Tennis Picks 2024 (Wednesday 7th February)

There may be a number of tournaments being played, but the idea over the coming weeks is to try and narrow the focus when it comes to the Tennis Picks after the disappointing Australian Open.

Both selections from Marseille should have returned winners when Denis Shapovalov found the first break in the final set having won the second set 6-1, but the Canadian collapsed badly from that stage and only managed to win two more points in losing four games in a row to blow the match.

It will be a tough road back for Shapovalov after injury, but you could sense the disappointment of losing the match in the manner he did.

The same can be said for Andy Murray who continues to underperform in 2024 and with more and more people questioning whether he should think about calling time on his career.

I tend to agree with Murray that the choice should be down to him and him alone, although the talk of moving down to the Challenger Tour in order to rebuild confidence may be the best approach to take. Losses on the ATP Tour have destroyed some of the confidence, even if Andy Murray is still playing well in practice, and he just needs to put some wins together to restore some of the lost belief.

Tomas Machac - 1.5 games v Lorenzo Musetti: There has been a continuous flow of quality WTA Tour players coming out of the Czech Republic, but the nation is still looking for someone to take over from Tomas Berdcyh on the ATP Tour.

Another Tomas may be the best player to back to do that and it was Machac who got the better of Andy Murray in the First Round.

He has played well on the hard courts for much of the opening six weeks of the season, and the youngster looks to be an improving force on the Tour.

The Second Round pits him against one of the higher Seeds in the draw.

Lorenzo Musetti has been struggling to really find consistent form on this surface over the last twelve months, but he has earned a solid win to open his time in Marseille. The difference between the two players looks to be their ability behind serve and Tomas Machac should be able to keep the pressure on the Italian in this match.

As a clay court specialist, Musetti will believe he can win the longer rallies- the feeling is that the Tomas Machac can play enough first strike tennis on this indoor court to come through though and he can pay out as the favourite.

Federico Coria - 1.5 games v Albert Ramos: These two players are very much all about playing on the clay courts as much as possible at this stage of their careers.

Both did make the trip to Melbourne to pick up a paycheque for losing in the First Round at the Australian Open, but Albert Ramos and Federico Coria have been playing clay court tennis before and afterwards.

While the Rankings remain high to take part in Grand Slam events, you would expect Ramos and Coria to travel where they need to, but the reality is that the majority of their matches will be played on this surface.

Both have enjoyed a lot of success in Cordoba in recent years at the start of the South American Golden Swing- Albert Ramos is a former Champion and has had a number of deep runs, while Federico Coria was the Runner Up here twelve months ago.

They actually faced off in the Semi Final in 2023 in Cordoba and Federico Coria dominated the match, even if the scoreboard shows a very competitive scoreline. He had 20 Break Points compared with just 8 for Albert Ramos and over the last twelve months the Coria return has been the more effective of the two players.

Albert Ramos can still cause problems with the lefty serve and that will give him a chance in this match, but Federico Coria has a very good career record against southpaws Ranked outside the top 50 and he can frank the win from last season.

Both players have had confident three set wins in the First Round and this should be plenty competitive with breaks all over the show, but Federico Coria can just use the home crowd to edge this one in his favour.

Roberto Carballas Baena - 1.5 games v Facundo Bagnis: The South American Golden Swing will always bring together a number of players that are used to playing clay court tennis through much of the season.

Players like Facundo Bagnis are all about trying to build their World Ranking and earn a place at Roland Garros in May, although his best hopes may be through the Qualifiers this year.

He has had to do that to take his place in the main draw in Cordoba and Bagnis will not be lacking for confidence having won three matches in this tournament already. That has backed up winning a title on the Challenger circuit on the red dirt, but this is a considerable step up from the kind of opponents Facundo Bagnis has been beating.

The home crowd will be behind him, but Roberto Carballas Baena is very comfortable on the clay courts and the World Number 65 is the first player inside the top 100 of the World Rankings that Bagnis has faced since July.

Roberto Carballas Baena had a tougher than expected win in the First Round and had to spend a considerable amount of time on the court. Coming from a set down and having to spend almost three hours on the court on Tuesday is not ideal preparation for this match on Wednesday, but the Spaniard should be used to the relative lack of recovery time.

And the fact he pushed through to win in three sets might have just got Carballas Baena adjusted to the red dirt as he looks to beat Facundo Bagnis for a fourth time in a row.

They have not played one another since July 2021 when it was Bagnis who would have been higher Ranked, but Roberto Carballas Baena is still playing at a decent level more consistently. He has edges in the return department which could show up in this Second Round match and the favourite can be backed.

Francisco Cerundolo - 1.5 games v Jaume Munar: It has been a difficult few months for Francisco Cerundolo as he has lost form and confidence on the Tour. The World Number 22 has played a couple of matches on the clay courts for Argentina in the Davis Cup, but split those 1-1 and Cerundolo may be hoping the Golden Swing through his home country and neighbouring South American nations can help him restore some of the shattered belief.

He was given a Bye through to the Second Round in Cordoba as the top Seed in the draw, but Cerundolo will know that he will need to be at his best immediately if he is going to prolong his time in the tournament.

First up is Jaume Munar, a Spaniard who is very comfortable on the clay courts and who gave Francisco Cerundolo a scare at the French Open last year.

Ultimately the Argentinian was able to come through in four sets, but Munar may feel he was the better player in the two middle sets and the third set Tie-Breaker swung the match in the favour of the higher Ranked player.

Jaume Munar has earned a very solid First Round win and this is a player who can be a very effective return player on the clay courts. This is going to be a challenge for Francisco Cerundolo, who has just been lacking when it comes to consistency on the serving side of his tennis, although the top Seed should be able to put pressure on the Munar serve.

Francisco Cerundolo has been far from the most convincing player when it comes to facing those players he is expected to beat, but the 3-0 head to head over Jaume Munar will help. He crushed him in Argentina's Capital last season, although there is little doubt this one will be much more competitive.

Even with that in mind, Cerundolo should be able to play with enough quality to get the better of the Jaume Munar serve and lead to a win in front of the home fans.

MY PICKS: Tomas Machac - 1.5 Games @ 1.85 Coral (2 Units)

Federico Coria - 1.5 Games @ 1.90 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Roberto Carballas Baena - 1.5 Games @ 1.85 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Francisco Cerundolo - 1.5 Games @ 1.90 Bet365 (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 2-1, + 1.16 Units (6 Units Staked, + 19.33% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2024 (Tuesday 6th February)

It has been a really poor start to the season for the Tennis Picks and that means there is a lot of work to do in order to turn things around.

However, it is a marathon not a sprint and it would be a big mistake to chase from the off.

Instead the plan is to rebuild slowly and that means putting strong weeks together as the Tours move into big tournaments in the Middle East before the two hard court Masters events played in North America.

That also means there will not be selections every day as I tighten the approach a little bit after a frustrating time at the Australian Open.

The first Grand Slam of 2024 was a good one as far as entertainment goes and the two Champions, Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, will both feel they can add to the big titles won.

They will know there are a number of contenders that will be keen to bounce back and it looks like a good season is in store for all of the fans around the world.

It is the hard court events that continue to be the main focus for the players, but the Golden Swing in South America is another strong part of the Tour schedule.

We have some big Ranking points on offer over the next month before both the ATP and WTA Tours combine to play at Indian Wells and Miami and the focus for these pages is getting the season moving in a positive direction.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina - 1.5 games v Gregoire Barrere: An early exit in Montpellier has continued the poor start to the season made by Gregoire Barrere.

His two wins this season have been against the then World Number 256 and 214 and the confidence has to be a little dented after the defeats around those victories.

The home crowd will be behind him and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is returning to the Tour for the first time since his surprising defeat in the Second Round at the Australian Open. The Spaniard is going to have to deal with the emotion of facing a home player, while the serve is not as strong as it should be on the faster surfaces.

However, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina did earn a good looking win over Hubert Hurkacz in the build up to the Australian Open and that is the best win either of these players have produced.

Gregoire Barrere has had some successes on the hard courts, while he did produce some solid indoor hard court tennis at this time of the season twelve months ago. He did not put together that kind of level in Montpellier last week, but in 2023 Gregoire Barrere had played well there, in Rotterdam and here in Marseille.

On his best day, Barrere has a decent enough serve, but his return game is not as effective as Alejandro Davidovich Fokina's. This could be the difference in this First Round match and the higher Ranked player can find a way to move past the home player.

Denis Shapovalov - 2.5 games v Hugo Gaston: Injury and a loss of form has contributed to Denis Shapovalov slipping out of the top 100 in the World Rankings, but he can frank his win over Hugo Gaston from last week by beating the same opponent again.

It has been a difficult opening month on the ATP Tour for Denis Shapovalov who has lost three of the four matches played.

The one exception was his win over Hugo Gaston when the lefty dropped just four games as he dominated the Frenchman in all aspects of the match.

Two wins in the Qualifying Rounds will have given Hugo Gaston a boost in confidence, although he will have noted the gap in level that will need to be bridged if he is going to turn the result around.

Hugo Gaston does not have the most productive serve and that does tend to put a lot of pressure on his return game. Over the last twelve months, Gaston has only held 73% of his service games played on the hard courts, and he was broken four times by Denis Shapovalov last week.

While Hugo Gaston has been able to return well enough to make up for the inefficient serve, it was very difficult for him to push Shapovalov last week. Having that experience will certainly help Gaston to prepare for this First Round match, but Denis Shapovalov showed enough in Montpellier to believe he may be approaching some of his best form and he can get the better of this opponent again.

Yannick Hanfmann - 2.5 games v Juan Pablo Varillas: The South American Golden Swing is seen as a very good chance for the clay court specialists to really get their 2024 season underway after the hard court tennis played over the last month.

Both Yannick Hanfmann and Juan Pablo Varillas are very comfortable on the surface and both will arrive in Cordoba hoping for a better run than 2023.

Early exits were the order of the day for Hanfmann and Varillas last year and this is the first clay court match of the season for either.

There is very little doubting the qualities of both of these players when it comes to the tennis on the red dirt, but it was Yannick Hanfmann who showed a bit more last season. Neither enjoyed much positive form in the opening month of the season, but the slightly superior return performances produced by Hanfmann on the clay courts over the last twelve months should help him come through.

He has also won all three previous matches against Varillas and all three wins have been on the clay courts.

Yannick Hanfmann's win last year in Madrid was the toughest of the three victories over this opponent, but he still holds the mental edge.

The German has been the stronger player in the return part of any match against Juan Pablo Varillas and Yannick Hanfmann can find a way to earn the breaks of serve to cover this mark.

MY PICKS: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina - 1.5 Games @ 1.75 Coral (2 Units)

Denis Shapovalov - 2.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Yannick Hanfmann - 2.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet365 (2 Units)

Tennis Picks 2023 (February 6th)

The solid return from the Australian Open and the ATP Tour having a week off to get a few Davis Cup ties played this past weekend contributed to my decision to take a short break from the Tennis Picks.

However, the first full week in February brings us the first 500 level event of the season when the WTA Tour begins a trip around the Middle East in Abu Dhabi and that will bring together some of the best players on that side of the two Tennis Tours.

The South American Golden Swing sees some early clay court action ahed of the move onto the European clay courts in April- we have Cordoba, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago to come in the weeks ahead, while the indoor European hard court tournaments begin Montpellier before moving to Rotterdam and Marseille.

A slight change in the Tour schedule means the tournament in Doha has also been moved to this month in the week before the 500 event held annually in Dubai and it is a very busy month before the back to back Masters events in Indian Wells and Miami in March.

I won't have Tennis Picks from every tournament being played this week, at least not every day, but I am looking to build on the start made in Australia last month after what was an underperforming 2022.

Hopefully the Australian Open was the beginning of a really good season rather than being an outlier.

I should have a thread with more analysis behind some of my selections on Tuesday and through the rest of the week, but on Monday I have just found Picks from the First Round in Cordoba.

MY PICKS: Roberto Carballas Baena - 2.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (2 Units)

Tennis Picks 2021 (February 26th)

After a difficult few days, the Tennis Picks returned a winning day on Thursday.

There is still considerable work to do to turn this week all the way around, but there was better fortune behind the selections after very little in the first few days at the tournaments being played. Even then I could have some complaints about the way Shelby Rogers managed to blow her match against Cori Gauff, but these things happen and I do think the general selection method is still one that is identifying the right plays.

Adjustments have to be made to stay in front of the plays, but I have managed to do that in the last few seasons and even a difficult start to the 2021 season is not one that is knocking the belief in those plays at this moment.

There are plenty of matches to be played on Friday, but I have only a couple of selections from those scheduled. I may have additional Tennis Picks from the ATP Cordoba event, but this looks a tough day with some close matches throughout the day.

MY PICKS: Peter Gojowyzck @ 2.00 Bet Fred (2 Units)

Facundo Bagnis - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)

Thiago Monteiro - 4.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)

Diego Sebastian Schwartzman - 5.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet Fred (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 3-6, - 6.92 Units (18 Units Staked, - 38.44% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2021 (February 25th)

This has been a pretty poor opening to the week for the Tennis Picks at the tournaments being played, but it doesn't help when you have the days where the poor fortune is matched by the bad selections.

That has been the case so far with a couple of selections barely missing out, but those add up and I am looking for a better outcome for those through the remainder of the week.

Wednesday was a pretty busy day for me and that means I am solely focusing on the Tennis Picks which can be seen below. I should have a fuller thread through the remainder of the week's Tennis before we enter a new month filled with some big events to be played.

MY PICKS: Shelby Rogers - 3.5 Games @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)

Iga Swiatek @ 1.80 Bet365 (2 Units)

Thiago Monteiro - 3.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 1-5, - 8.34 Units (12 Units Staked, - 69.50% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2020 (February 7th)

I have wanted to have a slight mental reset in the last couple of days and that has been the main reason I have not wrote out full analysis from the matches being selected for the Tennis Picks.

I am likely going to keep that going for the remainder of this week as the three tournaments in Cordoba, Montpellier and Pune are concluded, but I expect to have a fuller Football post up with Fantasy Football thoughts from the GameWeek being split over two weekends.

Next week we get the first ATP 500 event of the season in Rotterdam and the WTA Tour will also be returning as they get ready for some big tournaments to be played through the remainder of the month. At that point I would expect to have some fuller threads for the Tennis Picks going through the rest of the month barring anything unforeseen cropping up.


A brutally slow start in the first couple of days after the Australian Open has made it a difficult week, but things have just begun to pick up in the last couple of days. I will have the updated totals from the week once Diego Sebastian Schwartzman's match against Jaume Munar has been completed, while any Picks that need to be added from Montpellier and Cordoba will be placed in this thread once the markets have been put together.


MY PICKS: Jiri Vesely @ 2.20 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Ricardas Berankis @ 1.83 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Roberto Marcora + 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Soon Woo Kwon @ 2.05 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Gael Monfils - 3.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
David Goffin - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Andrej Martin + 3.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Cristian Garin - 3.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet365 (2 Units)
Diego Sebastian Schwartzman - 4.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet365 (2 Units)
Juan Ignacio Londero - 2.5 Games @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 6-6, - 1.54 Units (24 Units Staked, - 6.42% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2020 (February 6th)

The remainder of the Second Round matches in Cordoba, Montpellier and Pune are going to be played on Thursday as the three ATP tournaments continue this week.

The Fed Cup will begin this weekend which is the reason there are no WTA events scheduled for this week, but there are some big tournaments to be played in the remainder of the month including the Middle East events in Doha and Dubai.

We didn't have the big, big names out on Tour this past week, but it is an important one for those who are playing as they bid to improve Rankings which in turn leads to better Grand Slam draws. The Quarter Final line up in all three tournaments will be set by the end of Thursday and you can see my Picks from the remaining Second Round matches below.

I will add the Weekly Update on Thursday morning when the Cordoba Picks from Wednesday have been completed.


MY PICKS: Egor Gerasimov - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Soon Woo Kwon - 1.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Diego Sebastian Schwartzman - 4.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet365 (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 3-6, - 7.36 Units (18 Units Staked, - 40.89% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2020 (February 4th)

The Australian Open put a stamp on the first month of the 2020 Tennis season and if it is any indication of what we are going to see over the next eleven months then it is more of the same from the last couple of years.


The Women's Tour is Wide Open- all credit has to be given to Sofia Kenin for winning her maiden Grand Slam title and becoming the tenth different name to win the last twelve Women's Grand Slam titles.

However it is more of an indication that a void remains at the very top of the Women's game since Serena Williams has been unable to return to the heights she reached back in 2017 before having a baby. The American is no longer someone who inspires dread amongst the rest of the Tour, but there isn't one clear name leading the way.

Over the last couple of years we have seen multiple Slam Champions and a consistent changing of the Number 1 World Ranking, while I don't think any tournament going forward will have a consensus pick amongst the fans out there.

Sofia Kenin is going to have to show she can compete with the label of being a Slam Champion, but her overall numbers are not leaping off the page to think she will become the top player on the Tour on a consistent basis. At this moment I would suggest there are a dozen players out there who are capable of going on a two week hot streak which can see them win a Grand Slam and I do think there are many who are going to regret not taking advantage of the current vacuum at the very top of the WTA Tour.

The clay court and grass court seasons are perhaps a little more specialist, but Ashleigh Barty won in Paris and Simona Halep won in London which shows anyone is going to be capable.


Will Serena Williams catch Margaret Court let alone Overtake her?- When Serena Williams won her twenty-third Singles Grand Slam title in Australia in 2017 it would have been very short odds that she would end her career with more than the twenty-four titles Margaret Court picked up.

Of course at that time we did not know that Williams was expecting her first child, but even then most thought she would return to the Tour and get back to her dominating ways.

It was only a matter of time before she would match Court's record and then overtake it...

However things have not worked out as planned and I do think Serena Williams has lost some of the aura which made it so difficult for players to put her away. In reality she should have perhaps already overtaken Court having lost four Grand Slam Finals since returning and all of those as the clear favourite on the day.

All four losses have come at Wimbledon (twice) and the US Open (twice) so I do think it is premature to rule Williams out from winning at least one more Grand Slam. Even with that in mind you have to wonder if doubts are beginning to enter her game having found someone a little too good on the day.

I would still hazard a guess that Serena Williams will go into each Grand Slam as one of the top two favourites before a ball has been hit, but what was once almost impossible to think otherwise is becoming more and more realistic in each passing month. And that is that the Tennis world will not see Serena Williams overtake Margaret Court's Grand Slam Singles record.


The Next Gen on the ATP are not Quite There- Novak Djokovic recovered from 2-1 down in the Australian Open Final to make sure that for the thirteenth time in a row either himself, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal was standing victorious at the end of a Grand Slam tournament.

It means no one under the age of 31 years old has a Grand Slam title to their name, although Daniil Medvedev and Dominic Thiem both pushed members of the 'Big Three' to five sets at the US Open and in Melbourne this past week.

That is a stunning issue for players on the ATP Tour and I do think Men's tennis is going to go through something similar to Women's Tennis when the likes of Nadal, Federer and Djokovic slip.

Like Serena Williams, I think those three will always be amongst the favourites as I can't see any of them allowing themselves to hang around on the Tour when they know they can't win Grand Slam titles. And like the Women's game, it may mean we get into a position of seeing multiple different names winning Grand Slam titles as they get hot for two weeks in what is going to be a largely inconsistent performances from the top names.

Alexander Zverev was another who made a breakthrough by reaching a maiden Semi Final so will lead the challenge from the younger players along with Dominic Thiem when we head to Paris, but it feels those players are not quite ready in the best of five set situation. There are some quality names coming up on the Tour, but Men's Tennis needs one of them to break this run of the 'Big Three' while those are still competing at the top of their game.

It'll make a star of that player and also show the rest of the 'Next Gen' that their time is now.


The Three Greatest Men's Players of All Time- I have no doubt we are watching a blessed era when the three best Men's players of all time are competing and pushing each other along at the same time.

Novak Djokovic's eighth win in Melbourne means he has moved to seventeen overall Grand Slam titles and only trails Rafael Nadal by two Slams and Roger Federer by three Slams.

I do think the player that finishes with the most at the end of their career will have a real argument for being the best of All Time and it is stunning to think that only twenty years ago Pete Sampras winning fourteen Slams was considered unthinkable.

Some will say there isn't the depth of competition which has aided the 'Big Three' but I would take all of them over the greats of the past.

Rafael Nadal is without a doubt the best clay court player that has performed, while Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer have strong records in Melbourne and London respectively.

Where I would find it most interesting is if these three players could be taken at their very best and compete with each other at the US Open- Federer has five Slam titles there, Nadal four and Djokovic three and it might be the surface where the true 'best' would be determined.

Right now I am leaning towards Novak Djokovic- I think he has more time to surpass the total Roger Federer has and he is a threat at three of the Slams where Rafael Nadal has long had his issues in Australia and in Great Britain.

The Serb will turn 33 years old in May, but I think he has the best chances of winning multiple Slams before the 'Next Gen' begin to not only get closer, but start to take some of those titles away too.

No matter which may you lean, you have to be grateful for the greatness we have been given over the last twenty years as I don't believe we will see a time like this again.


So the first Tennis Picks of the season are in the books at the end of the Australian Open and it turned out to be a very good start to the 2020 year, although not as strong as last season.

In fact I ended with about ten units fewer than the 2019 Australian Open, although that was an exceptional one for the Tennis Picks and the 2020 tournament was simply a strong one.

Novak Djokovic's win proved to be key with the five pre-tournament units recommended on him at odds against, while the daily picks recovered from being in a ten unit hole to finish with a strong profit too over the two weeks in Melbourne.

I have a couple of Tennis Picks from the ATP Cordoba First Round matches to be played on Tuesday and underneath that I have updated the weekly totals as well as the season totals.

Monday proved to be a difficult day with the three selections all losing, but there is time to bounce back in a long week.


Roberto Carballas Baena - 2.5 games v Pedro Martinez: The Golden Swing has begun in South America and this is the first tournament in the run over the next month.

For these two Spaniards it is the first clay court event they are taking in during the 2020 season and both Roberto Carballas Baena and Pedro Martinez have to be happy that they are back on their favourite surface.

Pedro Martinez may have a slight edge as he had to come through a couple of Qualifiers to reach the main draw and so has some feel for the surface again. On the other side his compatriot will play his first clay court match of the 2020 season, but I expect Carballas Baena to be relatively comfortable quite quickly on a surface on which he would have played the majority of his tennis throughout his life.

It is the older Spaniard who has had the better of the numbers on the clay courts, but Martinez is still only 22 years old and showing signs of improving. The level of competition will be increasing for Martinez if he wants to make a career for himself on the main ATP Tour and much is going to depend on how much he can get out of his serve.

I am not going to read too much into the two wins in the Qualifiers when Pedro Martinez was serving well as he has been winning 58% of his service points on this surface in each of the last two seasons. Those have come below the main ATP level too and I would expect Roberto Carballas Baena to challenge that side of his game as he has when beating him four times in a row on the clay since 2018.

Roberto Carballas Baena has had the more reliable serve and similar return numbers to Pedro Martinez in the last couple of years on the clay courts. That has shown up in the head to head where Carballas Baena has held 82% of his service games played against Martinez compared with 52% for the latter.

There should be breaks of serve in the match, but I think Roberto Carballas Baena is the stronger clay court player at this time and should be able to settle into the match before pulling away for the win.


Albert Ramos-Vinolas - 3.5 games v Facundo Bagnis: Two southpaws meet in the First Round of the tournament being played in Cordoba and Albert Ramos-Vinolas is a pretty big favourite to make it through to the Second Round.

The first match back on the clay courts might be the biggest factor going against Ramos-Vinolas in this one, especially as he is playing someone who is entering his second tournament on the surface.

Last week Facundo Bagnis reached the Quarter Final of a Challenger event and he has won two Qualifiers to get into the main draw here. He is very comfortable on the clay courts and spends the majority of his time on the surface, but his numbers have long taken a hit when he has stepped up to take on the main ATP Tour.

That has been the case for his opponent in recent times too, but Ramos-Vinolas has also made hay at the Challenger level. The Spaniard is off a strong season on the clay courts as he got back to basics following a tough year on the main ATP Tour in 2018, and the Spaniard also has a long history of wins over Bagnis which should give him an edge.

Albert Ramos-Vinolas has won all three previous matches against the Argentinian he faces on Tuesday and he has not lot more than four games in any of those wins. The first two came early in their careers, but the most recent was last year in Sao Paulo and I do think the head to head is relevant with that in mind.

Where Albert Ramos-Vinolas has been strong behind serve, Facundo Bagnis has struggled massively to the point where he has held less than 50% of the service games he has played against the Spaniard. At the same time he has barely dented the Ramos-Vinolas serve and I do think it is going to be difficult for things to change drastically even when accounting for the fact that Ramos-Vinolas is playing his first clay court match of the season.

This time last year Ramos-Vinolas did need three sets to win his opener in Cordoba, but this has been a good match up for him. The home support may be with Facundo Bagnis, but I think Albert Ramos-Vinolas is too good for him on the day and can cover this mark.

MY PICKS: Roberto Carballas Baena - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Albert Ramos-Vinolas - 3.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 0-3, - 6 Units (6 Units Staked, - 100% Yield)

Season 2020: + 13.78 Units (149 Units Staked, + 9.25% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2020 (February 3rd)

There will be a much fuller thread for the Tuesday Tennis matches as the ATP Tour moves past the Australian Open with three events being played this week.

Unsurprisingly most of the big names are going to be resting following their exploits in Melbourne, but for many others this represents a week in which they can try and put some strong Ranking points on the board and also build some confidence for bigger tournaments to come later this month and beyond in the 2020 season.

We don't have a long list of First Round matches on Monday, but I don't have the time to write out full analysis for these matches and will just place my Tennis Picks below.

MY PICKS: Salvatore Caruso - 1.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Pablo Carreno Busta - 3.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet365 (2 Units)
Lorenzo Sonego - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet365 (2 Units)

Tennis Picks 2019 (February 10th)

It has proven to be a decent, but not a spectacular week for the Tennis Picks.

The conclusion of the week comes on Sunday as the Fed Cup ties are completed while the Finals of the three ATP tournaments are also scheduled to be played.

Next week we move onto the first really big events outside of the Grand Slams with an ATP 500 tournament being played in Rotterdam, while the WTA Tour sees some of the biggest names in the sport competing in Doha. The tournaments in Doha and Dubai are big ones on the WTA Tour in February before both Tours meet up to play back to back Masters events at Indian Wells and Miami to complete the hard court season in the first half of the season.

Any selections from the ATP Cordoba event or the Australia-USA Fed Cup tie will be added to this thread on Sunday.


MY PICKS: Aryna Sabalenka - 5.5 Games @ 1.83 Ladbrokes (2 Units)
Simona Halep @ 1.95 Betfair Sportsbook (2 Units)
Daniil Medvedev - 4.5 Games @ 2.20 Bet365 (2 Units)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Guido Pella - 3.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Madison Keys @ 1.95 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 14-10, + 4.96 Units (48 Units Staked, + 10.33% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2019 (February 7th)

Wednesday proved to be another good start to the week for the Tennis Picks with the six selections ending up with a 4-2 record.

It could have been better, but I was surprised at how poorly David Goffin played in his loss, while Karen Khachanov started off very well and kind of fell apart to lose in three sets.

Fortunately it was a good day for the most part and I am looking to produce a fourth winning week on the Tour after having backed up the strong selections at the Australian Open to keep the 2019 season moving in a positive direction.

The remaining Second Round matches at the three ATP events are being played on Thursday so it is another busy day with plenty of action throughout from Montpellier and Sofia leading into the tournament being played in Cordoba to begin the South American Golden Swing.

I have yet to have a selection from the Cordoba event on the clay, but that will change on Thursday with the majority of the selections being made from that tournament. It is the first clay court action of the season for many of the players in Argentina, but a number of specialists are in the draw too before some of the much bigger names on the Tour join the Golden Swing through the remainder of the month.

I have looked at a couple of matches in depth below and then I have added the remaining selections to the 'MY PICKS' section below. The weekly totals are updated below that.


Pablo Cuevas - 4.5 games v Malek Jaziri: Both Pablo Cuevas and Malek Jaziri won their first match at the ATP Cordoba event and move through to this Second Round meeting.

Over the years playing on the clay courts has been far from easy for Jaziri, but the veteran had a good looking win in the First Round over Carlos Berlocq and that should give him some confidence. He did not serve as well as he would have liked in that win, and that is going to be a problem for Jaziri in this match as it has been when playing on the main ATP Tour on this surface throughout his career.

Malek Jaziri did have a decent enough season on the clay courts in 2018 so there may be a feeling that he has gotten comfortable on the surface. However this is a step up in level for the Tunisian who has reached a career best World Ranking already in 2019 and could improve on that with a strong run in this tournament.

His return of serve is going to be important on the clay courts, but Jaziri will also have to look after this own serve better than he did in the First Round and better than his levels produced in the last few years. That is the case when facing someone like Pablo Cuevas who is very strong on the clay courts and has a serve that can set him up to win plenty of matches.

Pablo Cuevas holds serve considerably better than Jaziri on the clay courts and he was a dominant First Round winner where Jaziri did have his difficulties.

While the return game is perhaps not quite as good as it could be, Cuevas is someone who has a consistent ability to break serve on the clay courts. In each of the last four years Cuevas has won between 37.5% and 38.5% of the return points against the serve and that has led to a pretty consistent break percentage on the clay courts.

That is the kind of level that could give him every chance to not only win this match with Jaziri, but also find the breaks of serve to cover a big number. Pablo Cuevas has beaten Malek Jaziri on a hard court in 2016, but the clay is his favoured domain and I do think his superior serve numbers will see him give up fewer break points and ultimately do enough to move through to the Quarter Final with a relatively straight-forward win.


Fabio Fognini - 2.5 games v Aljaz Bedene: There are some big Ranking points for Fabio Fognini to defend on the clay courts over the next month, but the Italian is still very close to achieving his best World Ranking in his career. He remains inside the top 20 of the World Rankings, but Fognini could see a considerable drop if he is not able to produce his best tennis during the Golden Swing.

Over the last few years the Fognini numbers on the clay courts have been far from elite level, but he has managed to win plenty of matches on the surface. One of the main problems for Fognini is his serve is one that can be attacked, especially if he is failing to get enough first serves in play, while Fognini is never too far away from mentally checking out of sets.

That can see him drop sets by wide margins as he perhaps focuses on the next set rather than fighting to get back into one. It is a criticism of Fognini, but his tennis clearly works for him as he gets set for his first clay court match of the 2019 season.

He may not have been able to ask for a much better opponent as Fognini takes on Aljaz Bedene who was a strong winner in the First Round. A couple of years ago Bedene was in fantastic form on the clay courts and his numbers were very impressive, but last year they were back at a level that has been more in keeping with the rest of his career.

It was the Bedene serve which really sparked his strong 2017 showing on the clay courts as he held at 83% with 66% of points won behind serve. In 2018 those numbers dipped back to 73% and 61% respectively and Bedene is going to have some trouble picking up his play in this match.

Fabio Fognini has won all seven previous matches played against Bedene and he has won six of those on the clay courts. The numbers in those previous matches on the clay have seen Fognini hold serve at a much higher percentage than his usual level on this surface, while Bedene has only managed to hold 69% of service games played.

The last of those matches came last year in Rio de Janeiro and Fognini would have covered this number in four of six matches against Bedene on the clay courts including the last three in a row. He clearly enjoys this match up and I think Fognini can cover again as long as he doesn't take too long getting readjusted to tennis back on the clay courts.

The Italian's numbers are slightly superior to Bedene's overall, but you can see he has a clear edge when they have faced one another. I expect that to be the case again and I will look for Fabio Fognini to win by a wide enough margin to cover this number.

MY PICKS: Pablo Cuevas - 4.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Fabio Fognini - 2.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Federico Delbonis - 2.5 Games @ 1.80 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Diego Sebastian Schwartzman - 5.5 Games @ 2.10 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Ernests Gulbis - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Ladbrokes (2 Units)
Lucas Pouille - 3.5 Games @ 2.10 Paddy Power (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 4-2, + 3.08 Units (12 Units Staked, + 25.67% Yield)