Tennis Picks 2018 (September 28th)

The tournaments being played across Asia are coming to a close and we have reached at least the Quarter Final stage of all of those events.

The Asian swing in the back end of a season can be tough to read with tiredness a real factor to be considered, although there are plenty of players chasing a strong end to the season to set themselves up for 2019.

We also have the race for the WTA Finals and the ATP World Tour Finals to be completed as well as the season ending World Number 1 spots on both Tours which will begin to be cleared up in the month ahead.


For now let's get this week in the books with another busy day of Tennis on Friday, My selections for the day can be seen below.


MY PICKS: Qiang Wang - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Ladbrokes (2 Units)
Aryna Sabalenka - 1.5 Games @ 1.86 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Joao Sousa - 2.5 Games @ 1.85 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Alex De Minaur - 1.5 Games @ 1.83 Boyle Sports (2 Units)
Andy Murray - 2.5 Games @ 1.85 William Hill (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 7-11, - 10 Units (36 Units Staked, - 27.78% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2018 (September 26th)

The week has been a tough one to this point, but the Tennis continues on Wednesday as we move onto the next Round in the tournaments being played this week.

As with the first couple of days, I am going to place the Picks alone in this thread as I battle 'man flu'.

Manchester United's performance in the League Cup has hardly helped either, but my Picks from the Tennis to be played on Wednesday can be seen below.


MY PICKS: Petra Kvitova - 3.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Caroline Wozniacki - 3.5 Games @ 1.91 Boyle Sports (2 Units)
Garbine Muguruza - 3.5 Games @ 1.83 Boyle Sports (2 Units)
Joao Sousa - 2.5 Games @ 2.00 Ladbrokes (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 4-6, - 4.98 Units (20 Units Staked, - 24.90% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2018 (September 25th)

Monday proved to be a mixed day for the Tennis Picks, but it could have been a lot worse than it turned out even if I did end with a losing record for the day.

The first couple of days of a new tournament can see the matches spread out, but Tuesday is a very busy day this week with a host of matches scheduled in the WTA Wuhan tournament as well as the other three events being played this week.

I have been able to run through the matches at the tournaments this week and come up with a number of selections from the Tuesday offering. You can see those in the 'MY PICKS' section below as I look to get on a roll and back into a positive position after what has been a disappointing ten days following a strong US Open return.


MY PICKS: Elina Svitolina @ 1.95 Betfair Sportsbook (2 Units)
Angelique Kerber @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Kiki Bertens - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Petra Kvitova - 5.5 Games @ 2.10 Bet365 (2 Units)
Karolina Pliskova - 1.5 Games @ 1.91 Ladbrokes (2 Units)
Alex De Minaur - 3.5 Games @ 1.80 Boyle Sports (2 Units)
Sam Querrey - 1.5 Games @ 1.80 Ladbrokes (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 1-2, - 2.18 Units (6 Units Staked, - 36.33% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2016 (September 30th)

There was a much better set of results on Thursday which is helping move the week back in a positive direction, but it wasn't a perfect day and that means room for improvement is there.

We have reached the Quarter Finals in the majority of the tournaments being played this week and the Semi Finals in the Wuhan tournament as the Asian swing gets set to move onto a couple of really big events at the beginning of October.

At this stage of the tennis season the focus is on getting to the World Tour Finals/End of Year Championships for the players at the forefront of the ATP and WTA Tours and that should keep players motivated as they try to secure their positions in the top eight. The WTA Tour comes to an end sooner than the ATP Tour and this is the final month of the 2016 season for the women players compared with the men who have a couple of extra weeks to play.


Grigor Dimitrov - 4.5 games v Diego Sebastian Schwartzman: One of the more memorable moments on the Tour this season has to be the way Grigor Dimitrov forfeited in his defeat to Diego Sebastian Schwartzman in the Final in Istanbul. It was during the height of Dimitrov's poor performances in 2016 when he fell apart in the third set decider but there have been signs over the last couple of months that he is finding his game again.

I am not ready to see Dimitrov take on the best players on the Tour as I do feel he will ultimately come up short in those matches, but he should be confident of earning some revenge over Schwartzman. The match in Istanbul was very close until the final set and Dimitrov is playing at a better level now which makes me think he can have a relatively straight-forward win in this one.

The Dimitrov game is still a little uncertain at times as he is not getting enough of the first serve and continues to make plenty of errors off the ground. However there have been more signs of Dimitrov finding his consistency and the hard courts should favour him more than Schwartzman which should give him the edge in the match.

I do think the Schwartzman serve can be vulnerable even if he has recorded two very good wins already in Chengdu this week. I am expecting Dimitrov to have his chances to break serve in the match and I think he is going to be strong enough at the key moments to come through with a 63, 64 win.


Dominic Thiem - 4.5 games v Albert Ramos-Vinolas: There is every chance that Dominic Thiem is going to be a part of the World Tour Finals for the first time in his career, but he still has work to do if he wants to make that a reality. Winning the tournament in Chengdu would be huge for him as he tries to improve from his current position of Number 7 in the Race to London and also to earn some momentum to take into the big events coming up.

2016 has already been a memorable year for Thiem and he was a fairly routine winner in the Second Round to move into this Quarter Final. He will have to be better if Thiem is going to find a way to get past Albert Ramos-Vinolas even if the Spaniard is most happy on the clay courts.

However his lefty serve will always be awkward for players to deal with even if it isn't the most powerful shot on the Tour. When Ramos-Vinolas is not able to hit his spots, I do think the serve is going to be attacked by Thiem who won't be afraid of using his backhand to hit heavily into the Ramos-Vinolas forehand and earn something from that.

Thiem will need some time to adjust to what he is seeing from Ramos-Vinolas in their first match on the Tour. He has shown he can do that and begin to turn matches in his favour and I think that is what happens here as the young Austrian comes through a tight first set to win this one 76, 62.


Dominika Cibulkova + 2.5 games v Svetlana Kuznetsova: The first Semi Final in Wuhan is perhaps a surprising one that not many would have picked before the tournament began. Both Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dominika Cibulkova are solid players on the Tour, but have come through a half of the draw that did contain Agnieszka Radwanska and Karolina Pliskova so their presence in the Semi Final is unexpected.

This match will have a big impact on the Race to Singapore though with Cibulkova going into the tournament in Number 7 spot and Kuznetsova Number 11 and the winner will believe they have made a huge step to playing in the elite eight. However there is plenty of the line with a place in the Wuhan Final at stake so I am not going to believe the players are worrying about their position in Singapore instead of the immediate match in front of them.

I can't imagine this will be anything but a close and competitive match between two players who have played seven times previously but not since the 2011 season. Both Kuznetsova and Cibulkova came through tough matches on Thursday to get to the Semi Final and you have to think Kuznetsova is favourite as her opponent had to win two matches on Thursday to get through to this one.

I do have to respect the fact that Cibulkova had those tough matches on Thursday, but this is not a match that will have too many gruelling rallies with both players big time shotmakers. I think Kuznetsova has the edge on the serve, but she has lost four in a row to Cibulkova and that will be something these players might remember even if it was five years ago when they last met. I am a fan of Cibulkova and I think she can make this competitive by forcing Kuznetsova into some mistakes as she fights fire with fire and I will take the games being offered.


Simona Halep - 2.5 games v Petra Kvitova: It will be strange to watch the WTA End of Year Championships and not have Petra Kvitova involved, but her 2016 has been one of disappointment. This week has been far from a disappointment though and Kvitova has been in impressive form, although the challenge in front of her is arguably the most difficult one she will have faced.

That might sound funny considering she has beaten the US Open Champion and current World Number 1 Angelique Kerber, but physically I don't think Kvitova can be anything near where she wants when taking on Simona Halep. Beating Johanna Konta in straight sets was very important for Kvitova to get some more time to rest, but someone like Halep can force her into the really long rallies she would like to avoid.

Halep also has won all three previous matches between these players including when they played in the Fed Cup earlier this year. The Romanian will be playing in Singapore at the end of October and she has been in fine form over the last two months while her confidence should mean she is not going to be intimidated by the raw power Kvitova has been displaying in Wuhan.

I do think there will be moments that Kvitova is able to penetrate the Halep defences and the serving edge definitely goes to the former too. She has been playing well enough to win this match, but I think Halep is in the better place physically and has the mental edge having won all previous matches against Kvitova and I like Halep to come through with a 36, 63, 63 win.

MY PICKS: Grigor Dimitrov - 4.5 Games @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Dominic Thiem - 4.5 Games @ 2.10 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Dominika Cibulkova + 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Simona Halep - 2.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 8-8, - 2.56 Units (32 Units Staked, - 8% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2016 (September 28th)

It was another frustrating day for the tennis picks with the matches on Tuesday going 2-2 for the second time in a row.

A 50% hit rate is no good for the picks and keeping the momentum rolling from the US Open as I look to end 2016 with positive results and try to get the season totals back into a positive position.

On Wednesday the tournaments are beginning to move into the later stages of the events being held in Asia, but the majority of my picks will once again come from the tournament being held in Wuhan where the top WTA players have been taking part.


Madison Keys - 3.5 games v Daria Kasatkina: This has been a very good year for Daria Kasatkina but the feeling is that she might have hit the wall that many youngsters do in their breakthrough on the main Tour. She had been in poor form prior to the tournament in Wuhan, but Kasatkina should have earned some confidence having come through the Qualifiers and then won two matches in the main draw.

Kasatkina has been a pretty strong favourite in every match she has played so far this week, but that won't be the case when she faces Madison Keys in the Third Round. The American is still trying to find the consistency that will see her take the next step in her career, but she has the power to make life very difficult for Kasatkina.

When they played at the Olympic Games, it was Keys' extra ability to hit through a slow court that hurt Kasatkina in the straight sets win and I think something similar will develop here.

The Keys serve has to be firing because that builds the confidence in her entire game and her power makes her a dangerous returner on the Tour. I do think she served well enough against Caroline Garcia to suggest she will have a little too much for Kasatkina and I expect Keys will earn at least three breaks of serve in this one which should lead to a 64, 64 win for the American.


Johanna Konta - 1.5 games v Carla Suarez Navarro: It will take a couple of really big tournaments for Johanna Konta to work her way through to the top eight in the Race to Singapore, but she did make a good start to that with a comfortable win in the Second Round in Wuhan.

Finishing in the top eight places in the Race to Singapore will begin this week for Konta who faces Carla Suarez Navarro in the Third Round, the player who currently is 8th in the leaderboard. This is a big test for Konta because Suarez Navarro is capable of beating the best players on the Tour when she is finding her best tennis, although the serve remains the big hindrance to her winning a really big tournament.

When on top form, Suarez Navarro is capable of looking after the serve even if it isn't going to produce too many cheap points from that shot. She is very capable off the ground and Konta can't afford to give up too many unforced errors to the Spaniard if she is going to avoid defeat in this one.

The backhand to backhand battles are going to be beautiful to watch with both players more comfortable from that wing. There won't be much between them, but I think Konta's stronger groundstrokes and first serve can be the difference maker in this one as long as she stays emotionally and physically invested in the match. It might need three sets, but Konta can battle through to the Quarter Final behind a 63, 46, 64 win.


Angelique Kerber - 3.5 games v Petra Kvitova: After winning the Australian Open back in January, Angelique Kerber struggled with the new expectation of being a Grand Slam Champion going into any tournament she played. The German didn't have the same struggles after reaching the Final at Wimbledon, perhaps showing Kerber was ready to play at those levels consistently.

Now she comes into Wuhan as a two time Grand Slam winner following her success at the US Open, but also a new pressure of being the current World Number 1 having overtaken Serena Williams in New York City. Kerber came back from a set down to beat Kristina Mladenovic in her first match here in Wuhan and I think she is going to have a strong end to the season although her match with Petra Kvitova is going to be a real test for her.

It has been an impressive tournament for Kvitova so far which has followed some strong runs over the last couple of months. However she is still trying to find the confidence you need when taking on the very best players on the Tour and I think that is where Kvitova has fallen short more often than not.

These players met at the US Open and it was Kerber's superiority in the rallies that proved to be the difference maker on the day. If Kerber can take advantage of the second serves she will see in this one, I think the new World Number 1 can stamp her authority on the women's game with an impressive win against a big name on the Tour.


Caroline Wozniacki + 2.5 games v Agnieszka Radwanska: There is no doubt we are going to see plenty of breaks of serve when Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska play one another in the Third Round in Wuhan. They combined for 13 breaks of serve when they played in the Semi Final in Tokyo last week and it was Wozniacki who got the better of Radwanska on that occasion.

It has been a match up that Wozniacki has enjoyed with nine wins to four and she has won the last four matches between the players over the last two years. Out of the two players, I do think Wozniacki has a little more pop in her shots which can help her wear down Radwanska and this is a match that has the potential of going into a third set where the Pole has not been at her best.

The confidence has been flowing through Wozniacki who has had three really good tournaments in a row to keep her World Ranking moving back in the positive direction she would be expecting. That confidence makes her a dangerous player this week although she has had more tennis over the last couple of weeks than most others left in the draw.

One of those is not Radwanska though and I think the mental edge belongs to Wozniacki in this one. It could easily be another match that goes the distance and that makes this number of games very appealing to back the underdog and I think Wozniacki can keep within the number even if she is on the wrong end of the final result this week.


Paolo Lorenzi - 2.5 games v Diego Sebastian Schwartzman: Both of these players are much more comfortable on the clay courts than the hard courts, but I think the veteran Italian Paolo Lorenzi can get the better of Diego Sebastian Schwartzman in this one. While both are happier on the clay, Lorenzi has at least put some more wins together on the hard courts and he did reach the Quarter Final on an indoor hard court event in St Petersburg last week.

It is also Lorenzi that has two wins over Schwartzman under his belt in the 2016 season, although both of those have come on the clay courts, and that can give him another mental edge in this Second Round match.

Even though this match is being played on the hard courts, I do think there will be plenty of long rallies and chances to break for both players. However I think Lorenzi is the more confident player on this surface at the moment and the wins he has over Schwartzman will make him believe he can win this one when the big moments come along.

There is a chance this will need three sets to separate the players, but Lorenzi is capable of winning one of the sets with a couple of breaks of serve more than Schwartzman manages. That should help him cover this number in a winning effort even over three sets and I will back Lorenzi to do that.

MY PICKS: Madison Keys - 3.5 Games @ 1.73 Bet365 (2 Units)
Johanna Konta - 1.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Angelique Kerber - 3.5 Games @ 2.10 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Caroline Wozniacki + 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Paolo Lorenzi - 2.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet Fred (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 4-4, - 1.26 Units (16 Units Staked, - 7.88% Yield)