Daily match picks

Belinda Bencic 1.69, Svetlana Kuznetsova 2.42

Due to start around 3:30 pm

Bencic leads their previous matches 2-1. They last met in Madrid in May 2019. Bencic won on clay in 3 sets. Kuznetova’s win was due to Bencic retiring in Wuhan in 2016.

Better overall results for Bencic in the last 12 months. She has won 67% of matches compared to 54% for Kuznetsova

Kuznetsova’s form in 2020 has been a little erratic. She had some real problems with her serve at the Australian Open. She is back on home soil and had a very strong win over Jennifer Brady in the last round. She faced 12 break points but was only broken once.

Bencic has made a better start to the year but still hasn’t fired on all cylinders. If Kuznetsova can main her 1st round form this can go to 3 but I favour Bencic to win. Back Bencic around 2.10. Lay the set 1 winner.

 

Lorenzo Sonego 2.48, Pablo Cuevas 1.67

Due to start around 10 pm

This will be their first meeting.

Overall results are very even in the last 12 months. Their results on clay are also pretty even. Cuevas has a small edge. He has won 69% of his matches compared to 67% for Sonego.

Last week Cuevas reached the quarter finals in Cordoba. He beat Federico Delbonis in the first round that week. He didn’t have an amazing season in 2019 on clay. He reached the third round at the French Open and the final in Estoril. He also had 2 semi final finishes in Cordoba and Rio de Janeiro. That doesn’t sound too bad but not long ago he was one of the strongest clay players on the tour. He reached the quarter finals last year.

Sonego had some successes in 2019. He reached the quarter finals in Marrakech as a qualifier. He was also a qualifier at the Monte Carlo Masters where he got to the quarter finals. He made the semis in Kitzbuhel in July and in September won a clay Challenger title in Genova. He reached the second round as a qualifier in Buenos Aires last year.

We haven’t seen Sonego’s best form on the main tour for several months. Back Cuevas around 1.90.

Update: Close match. Cuevas reached around 1.88 very early. He won 6-4, 6-4.