The Internazionali BNL d’Italia tennis tournament moves into third-round action from Rome on Thursday and so do our tennis picks. We had a winning day with our picks on Wednesday as we went 2-1 with our selections. There were a lot of upsets on the day, but we managed to dodge most of them. The one that got us was Venus Williams, who is having an up-and-down year to say the least, stumbled early again in a tournament. This time she lost to Timea Babos in three sets. However, we did end up winning with a couple of other matchups. We cashed with Timea Bacsinszky, who beat Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets, and we won with Carla Suarez-Navarro, who also won in straight sets against Teliana Pereira.
As mentioned, a number of seeded players tumbled out of Italy on Wednesday, creating more of an opportunity for a number of lower-ranked players to make a move toward the quarterfinals and semifinals. Let’s see who takes advantage.
Serena Williams vs. Christina McHale
This is a sense of relief from Serena’s camp that she doesn’t have to go up against a bigger hitter in this matchup. It’s true that Ana Ivanovic has been struggling a great deal in the 2016 tennis season, but even then, her backhand could have posed problems for Serena. Ivanovic has trouble beating lesser players, but she gets up for Serena matches and has not been intimidated over the past few years against the World No. 1. At any rate, Ivanovic lost to Christina McHale on Wednesday, enabling Serena to face a lower-ranked player and also a fellow American.
Serena looked very good in her first match in Rome against Anna-Lena Friedsam. It might not have been a very good match in absolute terms, but it was certainly very good when one accounts for Serena’s lengthy absence from the WTA Tour. Being that unaccustomed to match play, Serena easily could have come up with a highly rusty performance, but instead, she kept her error count down and played fairly clean tennis. She has to think that she should be able to play the way she wants to, or at least very close to it. If she can, she should be in very good shape. Beyond all this, McHale is just not the big hitter Ivanovic is. It will be hard for her to find angles with which she can get Serena out of position. Other players would be in much better position to take advantage of Serena’s long layoff and her lack of match play. Take Williams with your tennis picks here.
Pick: Serena in straight sets
Carla Suarez-Navarro vs. Timea Bacsinszky
This is a very interesting match between Suarez-Navarro, a former French Open quarterfinalist, and Bacsinszky, who was a French Open semifinalist just last year. These are both very capable clay-court players. They know how to move opponents around the court, and their backhand wings are especially fortified. Either player could win what feels like a 50-50 match. Bacsinszky seems to have a little more court craft and the ability to win points in more ways than Suarez-Navarro can. Bacsinszky will probably be able to shape rallies in ways that avoid the Suarez-Navarro backhand. Give the Swiss the edge and take her with your tennis picks.
Pick: Bacsinszky in three sets
Daria Kasatkina vs. Irina-Camelia Begu
This is a match which could have been a matchup between Kasatkina and Victoria Azarenka, but Azarenka was taken out by Begu, who is also the player who won a set against Simona Halep last week in Madrid. No other player managed to do that. It’s easy to think Begu will win, but one contrary point to consider is that Azarenka was battling a back injury and was playing cautiously. Azarenka has been prone to some of these early-round losses before and it’s hard to put a ton of stock into Begu’s win. That victory might not be a full indicator of how well she’s playing. Give Kasatkina a narrow advantage here, and take her with your tennis picks.
Pick: Kasatkina in three sets
