Tennis Picks 2025 (Friday 13th June)

The French Open frustration was largely built on the fact that too many matches had seen players dominate the Break Points, but find a way to miss out on winning those important points.

It felt like something of a hangover from that when the opening Pick of the week struggled to get over the line, despite having the better of the chances.

However, Diana Shnaider was able to rally together in time to produce the win needed and Elena Rybakina was then able to save some late Break Points to earn another winner.

Emma Raducanu rounded out the day, even after blowing a 5-0 lead in the first set, and that has produced a solid opener to the grass court season.

There is still some work to do to secure a positive return for the week, but that start at least puts a solid foundation to build upon.

Madison Keys - 2.5 games v Diana Shnaider: The opening Quarter Final at Queens looks a very good looking match on Friday and both Madison Keys and Diana Shnaider have had solid victories under their belt over the last few days.

Playing on the grass after a long grass court season can be challenging, but having those matches, and wins, to fall back upon should mean Keys and Shnaider are pretty happy with where they are.

Madison Keys was Seeded through to the Second Round and won her match on Wednesday, which means having had a day of rest ahead of the Quarter Final. That should be a help, while the fact that Diana Shnaider was pushed into a third set in her own Second Round win over Katie Boulter could leave the youngster a little vulnerable.

She has won a title on the grass in 2024 and so Diana Shnaider will enter the court with some confidence.

Serving well is going to be the key for the World Number 12 and the first two matches have shown enough from Diana Shnaider to believe she can give Madison Keys something to think about. Playing the Break Points with a bit more confidence will be important and Diana Shnaider has to be careful that she is not offering up too many looks at her second serve.

There is no doubt that Madison Keys is going to be serving well- this is a big part of her tennis and over the years the serve has been a key weapon for Keys on the grass. She has enjoyed some quality runs at Wimbledon and there is a new confidence around Madison Keys since winning the Australian Open earlier this year.

One of the criticisms of the American has been on the return of serve as Madison Keys has struggled with the balance needed to be really effective on this surface.

However, Keys got her eye in during the Second Round win and she did have too much for Diana Shnaider when they met in Miami in March 2024.

The younger player is much improved fifteen months later, but Madison Keys may just have the grass court know-how to get the better of Diana Shnaider again.

Elena Rybakina - 5.5 games v Tatjana Maria: At 37 years old, you can forgive Tatjana Maria if she is considering ending her time on the Tour at the end of the season, especially having lost more matches than she has won over the last twelve months.

Slipping down the World Rankings and having to Qualify for some of the important events on the Tour may not be something that Tatjana Maria is prepared to do, although her run at Queens will certainly help.

Her run is set to take her back inside the top 80 of the World Rankings, but Maria will be thinking about more than that.

It would mean upsetting a former Wimbledon Champion- Elena Rybakina won the title in 2022, but it was also a memorable tournament for Tatjana Maria who reached the Semi Final and was a set away from beating Ons Jabeur. Four wins here in Queens, including two against top 30 Ranked players, will have given Tatjana Maria confidence and her previous grass exploits deserve respect.

At the same time this is another significant test for the underdog, especially if Elena Rybakina has just found her range back on the grass court.

Only late nerves added some drama to the Second Round win over Heather Watson, but Elena Rybakina was very good on the day and she will have gained plenty from having that grass court match. Her game is tailored to be very effective on this surface and the Quarter Final could follow a similar pattern to the Second Round win.

Elena Rybakina will know there are some improvements to be made- she will need to do better on the second serve and the returning numbers can be improved, but the power in her tennis is hard to ignore.

A tough opening set is to be expected, but Elena Rybakina can find a way to move in front and then perhaps power through the second set, much like she did against Heather Watson.

The only previous match between Elena Rybakina and Tatjana Maria ended with the former coming through 7-5, 6-0 on a hard court at the back end of 2023. This one is unlikely to be as wide as that, but Elena Rybakina could still cover the handicap mark that has been set.

MY PICKS: Madison Keys - 2.5 Games @ 1.66 William Hill (1 Unit)

Elena Rybakina - 5.5 Games @ 2.00 William Hill (1 Unit)

Weekly Update: 3-0, + 2.65 Units (3 Units Staked, + 88.33% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2025 (Thursday 12th June)

A decision was made partway through the French Open to really take a watching brief after some brutal luck early in the tournament.

Ultimately the feeling was that I had ignored the way the tournament was developing at the Australian Open in 2024 and that set the entirety of the season behind schedule.

With a solid opening to 2025 under the belt, the feeling was that there was some confusion in the selections being made at the French Open and so I did not want to remain on a pathway that was not going to be leading to a positive return. Instead it was better to just take a step back and that proved to be the case with some many of the matches in the second week of the event also seemingly moving against the numbers.

It has been a tough tournament, but in a long season, you have to expect some of the lows although I am always keen to avoid them at Grand Slam events.

The numbers on the tournament were a disappointment, but that was far from the word that would have been used for the Men's Final last Sunday.

Jannik Sinner has to be feeling incredibly sick at blowing the chance to win a third Grand Slam in a row- he was up two sets and a break and then had three consecutive Championship Points in the fourth set, only to be eventually undone in a Champions tie-breaker at the end of the absorbing fifth set.

For fans of the sport who have lived through the Big Four era, it was an incredible Final put together by the two best players on the ATP Tour and you would be hard pressed to find too many people who are not anticipating Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz facing off on Sunday 13th July in the Wimbledon Final.

That Grand Slam Final will sit alongside some of the very best we have seen, but the Women's Final was not as strong in terms of quality, but had plenty of drama attached to it too.

Aryna Sabalenka is a fabulous player, but a late Grand Slam capitulation has become far too familiar for her, her team and her fans and she will head to Wimbledon with all of the attributes to win the title, except perhaps the most important which is the mental strength.

Some will consider that a harsh assessment of a player that has won multiple Grand Slam titles, but these late collapses have prevented the World Number 1 having double the number that is in the trophy cabinet.

The victor, Coco Gauff, has plenty of grass court pedigree of her own so the top two players are expected to be there or thereabouts, even if the Women's Wimbledon tournament has been wide open over recent years. There will be players who feel they can put the tennis together to have a big event when that begins in July and it will be interesting to see how the draw shapes up.

Before the third Grand Slam of the season gets underway, there are three weeks of grass court tournaments in the lead up to Wimbledon.

The short season is still one that some believe should be expanded, but there are a lot of players who cannot stand this time of the year and those are the vulnerable ones you have to look out for.

Form can be determined by results over the remainder of the month, including at the new WTA event being played at Queens this week.

Early matches have really provided a watching brief, although one or two selections came very close to being placed on a thread here.

I have noted that the layers are taking no chances with the total games marks being set for matches in Stuttgart and Hertogenbosch, where the ATP are playing (there is also a WTA event in the latter), and so the main focus for the remainder of this week could be on the WTA events being played, notably that one in West London not far from Wimbledon.

Selections will be made when they are fitting the criteria and the ambition over the last two and a half weeks of June is to build some momentum to take into the third Grand Slam of the season.

Emma Raducanu - 4.5 games v Rebecca Sramkova: Weeks before beginning her memorable run at the US Open, Emma Raducanu really announced herself to the British public by reaching the Fourth Round at Wimbledon.

Two top 50 Ranked players were beaten in that run, including Marketa Vondrousova who would go on to win Wimbledon in 2023, but suffice to say it has been a tough few years for Emma Raducanu who will be playing as the World Number 37 this week.

2022 was just a difficult season overall and 2023 injuries meant missing the grass court season entirely, but the British player is very comfortable on this surface. Last year she displayed that comfort with another Fourth Round run at Wimbledon, while Emma Raducanu also reached a Semi Final and a Quarter Final in warm up events.

A crushing First Round win at the reborn Queens tournament will have served as a reminder and Emma Raducanu deserves her strong favouritism in this match.

Some may disagree when noting that Rebecca Sramkova is only four places below Emma Raducanu in the World Rankings and playing in this Second Round after upsetting Wimbledon Champion Barbora Krejcikova in the First Round, but it should be noted that the latter is not looking like a player that will have another deep run in SW19 as injuries have held her back.

Back in 2016, Rebecca Sramkova did reach the Final of an event played on the grass courts, but at a level far below the WTA Tour... Since then it has been a real struggle for the 28 year old who has a 5-6 record on the grass and shown enough disdain for the surface to only have been involved in matches under the Wimbledon banner before taking part in the tournament here in Queens.

Prior to the win over Krejcikova, Rebecca Sramkova had never beaten a top 100 Ranked player on the grass and this should be a match where Emma Raducanu feels pretty comfortable, especially with the surface having a bit more wear on it.

The Sramkova first serve can be an effective weapon and that deserves some respect, but she is going to have to take risks with it and that means the percentage being made is likely to hover around the 52-55% mark. That should open the door for Emma Raducanu to turn the screw on the return of serve and the British player has been able to produce a 6-2 record on the grass when facing players outside of the top 20 in the World Rankings over the last twelve months.

Her return has not always been the most efficient, but Raducanu had her eye in during the First Round win and can back that up with another strong performance.

Diana Shnaider - 2.5 games v Katie Boulter: A French Open that ended prematurely will have disappointed Diana Shnaider, but the youngster showed some solid grass court qualities last year and may feel she can put together some strong results on this surface again.

The crushing First Round win can only offer the World Number 12 some real confidence to take into this match, which is going to be far from easy against a home player who will have the crowd firmly behind her.

Katie Boulter will still be hoping she can earn a Seed for Wimbledon and she is the current World Number 34, while in recent years she has shown her passion for grass court tennis. Throughout her career, Boulter has proven to be a very comfortable player on a surface that so many struggle to deal with, and she has a 29-12 record in main WTA tournaments played on the grass since the Covid cancelled 2020 grass court season.

Despite that, Katie Boulter will perhaps be a little disappointed that the win-loss record drops to 17-11 when only considering matches played against top 100 Ranked players in that time. She is also just 12-10 when facing opponents that are Ranked higher than her when the match is played, and eleven of those wins were in either 2021 or 2022 when Katie Boulter was Ranked outside of the top 100.

She still had to win the matches, but it is a real worry that the current British Number 1 has a 1-4 record against opponents Ranked higher than herself since cracking the top 100 in her own right.

Even her First Round win over Ajla Tomljanovic was a real battle- the Australian is a very good grass court player too, but she is only returning from an injury and is the World Number 64, while Tomljanovic will be frustrated at creating 14 Break Points compared with just 6 for Katie Boulter.

This is a significant step upwards for Boulter, who will need the crowd to get behind her and push her through, but the Birmingham Quarter Finalist and Bad Homburg Champion from 2024 should have the power to come through.

Elena Rybakina - 5.5 games v Heather Watson: The first match on a grass court can always be an awkward experience, even for a former Wimbledon Champion like Elena Rybakina.

Her performance at Roland Garros has to offer some encouragement to a player who continues to deal with off court issues that are clearly impacting her play on the court.

Elena Rybakina has every tool you would want if you were going to build a proper grass court player- she is perhaps a slightly weaker mover than ideal, but the big serve and the powerful aggressive groundstrokes makes the World Number 11 a real contender when Wimbledon rolls around.

She will be given a test by Heather Watson, even if the 33 year old British player has slipped down the World Rankings. These days it is the likes of Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter who will make the headlines for British Women's tennis in the summer and Heather Watson has not only fallen to World Number 164, but she was beaten early in a lower level event in Birmingham.

Heather Watson has to feel she has benefited from needing to win a couple of Qualifiers to take her place in the main draw in Queens and she was able to best World Number 27 Yulia Putintseva in the First Round without dropping a set.

However, this feels like a considerable step upwards against a former Wimbledon Champion and especially when you factor in Heather Watson's 3-8 record in her previous eleven grass court matches before entering the Qualifying draw here.

All three of her defeats last year were in competitive matches, but none of the opponents were nearly as highly Ranked as Elena Rybakina is and the question really is about how quickly the higher Seed can get into the groove on the grass.

The expectation is that the first set could be more competitive, but Rybakina may begin to move through the gears into the second set and that can see her progress to the Quarter Final with a solid win on the board.

MY PICKS: Emma Raducanu - 4.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet365 (1 Unit)

Diana Shnaider - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 William Hill (1 Unit)

Elena Rybakina - 5.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Victor (1 Unit)

2025 Season: 90-75, + 8.10 Units (203 Units Staked, + 3.99% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2022 (June 19th)

A wet day in Birmingham means both Semi Finals and Final at that tournament will be played on the same day, but the other events have all managed to get through their Saturday schedules.

We have all of the Finals scheduled for Sunday on the same day the last events before Wimbledon are set to begin. I won't have any Picks from the First Round matches that will get those events underway on Sunday as first I concentrate on ending this week with something of a flourish.

Daniil Medvedev-Hubert Hurkacz over 23.5 games: Despite the ban that is going to prevent Daniil Medvedev from playing at Wimbledon, the current World Number 1 has continued to shine on the grass courts. He will be playing in his second Final on the surface in two weeks and will also be competing in Mallorca to make sure the Ranking points are put in the bank before the move onto the hard courts in the build towards the US Open.

I would not be surprised if Daniil Medvedev decides to play a tournament or two in July to make sure he doesn't lose any match sharpness before looking to defend the Grand Slam title he won last season. For now his main focus is making sure he continues to perform at a high level on the grass courts, although Daniil Medvedev will also be looking to be much more competitive than he was in the upset loss last week in Hertogenbosch.

This has not always been the best match up for Daniil Medvedev having split four matches with Hubert Hurtkacz over the last twelve months. The first one of those was played between these two in an epic match at Wimbledon that lasted five sets and there really has not been much between two solid servers.

It has been a strong week for Hubert Hurkacz who has upset Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Quarter Final and then come from behind to beat Nick Kyrgios in the Semi Final. The character and mental strength shown by Hubert Hurkacz to win the match against the Australian without breaking serve once is going to be a huge factor in how far he can go at Wimbledon again, and I do think he has the serving power to keep this one competitive even in a two set loss.

Both of these players have produced very strong serving numbers in their run to the Halle Final and that is backed up by the fact that Daniil Medvedev has held 97% of his service games and Hubert Hurkacz has held 94% of his . You can't ignore the fact that Medvedev has faced a lot more break points than Hubert Hurkacz, but he has played the big points well and has held 88% of his service games played in the four matches against this opponent.

Daniil Medvedev has a huge advantage when it comes to the returning numbers in Halle this week, but Hubert Hurkacz is confident with his serve and has held 90% of his service games against the World Number 1. I do think there will be at least one tie-breaker needed in this one and the matches have been competitive enough to see three of the four needing a deciding set to determine the winner.

That is a real possibility in this Final and I do think both can be confident in the serving they have been producing for this match to go pretty long and cover this total set.

MY PICKS: Daniil Medvedev-Hubert Hurkacz Over 23.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet365 (2 Units)

Matteo Berrettini - 3.5 Games @ 1.70 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 26-25, - 4.04 Units (106 Units Staked, - 3.81% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2022 (June 13th)

The first grass court tournaments of the 2022 season are in the books, but stronger fields have assembled this week with bigger Ranking points available.

With the uncertainty about the tournament in Queens and whether the Ranking points would be stripped after Wimbledon's decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players, I do think it has suffered in the entry list.

In previous years, Queens has had so many of the top names involved, but the field clearly looks weaker in 2022, although Matteo Berrettini is back as the defending Champion fresh off his success last week in Stuttgart.

After a difficult ending to the clay court season, it was good to get the grass court season off to a winning start with both Picks on Sunday coming back as winners.

It is something to build upon with another busy week to come as four events get underway on Monday.

Cameron Norrie - 1.5 games v Grigor Dimitrov: This is the first grass court event being played by both Cameron Norrie and Grigor Dimitrov and they would have likely been hoping for an 'easier' First Round match than the one in front of them.

He may represent Britain, but Cameron Norrie had not really played that well on the grass courts before reaching the Final here at Queens last year. The lefty followed that up by making the Third Round at Wimbledon before losing to Roger Federer in four sets and so there may be more confidence going into the next month than Cameron Norrie has had previously.

I won't ignore the fact that the draws opened up for Cameron Norrie last year with the best win coming in the Semi Final at this event when he beat Denis Shapovalov. However, that is one of just two wins against opponents Ranked inside the top 30 in 2021 and Cameron Norrie will still have something to prove as he begins another run at Queens.

Facing someone like Grigor Dimitrov will give Cameron Norrie plenty to think about with the Bulgarian being comfortable on the grass courts, although recent years have become much tougher for Dimitrov.

Since reaching the Semi Final in Queens and following up with a Fourth Round run at Wimbledon in 2017, Grigor Dimitrov is just 2-5 in grass court matches. Last year he didn't even bother playing any grass court events in the lead into Wimbledon, while Grigor Dimitrov has won a single match in his two previous appearances at this event.

Both players will be confident in their serving numbers on the grass courts, but Cameron Norrie showed something with his returning in 2021. That is more than what we have seen from Grigor Dimitrov, while the higher Ranked player also has the mental edge from the previous two matches between them.

Those two matches may have both been played on the hard courts in 2021, but Cameron Norrie won both and has yet to drop a set to Grigor Dimitrov. There has been a clear edge in favour of Cameron Norrie who has held 85% of his service games played in those two matches compared with Dimitrov's 61% number and I do think the experiences of last year will aid the British player in this one.

In the last three seasons on the grass courts, Grigor Dimitrov has only broken in 16% of return games played and that has put significant pressure on his own serve. I think that could show up in this First Round match and Cameron Norrie should be able to serve well enough to get on top of Grigor Dimitrov and cover this spread in the victory.

Alexander Bublik - 2.5 games v Lorenzo Musetti: After Roland Garros came to a conclusion, most players would have been focusing on the grass court season and transitioning onto the surface before Wimbledon begins. For Lorenzo Musetti, it was a time to play a Challenger event on the clay before heading to Stuttgart and it is perhaps no surprise he was beaten in the First Round.

He did win the Challenger in Forli, but it did mean Lorenzo Musetti had little time on the grass before losing in Stuttgart.

Now he has had a few more days to adjust, but you cannot ignore the fact that the young Italian is playing just his third match on the surface and has been well beaten in his first two attempts at grass court tennis. The serve has the potential to be a weapon on grass, especially against a largely limited return player he is facing in the First Round in London, but Lorenzo Musetti has struggled when it comes to the return and I do think that goes against him here.

Alexander Bublik was beaten in the Second Round in Stuttgart, but that does mean he has a win under his belt and he is someone who has shown improvement in his grass court tennis in 2019 and 2021. The loss to Andy Murray would have hurt last week, but Alexander Bublik was guilty of some loose play and could easily have turned the match on its head if serving out the second set.

While not being the best return player, Alexander Bublik did break twice in both matches played last week and ended 2021 with 20% of return games ending with a break on the grass. I do think he will get a few more looks than Lorenzo Musetti in this one with that experience of stringing wins together giving him a mental edge in the match and I do think he can do enough to find the breaks needed to progress with a strong win on the scoreboard behind him.

As long as Alexander Bublik serves well, he should be able to contain the Lorenzo Musetti return and it could lead to frustration and scoreboard pressure wearing on the younger player. We have seen him crack in his only two previous grass court matches on the pro Tour and I can see Alexander Bublik becoming the latest to take advantage.

MY PICKS: Cameron Norrie - 1.5 Games @ 1.95 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Alexander Bublik - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Bet Fred (2 Units)

Andrey Rublev - 3.5 Games @ 1.66 Bet365 (2 Units)

Ilya Ivashka-Jan-Lennard Struff Over 22.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet Fred (2 Units)

Viktorija Gloubic - 2.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet Fred (2 Units)