Tennis best bets and predictions for Thursday, July 31st:
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 looking forward to 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 Thursday, July 31st.
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: 946-922-1 (+42.94 units)
Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs. Francisco Cerundolo
This hasn’t been a great season for Etcheverry, as he’s just 15-22 since the start of the year. After winning seasons in 2023 and 2024, it’s a little surprising that he isn’t closer to .500. But Etcheverry is looking rather sharp in Toronto. He beat Pierre Hugues Herbert 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in a match in which the Frenchman played pretty well, then he upset Tallon Griekspoor, a dangerous hard-court player, 6-4, 7-6 (4) in the Round of 64. The best part about the most recent Etcheverry performance is that he made 74.4% of his first serves. Considering his first serve has been extremely inaccurate this year, it was nice to see him regularly hitting the box. If he can do that against Cerundolo, he should have chances to win.
Cerundolo was able to survive in a win over Jaume Munar last match, but he hasn’t looked right since his deep run in Madrid. In fact, Cerundolo is just 6-7 in his last 13 matches. So, while he definitely has one of the best forehands on the ATP Tour, this isn’t exactly Cerundolo at his best.
Etcheverry has also had a lot of success against Cerundolo in the past. Before losing to him in a tight three-set match in Santiago this year, Etcheverry had won two in a row against Cerundolo. That said, he’s 2-1 in three career meetings with him, and he hasn’t failed to win a set against Cerundolo at the tour level.
Bet: Etcheverry +1.5 Sets (-167 – 1.5 units) & Etcheverry ML (+175 – 0.5 units)
Veronika Kudermetova vs. Coco Gauff
Kudermetova can be extremely hard to trust. She has all the talent in the world, but her highs are high and her lows are extremely low. But she did play some fantastic tennis in a 6-4, 6-2 win over Olga Danilovic in the Round of 64, and her aggressive baseline game can give Gauff problems if the American is shaky. And Gauff was definitely that in a three-set win over Danielle Collins last match.
In Gauff’s victory over Collins, she double faulted 23 times and won only 63.0% of her first service points. She also racked up 74 unforced errors over the three sets. It was just an insanely sloppy performance, and Gauff is a player you want to fade when she’s in these little ruts. To her credit, she wins ugly more than anyone else. But when Gauff is playing this poorly and still being priced like an elite player, there’s value in taking her opponent and hoping for the best.
Bet: Kudermetova +1.5 Sets (+130) & Kudermetova ML (+380 – 0.5 units)
Reilly Opelka vs. Learner Tien
Just a few months ago, Opelka and Tien played a very competitive match in Rome, where the 19-year-old escaped with a 6-4, 7-6 (11) victory. But that match was played on clay, where Opelka’s serve was neutralized a bit. On hard courts, Tien is going to have a very difficult time breaking him. Of course, Opelka is also going to need to find a way to break Tien, and the big man’s break percentage is only 8.9% this season. He’s a very bad returner. But it does help that these courts are a little slower than the fastest ones on tour. Opelka will benefit more from that than Tien will, as his power is a plus anywhere.
The only thing I’m worried about with Opelka is his fitness. He can occasionally run out of steam in longer matches, so facing a grinder like Tien won’t be easy. But it’s supposed to be on the cooler side on Thursday, so Opelka should be fine.
Bet: Opelka ML (+105)
Victoria Mboko vs. Marie Bouzkova
Bouzkova comes into this match on a bit of a heater, as she won a title in Prague last week. That wasn’t just some cupcake run either, as she needed to fight from a set down to beat Linda Noskova in the finals. Bouzkova has also done some good things since arriving in Montreal, as she has earned straight-set victories over Moyuka Uchijima and Diana Shnaider. The issue is that fatigue is going to become an issue at some point, as she’s about to play her eighth match in 10 days. And it wouldn’t be surprising if she hits a wall at some point in her match against the hometown favorite.
Mboko also happens to be the more talented player here, as she has the ability to go much bigger with her serve and groundstrokes. We’ll just have to hope that she isn’t a little too amped up, as she can be guilty of overplaying. But realistically, I like the idea of taking the better player, in a favorable setting. And I also like the fact that there’s some sharp money on Mboko, according to our VSiN tennis splits.
Bet: Mboko ML (-110 – 1.5 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.
