The French Open women’s tournament fills out the second half of the quarterfinals and our tennis picks move along as well. Rain has wreaked havoc on the red clay in Paris, so we have a couple of days of pending tennis picks to recap. On the men’s side, we had Andy Murray to beat Richard Gasquet, which he did in four sets. The two exchanged the first two sets but then Murray won the final two. We also had Stan Wawrinka, who didn’t make us sweat at all. He won in straight sets over Albert Ramos.
On the women’s side we were slightly less productive as we went 2-1. We had Serena Williams to discar Elina Svitolina, which she did easily Svitolina only won two games. We also had Timea Bacsinszky to upend Venus Williams and she did exactly that. Venus only won six games. Our lone loss on the day was Madison Keys, who failed against upstart Kiki Bertens. Overall, it was a 4-1 day for our tennis picks.
Looking ahead, Garbine Muguruza and Samantha Stosur booked spots in one of the two semifinals. Now the other half of the draw will sort out the second semifinal. Two of the quarterfinalists in this part of the women’s tournament are complete surprises that no one expected. Two players met in the semifinals of the 2015 French Open. Will we see a familiar matchup in the semifinals, or something completely unexpected, or something in between, with one surprise and one normal result?
Kiki Bertens vs. Timea Bacsinszsky
This is a very mysterious match, because these players are not accustomed to playing at this late stage of a Grand Slam tournament. Bacsinszky played in the French Open semifinals last season, so she should have a crucial degree of familiarity with the pressure of this moment, but that’s her only previous Grand Slam semifinal. This is not an ordinary event for her. Bertens has never made a Grand Slam quarterfinal until now. This match will be brand new and bring with it a lot of uncertainties bettors will have to wrestle with. Bertens was very solid in disposing of American Madison Keys in the fourth round. Bertens played a rock-solid tiebreaker and basically showed more shotmaking ability than Keys. Bertens was able to drag Keys wide and into the net. She hit short, she hit at angles, she hit in all sorts of ways to make Keys uncomfortable.
Bacsinszky basically did the same thing in her win over Venus Williams, only more so. Bertens generally relies on drive-based groundstrokes. She takes a full cut at the ball most times. What she’s good at is redirecting the ball when having to lunge for a shot or hit one on the run. Bacsinszky is more adept at using angles than Bertens. She will slice or chip the ball from relatively stable positions. She can hit a drive backhand, but she can shape her backhand in many more different ways. Venus Williams was not able to adjust to the variety of Bacsinszky’s groundstrokes. This should be a close match, but Bacsinszky probably has more tactics and shots she can use to throw Bertens off balance. Take Bacsinszky with your tennis picks.
Pick: Bacsinszky in three sets
Serena Williams vs. Yulia Putintseva
This is a matchup in which Serena should roll. Serena was poised and confident in a 6-1, 6-1 win over Elina Svitolina in the fourth round. There’s no real reason to think it won’t be more of the same against Putintseva, a small player and a fierce hitter, but not someone who will be able to serve well or handle the height of Williams’ topspin in extended rallies. Putintseva will clearly need Serena to be well off her game, but Serena served extremely well against Svitolina in the round of 16. If she continues to serve well, Putintseva will not be able to spring the upset. This should be a straightforward match for a player who is pushing for a 22nd Grand Slam championship. Williams is the obvious choice for your tennis picks.
Pick: Serena in straight sets
