Moscow, Luxembourg day 2: Best of the rest

Moscow schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/664/title/kremlin-cup-by-bank-of-moscow

Luxembourg schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/233/title/bgl-bnp-paribas-luxembourg-open

Match focus:

Ana Konjuh vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Coming off a good week in Osaka, Ana Konjuh will be a tough opener for the patchy Russian, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The Russian has hit a rough patch lately, barely winning matches. Still, her season is salvaged by her surprise title run in Paris Indoors. In the fast carpet surface, Pavlyuchenkova has the experience, having won in Paris earlier in the year, but Konjuh has nothing to lose and her powerful game is effective here as well. Pavlyuchenkova will need to weather the storm, and try to make Ana make the errors.

Pick: Pavlyuchenkova in 3 sets

Caroline Garcia vs. Aleksandra Krunic

Caroline Garcia is the anti-thesis of consistency. Just when you thought that she's getting her groove back, she bombs out in the opening round of Linz. Needless to say, it is impossible to predict which Garcia will show up. However, against someone as scrappy and stingy as Krunic, I think Caroline will lose here. Aleksandra will make Garcia crazy with her endless retrieving, which will result in wild errors from the French girl. Looks like Krunic will score another upset here.

Pick: Krunic in 2 sets

Sabine Lisicki vs. Daniela Hantuchova

Given Hantuchova's recent lack of form, Sabine should be able to cruise in her first round match. The lightning fast surface does not give any consolation to Daniela, whose movement is laborious even on other surfaces. Let's see if Daniela can summon her game and show that she still has some years ahead of her. If she loses this in a lopsided manner, I believe the end is near for Daniela.

Pick: Lisicki in 2 sets


Sure in bets: Camila Giorgi, Elena Vesnina, Alize Cornet, Andrea Petkovic
Upset alert: Caroline Garcia, Kiki Bertens, Varvara Lepchenko, Annika Beck

Linz, Osaka, Tianjin day 2: Another Chinese retirement?

Linz schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/461/title/generali-ladies-linz

Osaka schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/340/title/japan-womens-open-tennis

Tianjin schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/3783/title/tianjin-open--tianjin-china

Match focus:

Andrea Petkovic vs. Camila Giorgi

Andrea lost an absolute heartbreaker against Simona Halep in Beijing, so it's going to affect her for a while. She will face the dangerous Giorgi, who has already beaten her twice this year. Can the Italian continue her dominance of Petkovic? The indoor surface will no doubt give the flat hitting Camila the advantage. However, her recent run of form doesn't boost anyone's confidence, so it will be a close match.

Pick: Giorgi in 3 sets

Zheng Jie vs. Ana Konjuh

Zheng Jie's long time fellow Chinese Li Na retired just recently, and I'm afraid the petite Chinese will follow her footsteps soon. Zheng's results this year has been abysmal except for a final appearance in 's-Hertenbosch, and has been struggling with winning any kind of matches. Against the fearless young Ana Konjuh, she is due to be upset. Ana hits with very good power, and already has some good top 50 wins under her belt. If she keeps up her good form, she should be able to clinch this.

Pick: Konjuh in 3 sets

Andrea Hlavackova vs. Monica Puig

Andrea's year in singles is a total disaster in 2014, so Puig should breathe a sigh of relief upon drawing her. Nevertheless, the Puerto Rican's form is very spotty, and might just crash out to anyone, as evidenced by her surprise loss last week to Hercog. The youngster needs to improve on her consistency as she seems to have some good wins followed by horrendous losses. Andrea's game is very hit or miss, so Monica needs to be patient and manage her offensive attacks. If Puig loses this, she needs a new coach, not a game change.

Pick: Puig in 2 sets

Sure win bets: Peng Shuai, Jelena Jankovic, Jarmila Gajdosova, Samantha Stosur, Tsvetana Pironkova

Upset alert: Zheng Shuai, Zheng Jie, Lara Arruabarrena, Andrea Petkovic, Donna Vekic