Tennis best bets and predictions for ATP Toronto and WTA Montreal – Monday, August 7th
The US Open is just about a month away, which means tennis season is really heating up. There will be a lot of big tournaments over the next couple of weeks, so VSiN is here to provide you with tennis best bets as often as possible. With that in mind, keep reading to get my picks for Monday, August 7th. This week, the focus is on the National Bank Open in Toronto and Omnium National Bank in Montreal — two 1000-level events. I’ll look to make picks on both the men and the women, and I’ll probably be adding more to these columns each day. So, make sure you refresh for more picks — or click the link below for the Pro Picks page. Also, since neither one of these tournaments has started, I threw in some futures at the bottom of this article.
RELATED: Check out our Pro Picks page for more bets from our VSiN analysts
Lin Zhu vs. Karolina Pliskova
Pliskova seems like a good player to fade at the moment. The Czech star just parted ways with her coach and has been struggling coming into this one. Pliskova lost her first match at the Citi Open, falling to world No. 204 Hailey Baptiste. She now enters this match after having lost three in a row and seven of her last eight. With that in mind, I like the idea of backing Zhu to win this thing at plus-money odds. She isn’t exactly in great form herself, but this feels like a genuine toss-up. So, it makes a lot of sense to take the underdog. The reality is that Pliskova’s serve is shaky right now. And if she’s not serving at a high level, there isn’t much about her game that is all that intimidating.
Bet: Zhu ML (+125)
JJ Wolf vs. Alejandrdo Davidovich Fokina
Wolf’s straight-set loss to Tallon Griekspoor at the Citi Open was a lousy result for the American. Playing in front of a crowd that badly wanted Wolf to win, it was rough watching him struggle to even stay competitive against a guy that had to play a match earlier in that same day. So, with Wolf’s form not being all that inspiring, I was a little surprised to see that he’s favored over Davidovich Fokina. This will be the Spaniard’s first hard-court event in quite some time, so he might take a little time to get himself going on the surface — especially against a guy that has played seven hard-court matches over the last three weeks. But I’m not sure Wolf does anything better than Davidovich Fokina. So, if the Spaniard’s rust isn’t overwhelming, I expect him to find a way through here.
Bet: Davidovich Fokina ML (+115 – 2 units)
Milos Raonic vs. Frances Tiafoe
After having suffered a disappointing loss to Daniel Evans in his hometown, Tiafoe now has to travel to Canada and face Raonic. The big server hasn’t played much tennis over the last couple of years, but he still hits bombs with the ball on his racquet. And the Canadian will have the fans pulling hard for him in his return to action in Toronto. Tiafoe should probably find a way to advance to the next round here, as he’s just a much better baseliner than Raonic — and is in a lot better form. But I don’t see Raonic going down without a fight in this spot, and I’m confident he’ll win at least one set. He’d have a big edge if there is a tiebreaker played, which just might be the opening we’d need to cash this. And Tiafoe might not be at his best mentally after having let the Citi Open slip away. He was viewed as one of the favorites to win that event.
Bet: Raonic +1.5 Sets (-155 – 2 units)
ADDED PLAYS:
Alexander Bublik +1.5 Sets (-140 – 2 units) vs. Hubert Hurkacz
Gael Monfils ML (-130 – 2.5 units) vs. Christopher Eubanks
Cristian Garin ML (-125) vs. Miomir Kecmanovic
Diego Schwartzman +1.5 Sets (-115 – 1.5 units) vs. Tommy Paul
Vasek Pospisil +1.5 Sets (-110) vs. Matteo Arnaldi
ATP Toronto & WTA Montreal Futures
Stefanos Tsitsipas To Win Quarter 2 (+250) – Tsitsipas just won a title in Los Cabos, defeating John Isner, Nicolas Jarry, Borna Coric and Alex de Minaur along the way. The 24-year-old has now shown that he is in great hard-court form entering this big Masters 1000 tournament, and I like his chances of making a deep run this week. Tsitsipas shouldn’t run into much trouble before a potential clash with Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals. But Sinner might have trouble getting to that match, and I’d like Tsitsipas’ chances against the Italian anyway.
Daniil Medvedev To Win Quarter 4 (-125 – 2 units) – Medvedev feels like he is being slept on heading into the hard-court season. Sure, the Russian got beat up on by Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon, but Medvedev was the most successful player in the world in the early portion of the 2023 season. He racked up titles on this surface to start the year, and I think he’ll do some more damage in the coming months. That starts with a decent run in Toronto, where he’ll likely love his chances of reaching the finals. The draw worked out in Medvedev’s favor.
Iga Swiatek To Win Quarter 1 (-140 – 3 units) & Win The Tournament (+210 – 1.5 units) – Swiatek didn’t look like herself at Wimbledon, but grass has never been her surface. She should get right back to her dominant form in the coming weeks, and we already got a glimpse of that at the Warsaw Open. Swiatek won that title without dropping a single set, and I think there’s a very good chance she’ll lift this trophy. I’m putting a big play on Swiatek to win her quarter, and I’m also putting a little more on the Pole to win it all. She’s the best player in the world, and I’m not exactly high on Aryna Sabalenka or Elena Rybakina right now.
Bianca Andreescu To Win Quarter 4 (+2000 – 0.25 units) – Andreescu suffered a tough three-set loss at the hands of Marta Kostyuk at the Citi Open, but that was hardly one to be ashamed of. Kostyuk is playing some great tennis right now, and Andreescu lost it in a third-set tiebreaker. That match easily could have gone either way. Now, the 2019 US Open champion gets to play in Montreal, where fans will be giving the Canadian an extra shot of adrenaline. That said, I’m sprinkling a little something on Andreescu to come out of her quarter. She’s in Sabalenka’s quarter and I think the Belarusian is in something of a fragile state right now. And overall, I don’t think much separates Andreescu from the players at the top of the women’s game. She just needs to find a way to stay healthy. Well, she’s healthy at the moment and that makes this a dart worth throwing.
