The Volvo Cars Open tennis tournament, in Charleston, South Carolina, heads into the round of 16 and so do our tennis picks. We had a winning day on Wednesday by going 2-1. Our first win came with Sam Stosur, who took care of business against Jana Cepelova. She won 6-4, 7-5. Our second win of the day was with Venus Williams, who was costing us a bit of juice. However, she had no problems with Alison Riske. She beat her 6-4 and 6-2. Our lone loss of the day was Lucia Safarova, who fell in straight sets to Louisa Chirico. It was a bit of a surprising result as Safarova didn’t even win a set.
Looking ahead to Thursday, of the eight matches on the docket on Thursday, we’ll pick three of them.
Sara Errani vs. Samantha Stosur
Betting Odds: Errani -132
This is a match in which bettors will be torn in two different directions. On one hand, Stosur has a 6-2 record in the head-to-head history between the two players, but on the other hand, Errani has won two of the last three meetings and is generally very comfortable on clay. Both players have made the French Open final in the past, so that is basically a wash when discussing them in terms of past achievements. Stosur has the better and bigger serve, both on her first and second ball, but Errani has the more consistent groundstrokes and generally makes fewer errors. Stosur very frequently slides into sections of matches when her shots break down and she can’t stop an onrushing wave of negative momentum. Errani is a stable player who thrives when she gets into a situation where she can fight her way out of trouble. If you can crush Errani’s weak serves with blistering returns and end points quickly, you can beat Errani rather easily. However, if Errani can get herself established in a rally and spin the ball relatively deep, she can gain territorial control of a point and wear down her opponent. This comes down to a tension between Stosur’s power and Errani’s consistency. Since this is clay, a surface which rewards consistency, and since Errani has begun to change the nature of the head-to-head between the two players, there’s enough reason to recommend to bettors to pick Errani in what should be a close match. Take her with your tennis picks.
Pick: Errani in three sets
Daria Kasatkina vs. Louisa Chirico
Betting Odds: Kasaktina -566
This is a matchup which is surprising. Chirico beat Lucie Safarova to advance to this round. Safarova did play plenty of doubles in Miami, winning the championship this past weekend, but that was still just doubles and not singles. Perhaps playing a lot of tennis on hardcourts left Safarova underprepared for a clay tournament, but on the other hand, Safarova was a top-four seed who got a bye in the first round. Safarova therefore got one more day off before starting this tournament. She should have been rested, and she also should have had a little extra time to practice on clay. Chirico’s win is a definite surprise. Can Chirico make it two in a row? Kasatkina had a solid Indian Wells tournament and is viewed as a rising player on the WTA Tour. Chirico deserves respect, but Kasatkina is more likely to win this match. It will be close, however.
Pick: Kasatkina in three sets
Daria Gavrilova vs. Sloane Stephens
Betting Odds: Stephens -192
This is a match which should go to Gavrilova, if only because Stephens has been erratic and undependable this season. Stephens is a player who is trying to find her best form, and against lesser players, she can get by. Gavrilova is talented and competent enough, though, to get in the way of Stephens’ efforts at regrouping. This doesn’t seem like a comfortable enough matchup for Sloane, and she’ll probably go down here to her opponent in three sets.
Pick: Gavrilova in three sets
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