The first-ever Mallorca Open tennis tournament moves into the second round of competition on the Spanish island which is making a fresh commitment to grass-court tennis. Our tennis picks are all mixed up as two of our matches from yesterday haven’t even been played. However, the one match that did go off didn’t go as planned for us. We had Belinda Bencic in our tennis picks to beat Irina Camelia Begu, but the latter pulled the upset. Bencic lost the first set 6-4 and was losing the second set 4-3 before she had to retire.
The other big upset of the day was defending Wimbledon runner-up Garbine Muguruza lost. Fresh off her French Open championship, she was expected to be go deep in this tournament, if not win it. However, she lost to Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium in a stunning result. It goes to show that no matter who looks dominant for a period of time on the women’s side, anyone can lose on any given day. That theme continues on Wednesday as the title here is anyone’s to win, and we’ll see how various players handle the pressure on Wednesday in Spain.
Elise Mertens vs. Jelena Jankovic
This is another match in which, on paper, Jankovic should win, but in the past year, Jankovic hasn’t won nearly as many of these kinds of matches as she should. It’s due to a little bit of everything: age, wear and tear, injuries, a lack of focus, a diminishing game. Jankovic is definitely on the downslope of her career. She’s not what she once was, and she’s almost certain to never get it back. However, what Jankovic can still become is a solid player who wins at least three matches in nearly every tournament she plays and represents a tough out for the top players on tour, those in the top 10. Jankovic can’t be great, but she can still become very good. This will be another testing ground for her.
Last week on the WTA Tour, Mertens fell short against a player, Kristina Mladenovic, who plays good defense and is highly capable of waiting out her opponents until they commit errors. Given Jankovic’s willingness to play defense and force her opponent to hit extra shots to win individual points, this feels like a matchup in which Jankovic has the advantage, as long as she doesn’t make too many errors in the first four to six strokes of a point. Give the edge to Jankovic here for your tennis picks.
Pick: Jankovic in three sets
Eugenie Bouchard vs. Anastasija Sevastova
This is a matchup of a well-known player and a tennis journeywoman known only to the diehards in the sport. Bouchard got through her first-round match in Mallorca, which was a big source of relief, given that she bombed out of the first round in her previous grass tournament a week ago. Bouchard wants to avoid falling into a slump, but what’s even more important in this match is that Bouchard – having played only one match last week – needs some match play on grass if she is to have a reasonable chance of going deep at Wimbledon. One shouldn’t expect Bouchard to make the semifinals or even the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, but she knows she needs to win this match so that she gets an adequate amount of practice before the biggest tournament of the whole year. She will attack this match and play it the right way. She’ll win, so take her with your tennis picks.
Pick: Bouchard in straight sets
Mariana Duque-Marino vs. Sabine Lisicki
This is a match which Lisicki should definitely win. Lisicki doesn’t often do well during a whole tennis season, but on grass, she’s a much better player than she is on any other surface. Lisicki posted a first-round win and now has a chance to gain some rhythm. Duque-Marino is not accomplished enough on grass to be able to upset Lisicki – only Lisicki can lose this match, and as long as she minimizes mistakes, she’ll be fine. Take Lisicki with your tennis picks.
Pick: Lisicki in straight sets
