The Copa Claro Colsanitas tennis tournament, the WTA Tour stop in Bogota, Colombia, split the first round into two separate days of play. Taking a look back to our tennis picks on Tuesday, we had a very productive day. We went 3-0 with our selections.
We had Kiki Bertens to move past Nina Stojanovic and she did exactly that. The first set was a bit of a challenge as she took it 6-4 but the second set was a breeze at 6-1. We also had Katerina Siniakova and she had no problems whatsoever with her opponent. Jil Teichmann didn’t even win a single game in the first set, although she did win four in the second set. Our toughest match of the day came with Veronica Cepede, who needed the full three sets to get by Beatriz Haddad Maia. Maia actually won the first set 6-4 before losing the next two.
Looking ahead to Wednesday, one of the features of the upcoming second round is that unseeded players have very strong clay-court credentials and should be taken very seriously. Here is a look at our tennis picks for Wednesday’s action in Bogota.
Sachia Vickery vs. Sara Errani
The theme of dangerous unseeded clay-court players begins with Errani, a former French Open runner-up in 2012 who beat the seventh seed in this tournament in the first round. Errani’s serve is noticeably weak, and it has been for some time, but on clay courts, Errani is content to get into rallies. She doesn’t need to win easy points on her own serve. She does not mind working harder and spending more time to win points. The big concern for Errani in any match she plays, whether on clay or any other surface, is if her opponent has a strong return of serve and can generally overpower her. Vickery does not fit this basic description, so for that reason alone, Errani seems to be the better choice in this match. Errani’s lack of a serve means she can’t be viewed as a lock, but her experience and court craft on clay are both very hard to ignore against a relatively anonymous opponent who has not made a considerable breakthrough on the tour.
Pick: Errani in straight sets
Kiki Bertens vs. Cindy Burger
This is a straightforward match. Bertens, as the top seed and as a defending French Open semifinalist from 2016, easily won her first-round match and appears to be very comfortable on this surface as she makes her way through the clay-court season. Her opponent is a fellow Dutchwoman, Burger, but someone who has not made any notable impression on the WTA Tour. Playing an opponent from the same nation is something which affects athletes differently, but the likely outcome is that the less experienced player will probably be intimidated by the reality of playing a more accomplished countrywoman. Bertens should feel comfortable in this match, while Burger will probably be nervous enough to fall short in key moments. Bertens is the clearly sensible choice here.
Pick: Bertens in straight sets
Daililia Jakupovic vs. Francesca Schiavone
This is a match which is very mysterious, but the theme of the dangerous unseeded clay-court expert remains intact. Much as Errani, an Italian, once made a Roland Garros final, Schiavone – also Italian – made two French Open finals and won one of them. Her best days are behind her, but her skill on clay courts hasn’t completely vanished. That was evident in her first-round upset of the number six seed in this event, Patricia Maria Tig. Schiavone hasn’t collected a lot of wins in the latter years of her career, so when she entered this event, it was logical to think she’d show up, give it a good effort, but fall short. Now that she has managed to collect a victory, she will carry added confidence into the next round. It is risky to expect too much of Schiavone in the ending stages of a long career, but one more match win is not an unreasonable expectation here.
Pick: Schiavone in straight sets
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