Tennis best bets and predictions for Saturday, August 2nd:
This week, the ATP and WTA Tours are in Canada for the 2025 National Bank Open presented by Rogers. The men are stationed in Toronto for their Masters 1000 event, and the women are playing their 1000-level tournament in Montreal. Unfortunately, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka are a few of the big names that opted to rest up for Cincinnati. However, these fields are still rather loaded, so we’re soaking in the action up north. Make sure you’re coming back to VSiN, where I’ll be posting daily write-ups on the action as often as I can. That continues with the action on Saturday, August 2nd.
Make sure you also check out the picks page every couple of hours if you want more of my action. I occasionally post some extra picks there, including my picks for smaller tournaments and Challenger-level events. That’s also where you’ll find picks from Gill Alexander, who does great work handicapping tennis on A Numbers Game. You can watch Gill analyze tennis Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to noon ET. That said, if you like tennis, you might want to consider becoming a VSiN Pro.
MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts are betting!
2025 Record: 951-928-1 (+42.54 units)
Lin Zhu vs. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro
This is going to be an interesting match from a betting splits perspective. Bouzas Maneiro is currently 51st in the WTA rankings, yet she’s barely favored to beat the world No. 493. I have a feeling a lot of casual bettors will see the rankings discrepancy and pounce on the Spaniard here, but Zhu is a former world No. 31 and has played some good tennis this week. The Chinese player has earned straight-set wins over Varvara Gracheva and Suzan Lamens, and she also beat a very dangerous hard-court player in Ekaterina Alexandrova. With that in mind, she’s looking a lot like the player that went 28-24 in 2023. And when she’s near her best, she probably shouldn’t be available at plus-money odds against this opponent.
Bouzas Maneiro is definitely a dangerous player, but she’s just 14-16 on hard courts at the WTA level. Meanwhile, Zhu has won 80 hard-court matches in her lengthy WTA career, so I trust her experience in this spot.
Bet: Zhu ML (+125)
Victoria Mboko vs. Coco Gauff
Gauff’s win over Veronika Kudermetova wasn’t as ugly as the win over Danielle Collins, but the two-time Grand Slam champion did have 14 double faults. She has now had a double-fault percentage of 12.1% or higher in four consecutive matches, and she has also been racking up unforced errors. That said, the American is giving her opponents opportunities to hang around in matches, and it’s only a matter of time before she loses. Well, I think Mboko can push her to a deciding third set, at the very least. I also think the Canadian, with the adrenaline of the home crowd, can win this match outright.
Mboko actually took a set off Gauff in Rome, where the conditions were very similar to the ones in which the American won her second major in Paris. On a quicker court, where Gauff can be rushed from the forehand wing, I think Mboko will have an even better shot at winning.
Mboko just has to find a way to stay composed here. Her opening set against Marie Bouzkova was a bit of a mess, and it’s quite possible that nerves got the best of her. I wouldn’t be shocked if we see some of that here. But, after the slow start, Mboko did settle in and win that match comfortably. And if she can just play a smart match, she should have plenty of openings here.
Bet: Mboko +1.5 Sets (-125 – 1.5 units) & Mboko ML (+225 – 0.5 units)
Learner Tien vs. Alex Michelsen
I’m going to take a shot on Tien in this match. Michelsen beat up on Tien in Houston in March, but that was the 19-year-old’s first ATP-level match on clay. He also hadn’t played much on the surface at the lower levels of tennis, so it’s entirely possible he didn’t have a good feel for it. These conditions should be much better for the southpaw. Tien’s spot serving is a little more dangerous in quicker conditions, as they give him a tiny boost in speed through the court. So, I can see Tien having a much easier time holding than he did in Houston, and the baseline play in this match should favor him quite a bit.
Tien is just extremely difficult to hit winners against, and I can see that getting to Michelsen eventually. Michelsen is also just 7-9 against lefties at the ATP level, and that’s because his backhand, which is normally a huge strength, isn’t as effective when it’s going cross court into a forehand.
Tien also has a win over Michelsen on hard courts, as the two met at the Next Gen ATP Finals in 2024. While that event is played with some wacky rules and scoring, I’d read a little more into that than a clay result.
Bet: Tien ML (+110)
Francisco Cerundolo vs. Alexander Zverev
Cerundolo is 3-0 against Zverev in his career, and two of the wins came this season. Cerundolo beat him 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in Buenos Aires, then he took him out in Madrid with a 7-5, 6-3 victory. There’s undoubtedly going to be some doubt in Zverev’s mind when he gets to the court here, but the German should be able to win this one comfortably. The reality is that Zverev’s serve is going to be much harder for Cerundolo to get back on hard courts — their three previous meetings came on clay. Also, Cerundolo needed the trainer to get through his match against Tomas Martin Etcheverry last round.
Cerundolo is somewhat lucky to be in the tournament at this point, and I expect Zverev to exploit any lower-body issues he’s having. Not only does the German have the ability to rack up easy holds, but he’s also going to dig in and make Cerundolo play long, physical points. Can the Argentine do that right now?
This just feels like a straightforward match to me, but I have been burned fading Cerundolo twice this week. Hopefully this isn’t another Leylah Fernandez-DC situation.
Bet: Zverev -3.5 Games (-110)
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.
