The ATP’s version of the Rogers Cup tournament heads to the quarterfinals and so do our tennis picks. We had a solid day on the hard courts on Thursday as we cashed all three of our tennis picks. We had Stan Wawrinka to beat Jack Sock and he did exactly that. Sock pushed the first set to a tiebreaker but won just two games in the second set. We also won with Kevin Anderson, who upset Bernard Tomic. Tomic won the first set before dropping the final two. Lastly, we also won with Gael Monfils in a back-and-forth match. This was the second of our tennis picks that required the full three sets but the Frenchman got the job done and advanced.
Novak Djokovic, at the time this article was being written, was still playing his round-of-16 match against Radek Stepanek, so we’ll look at the other three quarterfinals which are set in stone for Friday in Toronto. Here are our tennis picks for the day.
Gael Monfils vs. Milos Raonic
There is no doubt that Gael Monfils, who made the final of Monte Carlo and had match points against Kei Nishikori in the Miami quarterfinals before falling short, has enjoyed some very fruitful periods this season. He’s done well on hardcourts and was beginning to develop real momentum in the clay season before he suffered and aggravated a number of injuries. Having come back from that set of injuries, though, Monfils looks like his high-level self again. He’s rolled into the quarterfinals in Canada after winning the ATP 500 tournament in Washington last week. He’s in a groove and is enjoying the way he’s hitting a tennis ball. However, in the quarterfinals, a player who goes the distance at a tournament the previous week can begin to feel his legs. It becomes an extra chore, a physical undertaking, to carry the body through another high-stress match, this one against a top-eight player who made his first Wimbledon final a few weeks ago.
This is a big problem for Monfils: More than fatigue, the quality of Raonic’s game should worry the Frenchman. Raonic is winning lots of free points on serve. He’s playing short points. He’s winning matches quickly to save his legs. He also has a highly supportive Canadian crowd to cheer him along. Everything’s falling into place very neatly for him. It’s all clicking. It’s hard to bet against a good player when he’s playing well. When he’s in his home country and going against an opponent who is likely to feel fatigued at some point, even better. Monfils is going to run out of gas. Raonic is the better choice here.
Pick: Raonic in three sets
Kevin Anderson vs. Stan Wawrinka
This should be a match in which the uninitiated tennis fan – someone who looks only at Grand Slam events and not other tournaments during the year – will pick Wawrinka without a second thought. Wawrinka has two Grand Slam titles. He’s made the French Open semifinals this year. He made the U.S. Open semis last year. He’s a strong player, better than everyone other than Novak, Roger, Rafa, and Andy.
Yet, if you look at non-Grand Slam tournaments, Anderson has Wawrinka’s number. He’s beaten the Swiss several times in Masters 1000 tournaments such as this one over the past few years. Anderson was injured earlier in the year, much like Monfils, but now he’s playing well. Anderson just might be ready to take down Wawrinka again. He’s the better choice for your tennis picks.
Pick: Anderson in three sets
Grigor Dimitrov vs. Kei Nishikori
This is a matchup in which you should definitely go with Nishikori. The Japanese star needed a break from tennis at Wimbledon to rehab injuries which had affected him. He’s come to Canada and played relatively clean tennis in his first two matches. Dimitrov is beginning to play a little better, but he’s had a soft draw in his first few rounds in Toronto. This is not a soft draw in the quarterfinals. Take Nishikori with your tennis picks here.
Pick: Nishikori in three sets
