The Aegon Classic tennis tournament presents its first round of competition from Birmingham, England, which is where we’ll start our tennis picks. Most of the first day of play on Monday was washed out, creating a backlog which is unlikely to be entirely completed on Tuesday. More rain is in the forecast, as tennis tournaments this spring continue to be plagued by bad weather. The French Open was disrupted by rain, and last week’s tournaments in Stuttgart and Den Bosch were also thwarted at times by precipitation. This shows the importance of adding the roofs as they’ve done at Wimbledon, which helps play progress regardless of the forecast.
Players will have to deal with delays and schedule disruptions, testing their patience and their focus. But at least they’re not being forced to play in the rain. Which ones will emerge from the first round with a chance to go deeper into the tournament?
Caroline Wozniacki vs. Yanina Wickmayer
This is an extremely hard match to predict, given that both players have really struggled over the past year and a half. Wozniacki had a great 2014 season and appeared ready to return to the top five on the WTA Tour, but she endured a horrible 2015. She just couldn’t continue to do what she did. She didn’t cover the court as well and couldn’t generate as much power to hit through her opponents. She looked fairly feeble on most occasions and also battled injuries at times. It’s hard to recommend her in a lot of matches against particularly good players.
Wickmayer, though, is not that great a player. She made a U.S. Open semifinal several years ago and did exhibit an ability to hit very hard groundstrokes from both wings. She possessed the athlete’s makeup and natural talent to be a force in women’s tennis, but she never again lived up to that one U.S. Open. She has been searching for her game for a very long time, and it’s hard to think she’ll ever get it back at this point. For all of Wozniacki’s woes, “Caro” doesn’t face the problems Wickmayer does. Go with Wozniacki for your tennis picks in what should be a very close match.
Pick: Wozniacki in three sets
Belinda Bencic vs. Irina-Camelia Begu
This is a matchup of a player who missed virtually all of the clay season due to injuries (Bencic) and a player who made a semifinal (Rome) and quarterfinal (Madrid) during the clay season (Begu). On grass, it’s hard to see how Begu will find the comfort zone she needs to be able to play her best. If this was a clay match, Begu might very well be the favorite, or at least an even choice. On grass, though, Bencic – who took two months off from the tour to rehabilitate and is physically fresh – should be able to get and then keep the upper hand. Take Bencic with your tennis picks in this spot.
Pick: Bencic in straight sets
Johanna Konta vs. Misaki Doi
This is a match which exists in an uncertain state. Konta is the bigger name and she’s been the bigger story this season. As you might recall, she was fairly strong on the hard courts in Australia (she’s 13-7 on hard courts so far this year) and made it all the way to the semifinals of the year’s first grandslam. However, she has been plagued by injury problems in recent weeks, and she has spent much of this season laboring under the pressure of trying to maintain a top-25 ranking on the WTA Tour. She’s just 1-1 so far on grass and was 2-4 during the clay court part of the schedule.
Doi is a talented lurker who has problems finishing off close matches. Shes’ just 13-13 on the year including 9-8 on the hard courts and 4-5 on clay. This will be her first match on grass this season. She’s not dominant on this surface – just 22-20 all- time – but she is probably catching Konta at the perfect time. Both players are flawed, but with Konta, it’s more a question of physical health. Give the slight nod to Doi for your tennis picks in this situation.
Pick: Doi in three sets
