Tennis Picks 2024 (Thursday 29th February)

A busy day in Dubai saw Andy Murray exit relatively early at another tournament and once again questions were asked about his future and how long he will continue to play competitive tennis on the Tour.

Whether it was frustration or whether it was genuine, Murray has once again hinted that retirement will happen sooner rather than later with an indication he wants to play the French Open, Wimbledon and then the Olympic Games in Paris before calling time on what has been a wonderful career.

While it is fair enough to wonder why Andy Murray keeps competing, I do think it is unfair that he is asked this after every loss on the Tour.

He has given enough to the sport to deserve the chance to go out how he wants and when he wants, although it is clear that Andy Murray is not prepared to be uncompetitive on the Tour. There was a genuine belief he could get back amongst the top players on the Tour when he pushed himself through a tough recovery period and returned to action with a metal hip.

It looks increasingly unlikely that Andy Murray will get to that level again and it becomes hard work to suffer defeats to players that he will expect to beat. The defeat to Ugo Humbert is not so bad on paper, but others this year have been much more difficult to accept and it is perhaps no surprise that Andy Murray all but stated that his career will be ending over the next several months.

Once again this thread will begin with any selections from the ATP Dubai event before adding those from the other four events.

The ATP Acapulco event is on the same path as the Dubai event with both looking to conclude on Saturday, which gives players a few days to get over to Indian Wells and prepare for the first ATP Masters event of the season.

The other three events are looking like they are on track for a Sunday Final and that is perhaps no surprise considering the two WTA events are being played in the United States.

It has been a solid start to the week, but the four selections on Wednesday in Acapulco will determine where the week stands in terms of the numbers.

Those numbers will be added to the thread on Thursday once all of the matches have been completed.

Alexander Bublik v Jiri Lehecka: Both of these players have played well on the hard courts this year and are enjoying good runs in Dubai, but there has been a little more convincing tennis produced by Alexander Bublik.

His two wins have been a little more comfortable than Jiri Lehecka's two wins and the Kazakhstan Number 1 has spent less time on the court.

A huge effort would have been put in by Jiri Lehecka to win on Wednesday when he was down Match Points in the second set and behind by a break of serve in the decider. Fighting back would have meant a real investment both physically and emotionally and it could leave Lehecka a little short in this one.

Trusting Alexander Bublik twice in a row might not be for everyone and he is a player that can be erratic- the serve has been decent this week, but there is room for improvement and Bublik will also have to be a little more efficient when the break points are earned.

However, he has looked slightly better than Jiri Lehecka in the first two matches in Dubai and it feels like Alexander Bublik should have been the favourite in this Quarter Final.

Jiri Lehecka has shown some solid form in 2024, but it may be tough if he is forced to dig into a third set again and Alexander Bublik can come through.

Andrey Rublev - 2.5 games v Sebastian Korda: Losing just three games in four sets will have given Sebastian Korda a real confidence to take into this Quarter Final in Dubai.

However, both of those wins have been against players Ranked at 63 or higher and now Sebastian Korda has to take a considerable step up in terms of quality of opponent.

Sebastian Korda suffered relatively early defeats in Marseille and Rotterdam so this run in Dubai has really come out of left field, but there is some pressure to produce his best against the stronger players on the Tour. As mentioned, both wins have been against players outside the top 60 in the World Rankings and it should be noted that Korda has lost four matches in a row on the hard courts against those Ranked inside the top 50.

One of those defeats came against Andrey Rublev at the Australian Open, which makes it three straight losses to the current World Number 5.

Much like his opponent, Andrey Rublev has been playing very well here in Dubai and that has maintained a strong start to 2024. He generally beats those he is expected to beat and Rublev has won all three previous matches against Sebastian Korda without dropping a set.

Andrey Rublev has yet to drop his serve in Dubai and he has held in 94% of his service games against Sebastian Korda. The match in Melbourne saw them play a tight second set against one another, but Rublev was the stronger player and the expectation is that he can keep up his dominant run against the American.

After the two wins produced this week, Sebastian Korda will feel he can get a lot closer to Andrey Rublev, but this is a step up in class of opponent and the World Number 5 can find his best tennis at the big moments to move through to the Semi Final.

Daniil Medvedev - 4.5 games v Alejandro Davidovich Fokina: The Australian Open run took plenty out of Daniil Medvedev and he has spent a little more time recovering from his exploits in Melbourne than he has in previous years.

The World Number 4 has made it clear that his loss in the Final from two sets ahead will have hurt, but perhaps not has much as the defeat to Rafael Nadal in the exact same situation a couple of years ago.

His return to Dubai has at least seen Daniil Medvedev put a couple of wins on the board, although there is plenty of room for improvement too. That is not to say that Daniil Medvedev has played poorly, but he has set some high standards for himself as he prepares to reach the Semi Final.

Facing Alejandro Davidovich Fokina will be a challenge, but it is one that Medvedev will feel he can enjoy.

All three professional matches between the players have been won by Daniil Medvedev and both hard court wins have been in relatively comfortable fashion when all is said and done. The Russian has had a serious edge on the return of serve when facing Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and these faster conditions should suit him a little more.

As well as Alejandro Davidovich Fokina can play on the hard courts, over the last twelve months he has a relatively weak 8-12 record against top 50 Ranked players on this surface. His serve has been attackable and the Spaniard has not been able to get into the return games nearly as effectively as he would like, which is going to give Daniil Medvedev an edge in this one.

This is a big enough spread to deserve respect for the line, but Medvedev can find a way to earn the breaks of serve to earn what will feel like a good, strong win after some considerable investment of energy from the higher Ranked player.

MY PICKS: Alexander Bublik @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)

Andrey Rublev - 2.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (2 Units)

Daniil Medvedev - 4.5 Games @ 1.91 Coral (2 Units)

Stefanos Tsitsipas @ 1.90 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Holger Rune - 3.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet365 (2 Units)

Week Update: 6-7, - 3.50 Units (26 Units Staked, - 13.46% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2024 (Wednesday 28th February)

The first day of the week produced a solid return, but we will know more about how the tournaments are progressing for the Tennis Picks when the First Round is completed in Acapulco.

On Wednesday the entire Second Round in Dubai will be played as the organisers push for a Saturday finish and the players will probably appreciate that as they will have plenty of time to get over to Indian Wells and become accustomed to the conditions there.

All of the other four events being played may decide to split the Second Round matches as has become the norm for most events around the year, and any selections from those tournaments will be added to this thread.

Alexander Bublik v Tallon Griekspoor: Two players who have reached World Number 21 as career high Ranking marks over the last few months are hoping to push into the top 20 for the first time behind a strong run in Dubai.

There are some considerable Ranking points to be earned here, but that will also put some pressure on both Alexander Bublik and Tallon Griekspoor when they meet in the Second Round.

Layers are struggling to separate the players, and Alexander Bublik can be a little erratic which makes it tough to back him with a lot of confidence.

However, Bublik has won a title in Montpellier at the beginning of the month and his form has been decent enough as he bids to earn a Quarter Final spot.

He will need to serve well against someone like Tallon Griekspoor, especially in what have been fast conditions in Dubai so far this week. There is little doubt that the serve is one of the bigger weapons Griekspoor has at his disposal, but he has only broken in 10% of return games played on the hard courts in 2024 and Alexander Bublik has to avoid being too generous and handing over a break of serve.

These two have not met on the Tour for a couple of years and both were similarly Ranked when they last played one another in Astana in 2022.

It was Alexander Bublik who won on that day and he has won all three professional matches against Tallon Griekspoor. All of those matches have been on the hard courts and Bublik has had a considerable edge on the return of serve and the feeling is that will show up in this Second Round match too.

Big serves are likely going to see players run through some service games, but Alexander Bublik may be confident enough to edge past a dangerous opponent into the last eight in Dubai.

Karen Khachanov - 2.5 games v Jiri Lehecka: 2023 might not have ended as he would have hoped, but Karen Khachanov has enjoyed the last month on the Tour after a decent enough showing at the Australian Open.

A Semi Final run in Marseille has been followed by picking up the title in Doha and Karen Khachanov was a solid winner in the First Round having made the short hope across to Dubai for this ATP 500 event.

The three match losing run Jiri Lehecka had absorbed was ended in his solid First Round win over Marton Fucsovics, but this feels like another step up in class.

There is plenty to like about the way the Czech youngster approaches his tennis and a big game could be tough to deal with on these fasters courts. There is some room for improvement on the return of serve, but Jiri Lehecka will be hoping he can build scoreboard pressure to crack Karen Khachanov.

Big serving has certainly helped the World Number 15 produce the solid results he has done over the last month, and Karen Khachanov will be boosted by holding two wins over Jiri Lehecka last year on this surface.

Karen Khachanov only faced a single Break Point in two matches against Lehecka, while he has found a way to neutralise the serve and get into the rallies. That may be a bit more difficult on these courts, but Karen Khachanov can still hold enough of an edge to win this match and cover the handicap mark set.

The remaining Tennis Picks will all come from the ATP Acapulco event where the organisers are also looking to schedule a Saturday Final.

He is not entirely easy to trust, but Frances Tiafoe may be able to do just enough to get the better of Dominik Koepfer, a player who has struggled when it comes to facing top 50 opponents on the hard courts over the last twelve months.

Both Ben Shelton and Stefanos Tsitsipas are tipped to get the better of Italian opponents who have not had the best time on the hard courts. Both Matteo Arnaldi and Flavio Cobolli have played well to get to the Second Round in Acapulco, the latter as a Qualifier, but this is a considerable step up for both and a proving ground for them.

Backing up big First Round wins might just be beyond them against solid hard court players.

And the expectation is that Casper Ruud can keep his fine hard court performances going against an opponent who spent some time playing on the South American Golden Swing before heading to Acapulco.

MY PICKS: Alexander Bublik @ 1.85 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Karen Khachanov - 2.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (2 Units)

Frances Tiafoe - 2.5 Games @ 1.91 Paddy Power (2 Units)

Ben Shelton - 2.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Stefanos Tsitsipas - 4.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet365 (2 Units)

Casper Ruud - 4.5 Games @ 2.10 Coral (2 Units)

Week Update: 5-2, + 4.80 Units (14 Units Staked, + 34.29% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2024 (Tuesday 27th February)

We won't know how the day has gone until the matches in Acapulco and Santiago have been completed, but it was a decent enough start in Dubai thanks to Andrey Rublev's fight from a set down to eventually comfortably progress into the Second Round.

The remainder of the First Round is going to be completed at the ATP 500 event in Dubai, while there will be full days at the other four tournaments being played this week.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina - 2.5 games v Fabian Marozsan: He might be the World Number 24, but cracking the top 20 has proven to be a little too difficult for Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

He will give it another go this week with some big Ranking points available in Dubai, but it will depend on Alejandro Davidovich Fokina finding some consistency in his tennis. On occasions he can be very good, but he does let himself down at times without having a dominant aspect of his game meaning every match can become something of a chore to win.

Decent numbers have been produced on all surfaces, but they are only slightly above average and it does make it hard to win matches without having to put in a considerable effort each time.

Three losses in a row will have dented some of the confidence and the Spaniard has not really returned as well as he would have liked in those defeats.

It should be a more comfortable time on the return against someone like Fabian Marozsan who has held 74% of his service games played on the hard courts in 2024. The Hungarian enjoyed a decent run at the Australian Open, but his hold percentage drops to 72 when only considering matches against top 100 Ranked opponents this season.

This has put considerable pressure on the Fabian Marozsan return of serve and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina should be able to serve well enough to contain the threat from the other side of the court.

Nothing ever comes easy for the higher Ranked player, but he can do enough to cover this spread set in the First Round in Dubai, even when accounting for the faster conditions that have been evident at the tournament.

MY PICKS: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina - 2.5 Games @ 1.85 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Stefanos Tsitsipas - 2.5 Games @ 1.75 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Jordan Thompson - 1.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet365 (2 Units)

Holger Rune - 3.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Week Update: 2-1, + 2 Units (6 Units Staked, + 33.33% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2024 (Monday 26th February)

The first week with a winning record was finally produced and that hopefully begins to give the Tennis Picks some momentum to take into the events that are beginning this week.

We have three ATP events, two of those at the 500 level, while the WTA Tour moves to San Diego for a 500 event and Austin for a 250 with the Indian Wells Masters and Miami Masters dominating March.

Some big names are still heading out into the tournaments, but plenty of others will already be thinking ahead to those back to back Masters events that conclude the first part of the hard court season.

After that the clay court season will begin as the run to the French Open gets underway in early April.

Much like last week, the ATP 500 tournament in Dubai will have markets up at a reasonable time, but selections from the other events may have to be placed in the thread after the initial Picks have been written down.

Andrey Rublev - 4.5 games v Zhizhen Zhang: He continues to play at a high level, but Andrey Rublev will have been a little disappointed with a relatively early exit in Doha last week.

He will be playing in Dubai as the Number 2 Seed and Andrey Rublev will need to be playing at a solid level right from the start of the tournament.

First up is Zhizhen Zhang who has reached a career high World Ranking earlier this month, but who has had a couple of subpar tournaments. A very early loss in Rotterdam was followed by a 1-1 performance in Doha, while Zhang is not returning as well as he would like, especially ahead of a match against someone like Andrey Rublev who does have an effective serve.

There is room for improvement as far as the Rublev return game goes, but he may be able to get into a few more rallies against this Zhizhen Zhang serve.

It does feel like a wide spread when you consider Andrey Rublev has just had a few issues converting breaks of serve- he is at 17% in that department this season, but Zhang was put under constant pressure by Karen Khachanov when he played him in Marseille.

The conditions in Dubai felt like they were playing pretty fast last week and so breaks of serve may not be easy to come, but Andrey Rublev is likely to have the better of this match. If he can just take the chances a little more efficiently, Rublev can show his superiority in the match and he can cover.

The first couple of days of this week are going to be busy so any selections from Acapulco, Santiago, San Diego or Austin will only be added below with fuller thoughts on any Picks from Dubai.

Later in the week it should be a bit more time manageable to add a few thoughts to all of the Picks being made.

MY PICKS: Andrey Rublev - 4.5 Games @ 1.95 Coral (2 Units)

Facundo Diaz Acosta - 2.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet365 (2 Units)

Alex De Minaur - 5.5 Games @ 2.05 Coral (2 Units)

Tennis Picks 2024 (Saturday 24th February)

We are down to the last couple of days of the latest week on the ATP/WTA Tour, although three of the four events that have been focused on are actually coming to a close on Saturday rather than Sunday.

The Finals in Dubai, Doha and Los Cabos are all scheduled for Saturday- the former two events are played in the Middle East where Finals tend to be concluded on the Saturday, while Los Cabos have organised a way for their players reaching the business end of the tournament to have a bit of recovery time if they are going to be playing at any of the big ATP 500 events that are set for next week before attention turns to Indian Wells and Miami.

Any selections from the two tournaments in Central and South America will be added when the Quarter Finals and Semi Finals are concluded, while there won't be a selection from the ATP Doha Final.

The lean is with Karen Khachanov there, but Jakub Mensik has overcome the odds and the numbers and is playing with a real belief that could be tough to shake off.

Instead the sole Pick so far is from the surprising WTA Final in Dubai as the focus begins to shift towards a new week once this one hopefully comes to a positive conclusion.

Anna Kalinskaya - 3.5 games v Jasmine Paolini: Wins over three top 10 Ranked opponents has pushed Anna Kalinskaya into the biggest match of her career and a real opportunity to back up her run at the Australian Open.

A new career high World Ranking awaits when those are published on Monday morning, but a place inside the top 20 will be secured if Anna Kalinskaya can win the WTA 1000 event in Dubai.

Her opponent is also something of a surprise considering this is one of the top events outside of the Grand Slam events that players on the WTA Tour will play. Jasmine Paolini has perhaps not had as tough a run as Anna Kalinskaya, who has beaten the World Number 9, Number 3 and Number 1 in consecutive Rounds, but the Italian has made her way through the draw against three players who are Ranked higher than herself.

Benefiting from Elena Rybakina's withdrawal ahead of the Quarter Final match will have helped, but it has been a solid year so far for Jasmine Paolini who has cracked the top 20 of the World Rankings.

There is no doubting the level being produced by Jasmine Paolini, but she is going to be facing an opponent who is getting plenty of joy out of her first serve and who has been playing elite tennis from the baseline. Any player that can rally with Iga Swiatek and begin to overpower the World Number 1 has to be given plenty of respect.

Anna Kalinskaya also has a slight mental edge having crushed Jasmine Paolini at the Australian Open last month.

She served with real intensity in that Fourth Round match and the conditions in Dubai are clearly favouring the big hitting produced by the Russian who had to come through the Qualifiers to even make the main draw.

That does mean she has played a lot of tennis this week, but Anna Kalinskaya will have a couple of weeks off after this match and she can put her all into it.

Jasmine Paolini will not roll over and has shown some quality form to reach the Final herself, but she is not quite playing as well as Anna Kalinskaya who has been producing her results against some of the very best players on the Tour. Emotionally this is a step down with the expectation on Kalinskaya's shoulders after being the underdog in the last couple of Rounds, but she has shown she can handle those in the earlier Rounds and can be backed to win the biggest title of her career.

MY PICKS: Anna Kalinskaya - 3.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Week Update: 18-13, + 5.50 Units (62 Units Staked, + 8.87% Yield)

Boxing Picks 2024- Edgar Berlanga vs Paddy McCrory (February 24th)

It might not be a weekend for the casual Boxing fan, but a big event in Japan and the chance for a fighter to cement himself as a real contender in the Super Middleweight Division should make for good viewing.

March looks like it will begin with a quality Featherweight World Title bout for a vacant Belt and the month will be concluded by PBC's first card being shown on Amazon.

We also have the big crossover fight between Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou in between and a few domestic level cards that will be of interest as some of the winners look to press forward towards the World level.

Another solid return from a weekend of Boxing action has just pushed the numbers into a decent position as we get ready to conclude the first two months of the 2024 season.

It could have been better, but it could have been a lot worse and that is important.

Being in front is clearly better than being behind and another strong weekend will put an exclamation point on the first couple of months of the year.

Edgar Berlanga vs Paddy McCrory

There is still a lot of uncertainty about who Canelo Alvarez will pick for his May showcase fight and Edgar Berlanga's promoter Eddie Hearn is hoping his man can produce a massive highlight reel kind of victory that will be followed by a callout of the Mexican.

Sixteen straight wins and all of those inside the First Round built the reputation and the hype around Edgar Berlanga, but the last five victories have all been on the cards.

Like many will state, the feeling is that the Rounds Edgar Berlanga has banked in recent bouts will have grown him as a fighter.

He is showing the power remains, but Berlanga will be looking to make a bigger statement when facing Paddy McCrory.

Any unbeaten opponent has to be respected, and Paddy McCrory is going to know this is a big opportunity for him to gatecrash the top of the Division.

At 35 years old, time is not really on Paddy McCrory's side and this is a considerable step up compared with his usual level of opponent. The expectation is that he will not be hard to find in the ring, but that should only play to Edgar Berlanga's advantage and this looks to be the kind of opponent that can have the favourite looking very good and pressing fans to push for Berlanga to be involved in big fights going forward.

There has been talk about the Paddy McCrory power and he has Stoppages in half of the eighteen wins secured in his unbeaten pro career, but this is a considerable step up from his usual level of opponent. He has spoken about not having the same opportunities as others so this should be a big effort from the underdog, but it may also mean being forced to go out on his shield.

It has been a while, but Edgar Berlanga can finally earn his first Stoppage win since July 2020.

The fighter most may be looking forward to seeing on the undercard is Andy Cruz and he should be able to showcase his talent again. The expectation has to be that he will be fast tracked towards a World Title so look for him to step up competition after this third professional bout with his promoter already calling for an early meeting with Keyshawn Davis.

We also have Shakhram Giyasov looking to keep pushing up the World Rankings in the Welterweight Division.

Terence Crawford still holds the Division together, but is expected to move up in weight class after beating Errol Spence Jr and that will mean a number of World Titles are vacated with Giyasov right up amongst the elite left behind.

Fighting for a potentially vacant WBO World Title or for the full WBA World Title are options that will open up for Shakhram Giyasov and he can make a big statement to others in the Division.

Pablo Cesar Cano will be coming up in weight for this challenge and the veteran will be looking to use all of his experience to test his unbeaten opponent.

However, early Stoppage defeats in recent fights at the weight class below is a concern and this could be another for the Mexican to absorb.

There is a very good card taking place in Japan with a number of the home fighters looking to continue pushing their reputation.

Junto Nakatani is looking to become a three weight World Champion and he is a strong favourite to beat Alexandro Santiago who holds the WBO Bantamweight World Title.

This is a proper test for the home fighter and Santiago has to be respected for beating Nonito Donaire last time out to take the World Title from the future Hall of Fame fighter.

I do think Nakatani will have enough to win, but it will be a good watch to see whether the power has carried up to this weight class. The most likely outcome is a win on the cards, but it will be a watching brief.

Naoya Inoue's brother is also in action on the undercard and Takuma Inoue can just edge the decision to retain his WBA Bantamweight World Title. Perhaps this will lead to a huge Unification in Japan against Junto Nakatani if both are successful, although there is a natural rivalry between Jason Moloney and Nakatani if both are holding World Titles by the end of the first half of the season.

Kosei Tanaka can also win on the loaded card that takes place on Saturday morning for those of us in the United Kingdom.

MY PICKS: Edgar Berlanga to Win by KO/TKO/Disqualification @ 2.37 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Shakhram Giyasov to Win Between 1-6 @ 2.87 Sky Bet (2 Units)

Boxing 2024: 10-13, + 9.31 Units (36 Units Staked, + 25.86% Yield)

Tennis Picks 2024 (Friday 23rd February)

This has been a decent enough week, but there are still those matches that 'got away' and it is very hard to make much sense of the way Marketa Vondrousova was beaten in her Quarter Final against Sorana Cirstea.

Leading 6-2, 5-1, the Wimbledon Champion missed multiple Match Points and failed to serve out the match on three separate occasions in a defeat that will potentially linger for some time.

She will have an opportunity to recover over the next month with some big hard court events to be played, but it is frustrating for the Tennis Picks to not have a stronger day when a loss like that one hits the board.

It was better in other events, but there is still a couple of days to negotiate before this week can be stamped as the first positive one of the season or not.

Selections from the two ATP events in Los Cabos and Rio de Janeiro will be added to this thread, if there are any selections, and the week totals will be updated at that time too.

Iga Swiatek - 5.5 games v Anna Kalinskaya: A dominant run through the Middle East in the last couple of years would have made Iga Swiatek the favourite to win the tournament in Dubai this week and the World Number 1 has not let anyone down.

With her main rivals all exiting before the Semi Final, Iga Swiatek is now a very strong favourite to pick up the title on Saturday.

However, she made it clear in her post match interview on Thursday that Swiatek is taking nothing for granted and she will have to give Anna Kalinskaya plenty of respect considering the start the Russian player has made to the 2024 season.

She reached the Quarter Final at the Australian Open and Kalinskaya has won six matches in Dubai after coming through the Qualifiers to make the main draw. Her win over Coco Gauff in the Quarter Final on Thursday will have really gotten people to take notice and Anna Kalinskaya has only dropped the one set in her run at this WTA 1000 event.

The World Number 40 is making good use of a heavy serve and strong groundstrokes and those really make a big impact on the courts here in Dubai. It is certainly going to make Anna Kalinskaya a threat to Iga Swiatek, although the Polish player is on very strong form and has a pretty solid serve of her own.

The difference is that Iga Swiatek has been a little more productive on the return of serve and she may be a bit more solid than Coco Gauff if she is able to get in front as the American did in the Quarter Final.

One of the best front runners on the Tour, Iga Swiatek can find a way to break down the Anna Kalinskaya game and the return of serve may prove to be a bit too strong for a much improved player. When she was beaten in Melbourne, Anna Kalinskaya just fell away against Qinwen Zheng and the feeling is that Iga Swiatek will be able to break her down in this Semi Final.

Cameron Norrie - 3.5 games v Thiago Seyboth Wild: The defending Champion has made serene progress through the first couple of Rounds in Rio de Janeiro, but Cameron Norrie has to be expecting a much sterner test in the Quarter Final.

For starters this will be the first time this week that he will be facing a home player and the crowds in South America can really play a big part in the outcome of matches.

His opponent, Thiago Seyboth Wild, has been doing just enough to make his way through his opening two matches and that will have built up some confidence. While he will need to be a lot better than he was in the First Round, Seyboth Wild was stronger in the Second Round win and has shown plenty of promise on the clay courts over the last twelve months, even if the start to 2024 has been underwhelming.

Serving well will be very important for Thiago Seyboth Wild to just make sure he is keeping his side of the scoreboard ticking over. That is certainly going to at least put some pressure on Cameron Norrie, who has loved the conditions at this event and who has been dominant behind serve so far this week.

Anything below par will give Cameron Norrie the opportunity to attack Thiago Seyboth Wild and the World Number 23 has just shown a bit more sign of returning to his top level.

Beating a home player who has built up some momentum is never easy, but Cameron Norrie did beat Brazilian Thiago Monteiro on his way to winning the title in Rio de Janeiro last year and he can get the better of this home hope.

MY PICKS: Iga Swiatek - 5.5 Games @ 1.72 Bet365 (2 Units)
Cameron Norrie - 3.5 Games @ 1.83 Bet Victor (2 Units)

Week Update: 17-12, + 5.84 Units (58 Units Staked, + 10.07% Yield)