ATP Winston-Salem Tennis Odds & Picks: Value in Evans vs. Gasquet Match (Wednesday, August 25)
Credit: Grant Halversen, Associated Press. Dan Evans hits a forehand in the ATP Winston-Salem event.
In the week before a grand slam tournament, players are either looking to find their form so they can peak at the right time, or they are aiming to qualify for the main draw of the tournament itself.
That's where the ATP tour finds itself this week as qualifiers for the U.S. Open have commenced in addition to a 250 tournament in Winston-Salem.
There are multiple ways to take advantage of the action today.
Nicolas Moreno de Alboran vs. Antoine Hoang
1:30 p.m. ET
U.S. Open qualifiers bring out the best in many players, with the intensity level raised to 11. Antoine Hoang is a player who has thrived in situations like this. The young Frenchman battled his way through qualifiers at Wimbledon before, falling to an in-form Seb Korda. He has main draw experience in Queens and has been in this position before.
His opponent, Moreno de Alboran, does not have the same experience, and has mainly been playing on the futures tour for the past year.
Back Hoang, who has the ability to play under pressure, evidenced not only by his grand slam experience but also his 9-2 record in tiebreaks this year, over the inexperienced Moreno de Alboran.
Pick: Hoang +105 (BetMGM)
Jan-Lennard Struff vs. Ilya Ivashka
3:00 p.m. ET
Switching over to the ATP event in Winston-Salem, this matchup between big-hitters is a prime opportunity.
Ivashka is a player who has broken out to an extent this season, developing his game for all surfaces. But as a player with a huge serve and strokes to back it up, he's a player that is built to excel on hard. He's 5-2 in the summer hard court swing thus far, and is playing great tennis.
Struff, on the other hand, has failed to find his form since returning to hard courts, looking incredibly wild in his loss to Fabio Fognini and failing to win a match in Cincinnati. His first-round win over Gianluca Mager isn't enough to convince me he can take out Ivashka.
Expect Ivashka to break down Struff in rallies and dominate in service games.
Pick: Ivashka -125 (PointsBet)
Dan Evans vs. Richard Gasquet
3:20 p.m. ET
Climbing up the scale of pedigree, this match offers the highest level of tennis that will likely be played on this card.
Both players only have a single main draw win in the summer hard court season thus far, with Gasquet prioritizing clay events and Evans struggling to notch results in America.
This matchup offers Evans a great chance to build on his first round win, however. The Brit has been solid on hard courts this year prior to the clay season, with the 35th best winning percentage on the surface on tour and an ability to display patience and confidence from the baseline.
Gasquet excels on clay, though he won multiple qualifying matchups in Cincinnati and is outplaying his age to a significant extent, getting a great result in Umag earlier this summer.
Nonetheless, this is a phenomenal stylistic matchup for Evans, who should be able to outwork the Frenchman in the hot conditions of North Carolina and find success in longer rallies.
Pick: Evans -140 (BetMGM)
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