The schedule of play is overflowing so I will spare you all the details. Let's dive into the interesting match-ups.
Birmingham 1st round:
Paula Ormaechea vs. Heather Watson
Paula gave a good account of herself in Paris against Venus Williams. Will her game translate well onto grass? Grass court tennis is a total different surface and Heather Watson definitely had more exposure to it. Just by virtue of this, I think Heather will win. Grass is really tough for players who are not used to it initially. Just ask Mauresmo. She was totally clueless on grass when she started out but eventually learnt to play on it and won Wimbledon.
Pick: Watson in 2 sets
Tamarine Tanasugarn vs. (LL) Sesil Karatantcheva
Grass season is here so it means grass court specialist Tamarine Tanasugarn will make her annual appearance here. Sweet Tamarine is almost certainly playing her last season this year. With an added grass court event in Olympics, let's hope she can make some noise. She faces Sesil Karatantcheva, not exactly well known for her grass court prowess. There's a chance for Tamarine here.
Pick: Tanasugarn in 2 sets
Timea Babos vs. (Q) Alison Riske
Another grass court specialist makes an appearance here. Alison Riske will disappear for the whole year only to post her best results on the green surface. She faces Timea Babos, who was absolutely embarassed by Sesil Karatantcheva in Roland Garros. There couldn't be a better draw for Alison.
Pick: Riske in 2 easy sets
Bad Gastein:
(3) Ksenia Pervak vs. Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino
Another clay event after Roland Garros? What's the point? Anyway, Ksenia Pervak has done almost next to nothing this year except pushing an injured Caroline Wozniacki (and she still lost) to a third set. I won't be surprised if she continues her nothing ways. Lara came out of nowhere to win her first title in Bogota and has since went back to nowhere. So a puzzling match here. It will all depend on who will out-stink another I guess.
Pick: Vecino in 3 sets
Nina Bratchikova vs. Jill Craybas
Nina Bratchikova seems to only care about slams judging by her results this year. After reaching the 3rd round in Australian Open earlier this year, she emulated that result again by reaching the 3rd round in Paris. She even took a set off Petra Kvitova, the eventual semi-finalist. She faces grandma Jill Craybas. It's amazing how Craybas manages to keep a respectable ranking despite her age. Sadly, other than making occasional appearances at lower tier events, we don't get to see much of Jill anymore. This match is a mis-match on paper and Nina should come out unscathed.
Pick: Bratchikova in 2 sets
Sure win bets: Iveta Benesova, Urzsula Radwanska, Julia Goerges, Carla Suarez Navarro
Upset alerts: Michaella Krajicek, Timea Babos, Ksenia Pervak, Eva Birnerova
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