The Rogers Cup tennis tournament dives into the quarterfinals and so do our tennis picks. We went 2-1 with our plays of the day yesterday, which makes it a modestly successful day. We dropped a match with Agnieszka Radwanska, who failed to beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She lost in three sets. However, we did get a win with Madison Keys, who upended Venus Williams, and we cashed in with Johanna Konta, who ousted Varvara Lepchenko in straight sets.
As the field tries to take advantage of the absence of Serena Williams. Some of the top players are winning matches, but not playing at their best. That creates some very interesting choices for bettors on Friday.
Daria Kasatkina vs. Angelique Kerber
Kerber is just barely getting by in this tournament. She has needed three sets to win each of her first two matches in Montreal. It could be rationalized that she is rusty after the multi-week break following Wimbledon, but this year, there were just two weeks between the end of Wimbledon and this tournament. Normally there are four. Kerber could be mentally fatigued after making the Wimbledon final. She could be a little distracted, one week before the Olympic tennis tournament and the trip to Rio in Brazil. A lot of things could be limiting Kerber’s effectiveness, but she’s been strong enough to beat other players so far. Now she faces a player – Kasatkina – who has taken out two seeded players, No. 13 Samantha Stosur and No. 7 Roberta Vinci. Those are impressive accomplishments for the young Russian, who is just 20, but Vinci is about to retire and is No. 7 largely because of the points won at the U.S. Open, which she will soon shed, barring another deep run in New York. Stosur made the French Open semifinals, but has not been a relentlessly steady player. Kasatkina’s wins are impressive, but they shouldn’t be given too much weight. Ultimately, Kerber is still the smarter play, though by no means a lock in this situation. She’s the better bet for your tennis picks.
Pick: Kerber in straight sets
Madison Keys vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
This is a very interesting clash, largely because it’s hard to ascertain where Keys stands. She beat Venus Williams in three sets on Thursday, but given Venus’ poor form on Wednesday, is it impressive that Keys beat the No. 6 seed after losing a second-set tiebreaker, or is it cause for concern that she needed three sets to beat Venus after easily taking the first set? It’s reasonable to fall on either side of the fence. The tiebreaker of sorts is to determine the form of Pavlyuchenkova. She’s playing extremely well. She could have lost heart after dropping the second-set tiebreaker to fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska on Thursday, but she rebounded and won the third set. That has to give her a lot of confidence. It seems Pavlyuchenkova is a little more focused than Keys at the moment. That’s enough reason to pick her in a three-setter. Take her with your tennis picks.
Pick: Pavlyuchenkova in three sets
Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Simona Halep
This is a match which could be a crowd pleaser if both players are on their games. These two can hit shots from every spot on the court and know how to hit a ball with different spins, levels of speed, and manipulated trajectories. What’s interesting to note is that Halep has not played particularly well on the hard courts this year. Although she was a healthy 39-8 on hard courts last year, she’s just 10-6 so far this year. Clay and grass have been her best bets as she’s 14-2 on clay and 4-1 on grass. As for Kuznetsova, she’s not always great on hard courts either as she was just 10-12 last year and 13-10 two years ago. So far this year, she is 15-6 on the hard courts.
Kuznetsova has had a comparatively better year, but Halep has played better the more the season has continued. Current form gives Halep a very slight edge here. Take Halep with your tennis picks.
Pick: Halep in three sets
