The Prague Open tennis tournament began its round of 32 on Monday and continues with that same round on Tuesday. That’s where we’ll pick up our tennis picks.
The tournament was rocked on Monday with the upset loss of top seed Karolina Pliskova, an indicator that the Czech is not ready to produce a big clay-court season, given the unique demands of the surface. She ended up losing to Camila Giorgi rather easily. She battled in the first set, which went to a tiebreaker, and then lost the second set 6-2. On the same day, we also saw Annika Beck fall to Oceane Dodin in straight sets. The lone match that went the distance was the Marketa Vondrousova-Carina Witthoeft match. Witthoeft won the first set 7-6 but then lost the second and third sets.
With Pliskova’s loss, this is now an even more wide-open tournament. Which players will take advantage? Here is a look at our tennis picks for Tuesday.
Evgeniya Rodina vs. Samantha Stosur
Neither player merits a lot of confidence right now, given shaky form to date in the 2017 WTA season. Both players are trying to find their games and access a level of form which can offer some encouragement heading into Madrid and then Rome. Of these two, Stosur is more likely to find answers. She is not a consistent player, but clay is her best surface. She has been a French Open finalist, and last year, she made a surprising run to the semifinals. Her kick serves and topspin forehand can acquire a lot of bite and potency on clay. The shape of her groundstrokes can be so lethal on the surface, but her confidence gets in the way. A new tournament offers Stosur a hope for a new start, so while she has not accomplished much this year, she stands out as the better pick in this mystery-filled match. Go with Stosur with your tennis picks here.
Pick: Stosur in straight sets
Jelena Ostapenko vs. Lesia Tsurenko
This is a matchup of players trying to break through and crack the upper reaches of the WTA. Ostapenko and Tsurenko have shown flashes of the full measure of their talents, but they have not yet been able to entrench themselves over the course of several months – not in the top tier of the tour, at any rate. One detail which stands out here is that Ostapenko reached the final of Charleston. It’s true that the April tournament was held on green clay and not red clay, which is what Prague involves. Nevertheless, Ostapenko made a great run through to the final, destroying Caroline Wozniacki in the process of allowing only six games to the Dane. She then outfought Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in three sets before having little left in the tank for the final against Daria Kasatkina. Ostapenko is very comfortable on clay, and it’s uncertain if Tsurenko can say the same for herself. Ostapenko is the better bet in this match. Take her with your tennis picks in this spot.
Pick: Ostapenko in three sets
Misaki Doi vs. Caroline Wozniacki
This is a match which depends on how well Wozniacki is performing. She is historically weak on clay, but her overall 2017 has featured a lot of strong tennis, including and especially the Indian Wells-Miami swing. She reached the final in Miami and revived hopes that she can win her first major tournament later this year at the U.S. Open in New York. Surfaces often stop players in their tracks, so naturally, clay offers more caution for Wozniacki bettors after the hardcourt spring swing. However, Wozniacki is not in the negative place which marked her 2015 and 2016 seasons. She is more positive and is immersed in yet another renewal of her overall game. If she plays a relatively solid match – not her best, but far from her worst – she probably has enough court craft and fitness to outlast Doi, who is an erratic player and the kind Wozniacki can wait out, causing the Japanese challenger to commit more unforced errors than she can ultimately afford. Woz is the choice for our tennis picks.
Pick: Wozniacki in three sets
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