French Open Day 6 Picks (1st June)

It was one of the more successful days of the tournament so far yesterday, and I am hoping to build on that on Day 6 as we reach the first of the Third Round of the event.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - 6.5 games v Fabio Fognini: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came out a totally different player to the one that started the match with Cedrik-Marcel Stebe and that kind of performance should see him pressure Fabio Fognini enough to win this match and move through to the Fourth Round.

Fognini is a better player these days as he has finally got the mental aspect of his game, but he is coming off a tough five setter against Victor Troicki and he may be a little fatigued with the crowd behind his opponent.

Even though Tsonga can throw in a poor set, I think he is capable of breaking the Italian's serve a couple of times in one of the sets and that should see him cover this spread.


Fernando Verdasco - 4.5 games v Andreas Seppi: Fernando Verdasco says he much prefers playing the Grand Slam events as he can overcome any slow start in a best of five match and I do favour him to do a job on Andreas Seppi in this one.

Seppi has been in fine form in recent weeks, winning the event at Belgrade while also reaching the Quarter Final in Rome, but he has lost 6 matches in a row to Verdasco and that is some mental burden to overcome.

The Spaniard has the better serve and will get a few more cheap points, while Seppi's second serve remains a liability. Verdasco has also looked a little more comfortable in the conditions so far at Roland Garros and he should be able to overcome this spread as long as he doesn't throw in a ridiculously poor set.


Ana Ivanovic - 3.5 games v Sara Errani: This is no easy test for Ana Ivanovic, but I think her belief in her own game has improved markedly since teaming up with Nigel Sears and I believe she has enough power to trouble Sara Errani.

Errani has been one of the most in-form players on the clay courts in 2012, winning tournaments in Budapest, Barcelona and Acapulco, but two of her three defeats have come to the better players on the Tour and those have been fairly comfortable.

I expect Ivanovic to take advantage of any second serves she sees and I expect she will have enough on her groundstrokes to trouble Errani. Ivanovic has also won their two previous meetings, including here at Roland Garros in 2009 and I think she will make it a hat-trick of wins.


Nadia Petrova + 4 games v Sam Stosur: I am picking Nadia Petrova to keep this contest close with Sam Stosur simply because she seems to have the Australian's number to the extent of being able to push her all the way.

Petrova leads the head to head 5-2, while the last two matches between them have gone the distance and literally been separated by a knife edge.

The Russian is also comfortable on the clay courts and she could cover the spread if she takes a set, something I expect her to do. It's a tough match as a I like Sam Stosur's game on the clay courts, but this is obviously a match up that poses problems and I will look for it to do so again.


MY PICKS: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - 6.5 games @ 2.05 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Fernando Verdasco - 4.5 games @ 1.80 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Ana Ivanovic - 3.5 games @ 1.83 Bet365 (2 Units)
Nadia Petrova + 4 games @ 1.95 Pinnacle (2 Units)


FRENCH OPEN UPDATE: 10-13, - 0.82 Units (42 Units Staked)