Tennis Picks 2013 (July 22nd)

It was a tough week last week, but it is time for a new game on Monday, although there are not a lot of matches to be played with a lot of the qualifiers to be concluded.

I have a couple of outright picks this week and those can be found here.

There are five tournaments being played on the ATP and WTA Tours this week and hopefully this will be a decent week after the poor performance last week.


Albert Ramos - 3.5 games v Leonardo Mayer: Albert Ramos has been beaten by the eventual winner in the last two tournaments he has played and he is certainly a player that feels at his best when on the clay courts.

The Tour will be moving on to the North American hard courts next month so Ramos has a chance to build some points in the next two weeks ahead of that time of the year. However, the Spaniard hasn't quite turned his performances into deep runs in the clay tournaments he has entered, even though he has three Quarter Final appearances already including in Bastad a couple of weeks ago.

Ramos should be too good for Leonardo Mayer, a player that hasn't won a lot of matches since being forced to retire in Miami back in March. The Argentine was a three set loser last week against Jan-Lennard Struff and he has won just two of his last seven matches on the clay courts.

The left handed Ramos will likely hold on to his own serve a little easier than Mayer and that could prove to be the difference in the match. I believe the Spaniard will win this match in two sets, likely 64, 64.


Mikhail Youzhny - 3.5 games v Paul-Henri Mathieu: It has been a bad run of form for Paul-Henri Mathieu who has lost seven of his last eight matches on the Tour and it may get a little tougher for him as he takes on Mikhail Youzhny.

Youzhny was a First Round loser in Hamburg last week, but he is still a fairly consistent performer on the Tour and would be one of the seeds at the US Open if the tournament began next week, although he is clinging on to one of those spots by the fingernails.

He should be able to put some pressure on the Mathieu serve as he won't just go away the confidence in the latter has to be a little shot after so many defeats recently. There are times when Mathieu can raise his levels, and he did reach the Semi Final at this tournament last season to show he is a danger that can't be ignored.

However, Youzhny should find a way to be a little too strong for him and win this match 64, 64.


MY PICKS: Albert Ramos - 3.5 Games @ 1.86 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Mikhail Youzhny - 3.5 Games @ 2.05 Unibet (2 Units)