Tuesday 28 May 2013

Roland Garros day 4: Will history repeat itself?

Schedule of play:

http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/schedule/index.htmlhttp://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/schedule/index.html

Match focus:

Zuzana Kucova vs. Virginie Razzano


On paper, this is a non-contest despite Razzano being ranked outside the top 100 herself. However, Kucova has just beaten Julia Goerges and seems to be playing the best tennis of her life. She has absolutely nothing to lose and she will go out onto the court guns ablazing. Razzano has the added advantage of playing in front of her home crowd, but if they knew of Kucova's back story, they will be rooting for her as well. Tough match to call but I will always side with the underdog.

Pick: Kucova in 3 sets

Monica Puig vs. Madison Keys


I have a feeling that we'll be seeing these 2 players play each other more in the next few years. 2 of the brightest prospects of the tour clash and Keys is a slight favourite with her higher ranking. However, Puig has a nifty all court game and she is high on confidence after upsetting Petrova in the first round. Like Kucova, Puig has nothing to lose and will just go for her shots. This will be a close battle. I like Monica but she tends to get tight when she attempts to close matches out. So I'm going with Keys this time.

Pick: Keys in 3 sets

Caroline Wozniacki vs. Bojana Jovanovski


A rematch of their recent Rome encounter which Bojana edged out the Dane. Will history repeat itself? Caroline won her first match easily, but it was mostly due to Laura Robson misfiring her shots. She seemed more confident though once her opponent starts to miss, so I think she should be able to pick up the pieces. Bojana just needs to remember what happened in Rome and try to replicate it again. This is a very good chance for the Serb to reach the 3rd round, but I believe Caroline will prevail this time around.

Pick: Wozniacki in 2 tight sets

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Petra Cetkovska


Petra Cetkovska is fresh off an injury timeout but has absolutely demolished her opponent in the first round. She is a crafty player who will make Pavlyuchenkova cover a lot of court. Anastasia barely scrapped past a slumping Hlavackova so I don't expect her to ease through this match. The Russian is just impossible to predict as she goes from winning a title, to losing to the same person the next week. Seems like she still needs a lot of physical conditioning. Cetkovska is playing without any burden on her shoulders, so I believe she should be able to outsmart the Russian.

Pick: Cetkovska in 3 sets

Yulia Putintseva vs. Sara Errani


Fiesty Yulia Putintseva will take on the clay master, Sara Errani. Putintseva's hard groundstrokes should trouble the Italian, but Sara knows very well on how to weather the storm, having played so many matches with top players. Yulia just needs to keep going for her shots and not be bothered by the incessant retrieving from Sara. Yulia has the game to beat Sara, but Errani has the experience to come through.

Pick: Errani in 2 sets

Sure win bets: Serena Williams, Petra Kvitova, Roberta Vinci, Annika Beck, Carla Suarez Navarro

Upset alert: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Heather Watson, Lucie Hradecka, Lucie Safarova, Virginie Razzano

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