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The North American hardcourt swing rolls on this week with a small ATP tournament going on in Winston-Salem and another small one in Cleveland, where the women will be playing. Both will help players get ready for the US Open next week.
Without further ado, let’s get into some picks.
Albert Ramos-Vinolas (+110) vs. Adrian Mannarino (-136)
It is with a heavy heart that I fade Albert Ramos-Vinolas here. While the Spaniard has been playing some excellent tennis in recent weeks, the fact remains that he is simply not as good on hardcourts as he is on the clay. Furthermore, his wins over John Millman, Diego Schwartzman and David Goffin don’t exactly look as good when you consider the form that those three are in.
Mannarino, meanwhile, just beat two very tough customers in Emil Ruusuvuori, who made a run here last year, as well as Chris O’Connell. Hardcourts are where the Frenchman is most dangerous, and we have already seen that this week.
Mannarino has won each of the four hardcourt meetings between the two and I think he should probably be a bit beefier of a favorite. This is a pretty nice discount on the player with the clear edge here.
Edge: Mannarino -136
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Dominic Thiem (+170) vs. Jack Draper (-213)
Draper is a special young talent, but I think that Tuesday’s win over Fabio Fognini tells you everything you need to know. In that match, the Brit struggled mightily with putting away the Italian, and it wasn’t until Fognini totally lost it mentally in the third that he was quickly crushed.
With that said, I’m not sure I’d make Thiem this big of an underdog. I don’t want anyone to panic, but he’s gone from a player who can’t win to a guy who has now won seven of his last 10 matches. Sure, the win over Grigor Dimitrov came on a retirement, but he looked composed in a third-set tiebreak against a dangerous JJ Wolf and has racked up a few other nice wins on the clay this year.
Thiem’s slowly improving in the error department and I think he can get enough balls back into play to make life tough on Draper. I’m particularly interested in his slice backhand into the forehand of the youngster, which may give him some high-bouncing balls to crush on his own forehand.
Edge: Thiem +170
