The ATP and WTA Tours are shifting surfaces and picking up speed. We’re just a few weeks away from the start of Wimbledon, and the grass-court swing is officially underway — with four tournaments running simultaneously this week to give players time to find their form on the green stuff. On the men’s side, the field splits between the 500s in Queen’s Club (London) and Halle (Germany). Meanwhile, the women are competing in either the 500 in Berlin or the 250 in Nottingham. With that in mind, we have plenty of ground to cover over the next several days. I’ll be writing up my tennis best bets from Monday to Friday, then I’ll post my championship picks on the VSiN Pro Picks page for the weekend finals. That said, keep reading for my tennis best bets for Wednesday, June 17.
NOTE: Gill Alexander, host of A Numbers Game, posts a bunch of tennis plays to the VSiN picks page. He does a great job handicapping tennis. That page is also where I post all of my Challenger-level picks + plays for all of the tournaments I’m not writing up daily.
Alexandra Eala vs. Donna Vekic – Berlin
Eala is coming off a title run in a 125 in Birmingham, and she beat some solid players along the way. However, the 21-year-old is just 17-14 at the WTA level this season. That’s not a bad record in any way, shape, or form, but it’s not as good as her name recognition and popularity would suggest. With that in mind, I think the odds for this match are a little off, especially with Vekic being a tremendous grass-court player. We actually just saw Vekic win a title in Queen’s Club, and she comes into this match with a record of 54-33 on grass in her WTA career.
Vekic just has way more experience on this surface than your average player, and she has been to the semifinals at Wimbledon before. She’s just as sturdy as they come on grass, and I like her to take Eala out. Both of these players are aggressive, hard-hitting baseliners, but Vekic is a little better as a server and I like her ability to come in and take balls early. She should put a lot of pressure on Eala, taking valuable time away from her.
Bet: Vekic ML (-123)
Arthur Fery vs. Adrian Mannarino – Queen’s Club
Mannarino hurt me on Tuesday, taking Jakub Mensik out of the tournament. I didn’t have Mensik to win the match, but I did have a play on the Czech to win the tournament. I feel like Mensik will eventually be a monster on grass, but that’s neither here nor there.
Mannarino is a good grass-court player, where his flat strokes and ability to step into the court make him a tough opponent. However, I do think Fery will be a tough matchup for him. These two are actually very similar players, but Fery is younger and more athletic.
Fery is also a British player competing in front of a British crowd. That should definitely help him out a little, so I’ll take my chances with him at -102.
Bet: Fery ML (-102)
Jenson Brooksby vs. Francisco Cerundolo – Queen’s Club
Cerundolo was able to survive in his match against Aleksandar Kovacevic last round, but the Argentine is horrendous on grass. In his ATP career, Cerundolo is just 7-11 when playing on this surface. He just doesn’t get to take advantage of his ability to move, his big, heavy groundstrokes aren’t as impactful, and his lack of a big serve comes back to hurt him.
Looking at this match, I can just see Brooksby’s grinding style, funky game, and ability to play at the net frustrating Cerundolo. Also, Brooksby’s serve, which is normally a major issue, shouldn’t be as big of a problem on grass, as it’ll be a little tougher on Cerundolo to pick up.
Brooksby is also just a tremendous competitor, so this is the last person a shaky grass-court performer wants to see.
Bet: Brooksby +1.5 Sets (-150 – 1.5 units) & ML (+175 – 0.5 units)
Added Plays
I usually have A LOT MORE on the Pro Picks page. Those plays count towards my record and have been a big part of my success this season. Make sure you check them out. I’ll probably add a few more over there, so refresh that page throughout the day if you’re looking for action.
