Stanford, Washington day 3: Serena starts her comeback!

Stanford schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/637/title/bank-of-the-west-classic

Washington schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/2182/title/citi-open

Match focus:

Serena Williams vs. Karolina Pliskova

Serena claims to be healthy and ready to go for her US Open series campaign. Nevertheless, there will be doubts about her health given how out of sorts she was in Wimbledon. Serena did mention that she will get a health check after the season, so maybe the mysterious illness is still bugging her. The question is can Pliskova take this chance and upset the rusty Serena? Karolina's game is pretty one-dimensional, so Serena shouldn't have a problem. The Czech isn't exactly known for her fighting abilities as well. Looks like a straightforward opener for the world number 1.

Pick: Serena in 2 sets

Naomi Osaka vs. Andrea Petkovic

Samantha Stosur's days as a top 20 player are number if she can lose to someone who's making her main draw debut. Naomi Osaka has a hard-hitting game, but it's not something that Stosur isn't accustomed to. Her mental frailty was painfully exposed by the teenager, who seemed like the veteran on court. Petkovic is likely to impose herself on the gutsy teenager. Andrea's game is scrappy, so Naomi will have to hit that extra ball to win the point. Tough to do it for the whole match.

Pick: Petkovic in 2 sets

Kristina Mladenovic vs. Taylor Townsend

Mladenovic unceremoniously dumped top seed Lucie Safarova in her opening match, opening up the top half of the draw. Kristina's game blows hot and cold, so it's important to stay with her when she's hitting the spots. Taylor Townsend has an all court game which will give Kristina no rhythm to work with. Coupled with her tricky lefty serve. the American is poised to take this match. I just hope that the pressure doesn't get to Taylor, playing in front of her home crowd.

Pick: Townsend in 3 sets

Sure win bets: Monica Puig, Agnieszka Radwanska, Serena Williams
Upset alert: Sorana Cirstea, Kurumi Nara, Marina Erakovic

Baku day 4: Where the real action is

Schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/2184/title/baku-cup

Match focus:

Sorana Cirstea vs. Stefanie Voegele

Compared to yesterday's matches, today's matches are more interesting, with several title hopefuls in contention. Top seed Cirstea will be looking to advance to her first quarter-final this year and break out of her horrible slump. The Romanian has been lacklustre this whole season, and it's good to see her play lower tier events to gain confidence. Voegele's game is pretty much reactive, so if Cirstea can keep her errors low, she has a high chance of defeating the Swiss. Knowing Cirstea though, she will make things difficult for herself.

Pick: Cirstea in 3 sets

Kristina Mladenovic vs. Donna Vekic

This match of the rising stars pits Mladenovic against Kuala Lumpur titlist, Vekic. Kristina has been on a roll lately, reaching the semi-finals of Istanbul last week. She will be the favourite here despite her lower ranking. Vekic was expected to perform great things after her triumph in Kuala Lumpur, but failed to gain any momentum after that. Perhaps it's due to the weight of expectations on her young shoulders. It will be a good win if Vekic manages to beat Kristina, but the erratic Donna needs to get a few wins under her belt to get rolling.

PickL Mladenovic in 3 sets

Silvia Soler Espinosa vs. Elina Svitolina

Defending champion Svitolina has had a rough couple of months. She had some weird losses to players she's supposed to cruise by, so Elina's form is suspect. However, as this is played on hard courts, the Ukrainian will still have the advantage. Silvia's scrappy game works best on slow clay courts, and will find it difficult to track down so many of Elina's flat shots. Maybe we'll have a multiple Baku champion here.

Pick: Svitolina in 2 sets

Baku day 2: Return of Kateryna Bondarenko

Schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/2184/title/baku-cup

Match focus:

Julia Glushko vs. Kateryna Bondarenko

Now this is a name you haven't seen in a while. Kateryna Bondarenko makes her main draw appearance after several years off the tour. During her break, she recovered from her injury, and had a child as well. Another Kim Clijsters in the making? Well, she's definitely not going to be as accomplished as Kim, but kudos to her for continuing on tour despite having a baby. Glushko will not be an easy opponent, but if Bondarenko plays to her former potential, she has a chance.

Pick: Bondarenko in 3 sets

Francesca Schiavone vs. Kurumi Nara

Francesca is obviously at the twilight of her career, but can still play good tennis in flashes of brilliance. She has a chance here against the slumping Nara, who has really struggled since winning her first title in Rio. Schiavone has also been a victim of bad luck last week, when umpire Eva Asderaki overruled an out call which was obviously correct. Let's hope she gets sweet vengeance this time.

Pick: Schiavone in 3 sets

Heather Watson vs. Kristina Mladenovic

Heather Watson's perseverance finally paid off, as she obtains a seeding for this tournament. It has been a long way back for the Brit, but the results are finally coming in for the hardworking girl. Still, the road isn't going to get easier as she faces an in form Kristina Mladenovic. The Frenchwoman had a good result last week in Istanbul, and is pretty tough when she's clicking. Heather will have to bring her running shoes and wear the erratic Kristina out if she wants to win this. 

Pick: Watson in 3 sets

Sure win bets: Jana Cepelova, Magdalena Rybarikova, Elina Svitolina

Upset alert: Julia Glushko, Sorana Cirstea

Roland Garros day 7: Can Kuznetsova grab this chance?

Upset of the previous day:

Ajla Tomljanovic def. Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 6-4

Surprise, surprise! With Radwanska's unceremonious exit, the women's draw is officially without its top 3 seeds. It seems that we are destined for a Sharapova vs Ivanovic/Halep final here. Agnieszka was not her usual crafty and consistent self against Ajla. Committing numerous unforced errors and just lacking drive, she fell behind in both sets quickly. Credit must also be given to Tomljanovic for staying strong and completing the win. Will more top seeds fall? Hopefully not as I think the tournament still needs some stars in the second week.

Schedule of play:

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

Match focus:

Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Petra Kvitova

Kuznetsova's clay season has been better than average, and she seems to be progressing steadily here. She faces the unpredictable Kvitova, who did just enough to win her first 2 matches here. Petra's game isn;t suited for clay, but she powers through anyway. Part of it is due to her opponents's lack of game as well. However, Svetlana has tons of clay playing experience and will be looking to score another upset here. The Russian just has to hang in and hope Petra implodes.

Pick: Kuznetsova in 3 sets

Andrea Petkovic vs. Kristina Mladenovic

With the epic collapse of the draw, Petkovic is suddenly the highest seed left in her quarter. She will face French favourite, Mladenovic for a place in the last 16. Kristina has a huge serve, but is often undone by her errors. She's able to rein it in so far, but there's always a chance that she'll self destruct any day. Andrea just needs to ignore the partisan crowd, hang in there and take her chances. I think the German has a good chance to make a breakthrough here.

Pick: Petkovic in 2 sets

Jelena Jankovic vs. Sorana Cirstea

Cirstea rose to prominance right here, where she upset Jankovic, marking her first big win. These 2 will reignite the rivalry as Jankovic attempts to chase that elusive slam. There is no doubt that Cirstea has the game to beat Jankovic. But the stars have to be aligned at the exact positions for that Cirstea to appear. The Romanian has no lower gear and only know one ball bashing game. Jelena should be able to hang on and draw the errors from Sorana.

Pick; Jankovic in 2 tight sets

Sloane Stephens vs. Ekaterina Makarova

No matter how bad her form is preceding a grand slam, you can always count on Sloane Stephens to at least reach the 4th round. She continues this trend here, just one win away from a successive 6 consecutive round of 16 showings. Makarova should be a good test for Sloane though, but Stephens is clearly a big match player. She raises her level of play with respect to the tournament, and Makarova isn't in stellar form coming in anyway.

Pick: Stephens in 2 sets

Sure win bets: Simona Halep, Sara Errani, Silvia Soler Espinosa
Upset alert: Petra Kvitova

Acapulco, Florianopolis day 1: Clay season continues in South America

For clay court specialists, clay season continues in Brazil, while others prepare for the North American hard court swin by entering Acapulco.

Acapulco schedule of play:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/87/title/abierto-mexicano-telcel

Florianopolis schedule:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/3024/title/brasil-tennis-cup

Match focus:

Stefanie Voegele vs. Kimiko Date-Krumm

Stefanie's form has been on the rise for the past one year, and she looks set to continue her rich rein of form against the veteran, Kimiko Date-Krumm. The pair has met 3 times, with Voegele leading the head-to-head 2-1. It will be difficult for the Japanese to beat the younger more energetic Voegele, but she can disrupt her rhythm by throwing different balls at the Swiss. This will be a close match, but I think Voegele will sneak out the win.

Pick: Voegele in 3 sets

Kristine Mladenovic vs. Christina McHale

These 2 are ranked respectively at 72 and 71, so there's little to separate them. The problem with Mladenovic is that she has all the power, but not the discipline to use it effectively. McHale lacks in raw power, but she knows when to hit hard, and when to just hang in there. So it's a tough call, Mladenovic might just have her day and totally dominate McHale. Still, I think the steadier American will win as Kristina always loses her concentration after a few bad shots.

Pick: McHale in 2 tight sets

Vania King vs. Garbine Muguruza

Vania King has had a mixed bag of results recently. She defeated Errani in Shenzhen, and now is on a 4 match losing streak, reaching a new low when she lost to Begu last week. Clay obviously isn't the surface for her, so I wonder why she's playing here instead of Acapulco. Garbine will be more familiar with the red stuff, despite her better results on hard courts. King will have to put on an inspired performance to have a chance against te in-form Muguruza.

Pick: Muguruza in 2 sets

Sure win bets: Carla Suarez Navarro, Marina Erakovic, Bojana Jovanovski
Upset alert: Francesca Schiavone, Patricia Mayr-Achleitner

Quebec City, Tashkent day 4: Pesky and resilient Lauren

Quebec City schedule:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/590/title/challenge-bell

Tashkent schedule:

http://www.wtatennis.com/schedule/tournamentId/759/title/tashkent-open

Match focus:

Lauren Davis vs. Andrea Hlavackova

Lauren Davis seems to be a feisty competitor, shaking off her double bagel embarrassment in double quick time. She will face another brainless ball basher, Andrea Hlavackova. Unlike Hrdecka, Hlavackova carried her doubles confidence into her singles play as well. She is also one of the rare players who won both doubles and mixed doubles of a grand slam. As a singles player, her results are sadly mediocre. Against someone who's a resilient scrappy player, Andrea might just self implode.

Pick: Davis in 2 sets

Petra Martic vs. Kristina Mladenovic

The unpredictable Martic strikes again, taking out US Open doubles champion Lucie Hrdecka. Against Mladenovic, she is clearly not the favourite but let's see if she can surprise again. With a huge serve, Mladenovic should be able to take advantage of quick points. However, she might be bothered by Petra's variety and low balls to her forehand. This will be a test for Kristina, to see if she has it in her to consistent beat the players she's supposed to beat. She wouldn't want to end up like her opponent, posting irregular results throughout her career.

Pick: Mladenovic in 3 sets

Alexandra Cadantu vs. Olga Govortsova

Govortsova's game is a hard one to tame. She has huge groundstrokes but tends to go for too much. If she can get a decent coach, she has the game to be a consistent top 30 player. However, it's a bit too late in her career to post any remarkable results. Against a claycourter like Cadantu, Olga should be able to hit her off the court. Cadantu's game just isn't enough on any other surface other than clay.

Pick: Govortsova in 2 sets

Sure win bets: Mandy Minella, Eugenie Bouchard, Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Upset alert: Alexandra Cadantu, Lucie Safarova