Tour, but who has spent his youth in South America where the clay courts are the go-to surface.
Despite the win-loss record, Joao Fonseca played pretty well on the grass in 2024 and the development over the last twelve months could make him much more effective this time around.
Nothing was wrong with the return game in those handful of matches, but Joao Fonseca was not able to get enough out of his serve and that is something that may change when he gets underway in Halle. There is no doubt that the serve is improving for him all of the time and Joao Fonseca can at least put Flavio Cobolli under pressure in this First Round match.
Much like Fonseca, Flavio Cobolli is much more comfortable playing on the clay courts, but the Italian has moved into the top 30 of the World Rankings and is set to be Seeded at Wimbledon.
He may be one of the more vulnerable Seeds in the early Rounds in SW19, but Flavio Cobolli did reach the Eastbourne Quarter Final last year. His 3-4 record on the grass in 2024 is nothing to write home about, but Flavio Cobolli made use of his serve and that is going to be an important factor in this match.
The return needed some work with the ball skidding through the court much more than Flavio Cobolli would be used to, but he served well in his seven matches in 2024.
It will be given another examination by Joao Fonseca and the lower Ranked player may just have enough to get through this match and progress into the Second Round.
MY PICKS: Andrey Rublev - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Victor (1 Unit)
Joao Fonseca - 2.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet365 (1 Unit)
Weekly Update: 3-0, + 2.41 Units (3 Units Staked, + 80.33% Yield)
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