Tennis Picks 2016 (October 1st)

This has been a frustrating week for the tennis picks with one step forward quickly followed by two steps back and that has seen the losses take over.

While I have accepted that I won't be turning this week around, this is a big month to try and get the season totals back into the black or face having back to back losing records which would be a huge disappointment. There are still a couple of days to go in the tournaments from last week, but the events in Beijing and Tokyo will also get underway and the 2016 is quickly winding down.


Richard Gasquet - 3.5 games v Janko Tipsarevic: The last few months have been difficult for Richard Gasquet with injury taking its toll on his season. I don't think he will have a lot of sympathy from Janko Tipsarevic who has lost a couple of years to injury although he is making the most of his Protected Ranking entry into the tournament in Shenzhen this week.

Both players are looking for a confidence boosting title to take away, but Gasquet is a healthy favourite to at least make it through to the Final. I can understand that as Tipsarevic has struggled to find the consistency that took him into the top 10 of the World Rankings in his prime .

The problem for Tipsarevic has been trying to stay with opponents who have been hitting the ball much harder than he has. He has had some solid wins this week to get into the Semi Final, but Tipsarevic was beaten comfortably by Mikhail Youzhny last week in St Petersburg and Gasquet should have enough pop from the serve to look after that side of his game and allow him to have some shots to try and break the Serb's serve in this one.

Gasquet has won all three previous matches against Tipsarevic and I think he is going to have the majority of break points in this match too. The key will be winning the big points when they come his way and I think he can come through with a 75, 64 win if he is able to take the opportunities when they are presented.


Petra Kvitova - 3.5 games v Dominika Cibulkova: I thought the win over Angelique Kerber in the Third Round would have taken something out of the Petra Kvitova tank, but instead she seems to be boosted by huge confidence levels from that win. Since then she has won two matches without dropping a set and Kvitova looks very comfortable on the surface.

She will be given a test by Dominika Cibulkova who has won the last two matches these two have played against one another but I do think the Slovakian has been forced to work much harder to win her last two matches. Cibulkova's serve could be in big trouble in this one, but her aggression will see her protect that as long as possible although not long enough to win this match as far as I am concerned.

On the other hand everything seems to be working for Kvitova who has been able to punish players behind her big game and it is tough to oppose her when you think of the way she dismissed the challenge of Simona Halep on Friday. This is going to be a similar kind of match for Kvitova and that performance suggests she will be too good for Cibulkova as she is seeing the tennis ball like a football at the moment.

The Kvitova serve is also a bigger weapon than Cibulkova has and I think she can win the tournament and get closer to those players chasing Singapore berths behind a 63, 63 win.

MY PICKS: Richard Gasquet - 3.5 Games @ 1.75 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Petra Kvitova - 3.5 Games @ 1.73 Bet365 (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 9-11, - 6.74 Units (40 Units Staked, - 16.85% Yield)