Tennis Picks 2015 (April 9th)

It was a frustrating Wednesday for the tennis picks that I made, mainly because they were bad picks on my part and that bothers me more than when a little luck goes against them. Bad luck can at least be justified by picks getting into winning positions, but bad picks which have no chance of ending in the winner's enclosure from early on are much more irritating.


Caroline Garcia - 2.5 games v Lucie Hradecka: Lucie Hradecka spent the majority of her time last season playing on the level below the main Tour when it came to clay court events, but she has already surpassed that with a strong week in Charleston.

She had to come from a set down to beat Zarina Diyas in the last Round, but the level of competition will increase again as Hradecka takes on Caroline Garcia in this Third Round match.

Garcia had a couple of really good runs on the clay courts last season and her tough win in the last Round should stand her in good stead for the remainder of this week. I think she has the better movement than Hradecka which is obviously very important on the clay courts when play can shift from side to side in extended rallies, but Garcia also has plenty of firepower to rely upon.

I do respect the fact that Hradecka can produce some big tennis and four wins this week will have given her plenty of confidence to take going forward, but Garcia is the better player with more upside and I expect her to come through 76, 64.


Kirsten Flipkens + 3.5 games v Monica Niculescu: Monica Niculescu crushed Kirsten Flipkens in Antwerp earlier this season, but I am looking for the latter to be a lot more competitive in this match in Katowice.

Both players have come through a Round in impressive fashion so far and neither player has the overwhelming power to expect to dominate, although Niculescu showed her variation can extract the errors from the Flipkens game.

Even though this is played on an indoor hard court, the rallies might be long and gruelling with a lot of slicing and dicing used by both players. Flipkens has picked up a few more wins since her defeat to Niculescu in Antwerp and I think that will help her compete better from a mental standpoint at the very least.

Taking a set should give Flipkens a good chance to at least stay within this number and I do think she has a real chance of overturning the recent match in Antwerp and win this one outright.

MY PICKS: Caroline Garcia - 2.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Kirsten Flipkens + 3.5 Games @ 1.92 Bet Fred (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 3-3, - 0.48 Units (12 Units Staked, - 4% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2013 (April 12th)

Yesterday we saw the Sam Querrey pick being voided as he pulled out of the tournament in Houston and was replaced by Ivo Karlovic. I had mentioned that he might be mentally a little beat up after what happened in the match with Novak Djokovic in the Davis Cup.

It has to hurt that he won just one game in the third and fourth set, after taking the second set in a tie-break, especially after all the rumours that Novak Djokovic wouldn't be playing at the French Open after an injury suffered in just the third game of the match.

That has to hurt a professional that he barely threatened a win against a hobbled opponent, no matter if it is the World Number 1 or not, and so I wasn't overly surprised that he decided to pull out in Houston. The clay court season has never been a big success for any of the top American players in the past, and so this has to be a tough portion of the season for the likes of Querrey and John Isner, although the latter is certainly capable on the surface as shown when he pushed Rafael Nadal to five sets at the French Open.


Roberta Vinci - 4.5 games v Karolina Pliskova: Roberta Vinci has certainly improved as a player on the Singles court thanks to her success in the Doubles and I think she has enough to see off Karolina Pliskova in this Quarter Final in Katowice.

There is no doubt that Pliskova can cause some problems for Vinci in this one, but I think the Italian certainly has an awkward game that can frustrate her younger opponent, especially the backhand slice that could produce a lot of unforced errors from the Pliskova racquet.

I am expecting a few breaks of serve in the match and that can be a problem with a spread of this size, especially as Vinci is not one to panic if she loses a set, but I am looking for the Italian to just be a little too solid and win this in straight sets, likely 6-4, 6-3.


MY PICKS: Roberta Vinci - 4.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet 365 (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 2-1, + 1.25 Units (3 Units Staked, + 41.67% Yield)