The ATP’s visit to Marseille moves into the second round on Thursday. Our tennis picks did well on Wednesday as both Marin Cilic and Stan Wawrinka moved on to cash for us. Cilic was pushed to the limit in his bout against Robin Haase as he needed to win the third set 7-5 to advance. We also correctly predicted Wawrinka, who cashed also needed to go to the limit to outlast Sergiy Stakhovsky. The two players each won a set 6-4 before the Swiss star took the third set in a tiebreaker, winning 10-8. Our last pick, David Guez, failed to cash in. He actually won the first set of his match with Quentin Halys but then lost his steam the rest the of way. Halys took the second set 6-2 and the third set 6-3. We’ll see Halys again in our tennis picks for Thursday as the Marseille Open continues. Let’s see whether or not we’re on his side this time as we examine the card:
Richard Gasquet vs. Ernests Gulbis
Odds: Gasquet -303
There is always a chance that the mercurial Gulbis could come alive and play his very best, but that’s simply not a high-percentage betting play. Gulbis is the ultimate wild card from a betting standpoint – you don’t really know what you’re going to get from him on the given day, but if he ever does play well, he doesn’t play well for very long. He wears down or loses focus – or both. He is highly capable of blasting Gasquet off the court, and Gasquet has been known to feel the pressure of playing at home in France. However, Gasquet is going to have a partisan audience clearly behind him for the match and on a Thursday afternoon in a 250-point tournament, you’re less likely to see Gasquet succumb to nerves. From a number of angles, Gasquet should be the choice for your tennis picks here, even while it can also be acknowledged that Gulbis could easily win.
Pick: Gasquet in straight sets
Teymuraz Gabashvili vs. Nick Kyrgios
Odds: Kyrgios -357
This should be the most straightforward of the three matches on the card. At least, there should be less ambiguity here than in other betting situations. Gabashvili upset Gilles Simon in the first round. That could lead one to think that he has a good chance here, but two things are worth mentioning: First, when a lower-level player such as Gabashvili wins one big match, it’s very rare for that kind of player to win a second straight match against another good opponent. If Gabashvili was playing Quentin Halys or some other low-ranked player in this round, Gabashvili would be a good choice. Kyrgios, however, is too good for Gabashvili. He can do too much with the serve and with the forehand to enable Gabashvili to comfortably settle into rallies. Gabashvili likely won’t have very much time to set up for and hit his shots. He’s probably going to be on the run for most of the afternoon, and that’s simply not a winning formula for him. Only a few players can really make a lot of gains from a defense-oriented style. The matchup just doesn’t work for Gabashvili. Kyrgios should roll in straight sets, so take him with your tennis picks.
Pick: Kyrgios in straight sets
Quentin Halys vs. Alex Kuznetsov
Odds: Kuznetsov -278
This is a matchup in which a young Frenchman, fresh off a win over a 33-year-old countryman in David Guez, will be very hyped up to play in front of home-nation fans, without another Frenchman being on the opposite side of the net. Halys should get all the crowd support in the arena, and if it’s loud enough, that could make a difference. However, this being a smaller tournament on a weekday afternoon, you’re probably not going to see enough of a highly-charged environment to change the competition in Halys’ favor. Kuznetsov is a more experienced player, but not too old. He should be able to outlast Halys, so take him with your tennis picks in this spot.
Pick: Kuznetsov in three sets
