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Ana was running a fever in the first round and managed to win easily regardless. The handicap was covered as she played calmly and once again served brilliantly. Granted, Barthel made her job a lot easier by making a lot of mistakes. But, the win will definitely give Konjuh a much needed boost of confidence. She is meeting the well-experienced Vesnina, who had nice memories of Auckland. She beat Mladenovic to advance to the second round. But, the more important thing is Vesnina's heath. Her shoulder was all bandaged up and is clearly still giving her a hard time. She will not risk an injury ahead of Australian Open and probably won't try her best today. It is quite obvious Konjuh will have the upper hand at serving and since she's healthy now, has the perfect chance to reach the next round. Vesnina prefers a more aggressive game, just like Konjuh, but she can't stand up to the Croatian when it comes to forehand power. This is the best draw Ana could have hoped for and I'm pretty sure she'll take advantage of it. Details

Before the match between Vinci and Coco, I believed the over can fail only if Coco played a good match and gets it over in two sets. Luckily for us, Coco fumbled. Although she beat Vinci, one needs to be realistic and admit she played poorly. Her return was disastrous in the first set, and although she improved later on, she won primarily because the Italian's performance took a nose dive. Vinci's game stagnated in the second part and she lost confidence on her serve, so Coco just took what was offered. Flipkens had a similar issue, having quite a few ups and downs in her performance, but also showed confidence when it mattered most. This is what guided me in this match. Both players have a good first serve, and we will almost certainly see one long set. They were also both inconsistent in the first round, and I just don't see this as a match where one of them scores a routine victory. Everything points to a 3 set match, and even if it's just 2 sets, I'm convinced one of them will give us a tiebreak, while the other will be decided by a break. Everything indicates a classic over for games. Details

Mogi and Bauru are among the best teams in the league in terms of offense. Bauru is league-best team with 87 points per game, while Mogi average 83. Both teams went over the 163 points margin in 3 out of the last 5 games. What is more important than the stats is the fact they are offensively more powerful at different positions. Bauru score their points mostly through point guard Larry or the play under the rim, while Mogi have a lot more choices. Both teams are fast, play short attacks in which both point guards try to go past the defense very early to get under the rim. Neither teams play NBB league in two weeks, but there were other games in which they carried on in the same offensive rhythm. The same is expected in this game. Three out of their last 5 games ended as overs, and they never played such fast-paced basketball. I'm sure the margin is off - Bauru will definitely score 85 points or more, and Mogi won't do any worse. Their shooters are in fine form and they need the win. A lot of games, the last one with San Jose included, proved that defensive end cannot see them win. Details

Wozniacki has taken the preseason lightly so many times before, against his father's advice. She would play golf and relax, while he believes in discipline only. It would often happen that she would start the season with a few extra kilos and then had to had another preparation period after Australian Open to try and fix the mistakes she made before. But, this season seems to be different. She is now dedicated to tennis only and has done the preseason well. Glushko is trying to get back to the WTA level. She's done good qualifying matches to display stability, but as she herself admits, it's still not good enough. She's got nothing on Wozniacki. The Dane is better in each and very game-segment. Since she's spent a lot of time practicing in Auckland and is very motivated, I think this match will end in straight sets. Details

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Barthel had foot injury problems in the pre-season, and spent a week and a half on rehabilitation. She started real practices of movement and physical condition lately. Even though she sounded optimistic so far, she also added she hopes she'll be ready for the first tournaments. That shows her own doubts, and it's obvious Auckland is only the first court to help her feel the competitive tennis before the Australian Open. Still, her troubles didn't end there. She caught a virus on an airplane and spent two first days in Auckland in bed. Long trip, climate change, time zones and a sickness are never a good script. She's exhausted and it's questionable whether she'll be able to recover on time. On the other side is Ana Konjuh, completely ready, who showed great game last year in Auckland, when she had elbow problems. Konjuh's got everything she needs to win convincingly in this match, and Barthel will make it easier since she's not ready. Details

Soler has no advantage in this match. She traditionally fares poorly in Australia, especially at the season opening tournament, and the wind in Auckland will make it more difficult for her to play. It's a known fact her serve is based more on spin than power, so it's no wonder her first serve is shaky in Australia. Sloane on the other side just finished a great preparation period. She usually performs at a level above at Grand Slams, but did not under-perform in preparatory tournaments either. She returned to cooperating with her coach from youth, Saviano, a man who was with her when she was a kid and understands her well. However, those reasons are not the main cause for me to pick this. Apart from her feeling better under these conditions, I think motivation is the crucial reason for this bet. While some players are starting the season with no pressure, Stephens must look for a victory in the first round as the points won at Auckland could give her seed status and a much easier draw at the Australian Open. The Spaniard has no chance against the motivated American here and this is a bet one just has to take for a bigger stake. Details

The home team don't have anything in this game against Flamengo. The title defenders are on the go and look unstoppable. It all works the right way for them, from the back players to the paint where Herman and Meylenise really improved compared to the season beginning. Add Marcelo, one of the best point guards of the league, and also Marquinhos, and they have the best starting five of the league. True, their problem are the substitutes, but even those are better than most of the Macae roster. THe home team are limited, with only one player who stands out (Smith). The rest are average and Flamengo wouldn't even take them for the bench. They simply can't match other teams in the offense, and Smith can't carry them himself, and Curtis has 11 points per game. Count all the holes they have in the paint, and how unconvincing they are with rebounds, you simply can't get away from this bet on Flamengo's handicap. The margin is seven points, and I expected 10.5, if not even more, since everything points to the convincing win by the guests. Details

The Kings didn't manage to defeat the Wildcats in the last few years. They lost with half a point difference at home once, and by four points the other time. All but those two were convincing wins for the Wildcats. Accident? I think not. The Wildcats' basketball doesn't suit the Kings. Their pressing is too high, and they close off Magden and limit their ball flow, so everything comes down to individual attacks and attempts, and that's not how the Kings play. They lost by 19 at home this season, and what changed since? The Wildcats lost the first place and will bite even more now. They started giving their substitutes more chances, Drake and Wagstaff, and they completely justified the trust given. Knight keeps getting better numbers in the paint and will definitely limit their approach to the hoop. I think the Kings are overrated. Their team is limited, especially in the offense. Childress is the only good player, Brandt is an average scorer, and Magden didn't really fit in best in the new system. Even though they defeated the Breakers at home last week, the Breakers had a disastrous half-time where they had 17 rebounds less. The Wildcats are better with rebounds, have better players for four out of five positions, and they should be convincing against the Kings. The handicap of 4.5 points simply makes no sense, even more so when you know that the Wildcats are the best team of the league when it comes to intense matches. Details

Regardless of the importance of this game, I'm sure that the total points margin doesn't make much sense.This is a quarterfinal match and a defeat would see one of these teams finish their Commissioners Cup campaign. It is a single-leg game, which means there is no room for trying new tactics. The Texters reached playoff with four consecutive wins in the finish of the regular season. Their offense has proved to be particularly efficient, with point guards being particularly aggressive, which results in 15 three-pointers per game. The Kings are playing a very different game. They met Texters in their only head-to-head game, but the home team didn't have De Ocamp and Alapago at their disposal back then. Both team are complete now. The Texters average 185 points, the visitors 176. I expect over 190 points in this game because the visiting coach knows his usual attacking won't help against this opponent, which means they have to go back to run'n'gun basketball. The Kings will try and force a faster pace against the team with the best three-point productivity in the league. Both teams play short attacks, have good shooters and don't rely on defenses much. The margin is going up slowly, but I'm sure that the 185.3 points (current margin) has great value since I would set it at least 5-6 higher. Details

The total points margin is quite low for the Australian League, but I'm convinced we'll see another unusually unproductive game. The Wildcats are, the first game not included, conceding only 64 points on average home. And that speaks volumes of the kind of defense they're playing home. On the other hand, the Hawks struggle with offense. They did score 90 against the Crocs last round but that was nothing more than a coincidence. The Wildcats won't let them that much room in the key, reducing their game to long attacks and forced shots. They scored 64 in the last h2h game, only 59 in the one before. Since DeAndre is doing brilliantly now, the visitors will have even less room in offense and they probably now that the pace has to be brought down as they are no match for the home team offense-wise. Clearly, they won't let the Wildcats to set up a faster pace. The visiting team under is not a bad option, but I'm more prone to going with the total under even though I have more faith in visitors' defense that will managed to limit the Wildcats, keeping this game to 145 points max. Details

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Yesterday I picked against Putintseva, convinced Garcia will demolish her, and was wrong. Garcia was not in the mood, made too many errors and Putintseva's style did not suit her. Even more important for this pick is that Yulia performed consistently throughout the match once again, and had a very good 69% success after her first serve. Mladenovic on the other hand got to the final after Zanevska gave up. The French player is not doing well, that's easy to see. She offered Zanevska three break points and lost them all. She has poor movement, and cannot parry consistent players in longer rallies. Given she achieves roughly the same success in first serve points as Putintseva, one can see she has no advantages in this match. Putintseva is playing with more confidence, moves better, and has shown better performance in rallies. She does not deserve to be the underdog here. Details

Taipans will pulverize the Kings. That was their first thought after the Taipans-Breakers match. Wilbekin is currently the best play of the league because he's the only one who's complete. He throws in a double-digit number of points per game, and that does an excellent job in moving other players. Taipans have an impressive 5-0, and that ratio gets even more significant when taking into consideration the fact that one of the best shooters of the last season, Cam Gliddon, didn't even warm up yet. Only in the last match did he show signs of his last season's shooter shape, and since Wilbekin is ensuring him a lot of open shots, we're expecting a lot more from him during the rest of the season. Taipans made a huge improvement rebound-wise. Tragardh proved to be an excellent addition and it's without question that they are a team who defend their paint the best. On the other hand, it's a different thing with the Kings. They're dependent on three players who scored 47% of points, and they're missing one of them. We're talking about Childress who is even more important on the rebound. Gilddon has a good medicine for Magden in their mutual duels. Now Ben will have to force himself even more which goes to Gilddon's advantage. Besides that, Sydney are arriving after a difficult away match in Perth, the atmosphere in the team is bad, and they also complained on the Childress suspension decision. With Taipans everything seems unnaturally good, they have the advantage on the play position and in the pain as well and I'm convinced that they will beat Sydney with minimum 20 points of difference. Details

The point limit is set high, but there are plenty of reasons for that. The last match ended with over 200, and it all points to the fact that we could be seeing another scenario just like that. As was said in the preview, Breakers' main ace is their backcourt. Cedric Jackson is extremely fast so he can reach the hoop in no time, and then in the return he can find Webster who is in an excellent shooting form at the opening of the season. Taking into consideration that on the defense put they have a really low percentage of shots and that they can't rely on the players under the hoop, it's clear why the Breakers are forcing a fast game. Townsville is in a similar situation. Last season they forced atypical basketball with fast transitions and a bad defense. They lost against Melbourne and Wildcats, defensively very powerful teams, but they were pleased with that. This season they're even stronger. They reinforced themselves on shooting positions and Blanchfield and Conklin became one of the best players of the league. Although Conklin has the advantage over Vukon, it's to be expected of them to use his speed and agility in faster offenses, and not on the long ones aimed for the defense. Both teams have good shooters and play fast basketball. Besides that, they make a lot of personal errors so we can expect over more than 30 free throws, just like it was in their last mutual match. All in all, I'm pretty sure this margin was missed by at least three points. Details

Makarova had a bad start to this tournament and openly said this surface doesn't suit her and that she doesn't feel good here. Be that as is may, I think she will get through to the next round. Cornet is not like Begu and Muguzura, who managed to take initiative, forcing Makarova into a more passive approach. That is not Cornet's style. Her instinct forces her to get behind the baseline and wait for the opportunity to counter-attack. I think that will suit Makarova just fine since she has better-quality first service and will finally be given the chance to take initiative. Cornet has been doing really badly recently, which made her serving less consistent. I think two defeats Makarova recorded are no reason for these odds at her win. Cornet's game is horrible at the moment, and I'm convinced Makarova will beat her despite not doing brilliantly at the moment herself. Details

I'm convinced the bookmakers set completely wrong odds here. I simply don't see why the Tigers would be the favorites. Anstey didn't lead them in the last game and the team are a real mess right now. They basically have no coach, even though his assistant is leading them, and their game can't make head nor tail on either side of the court. It all comes down to individual actions, and like a cherry on top, Kickert got nine fouls in two games. Now, he'll face an experienced Vukon, but also the faster Ibekwe, and it's obvious he'll end this game before the alarm. The guests are in an opposite mood. They got two difficult wins and automatically became the favorites for the title. They have a fantastic defense that helped them win titles in the previous seasons. Cedric is phenomenal as the point guard, Webster continued the good games from the championship, and now Abercrombie recovered. He's probably the best player of the national league. They have three quality options under the hoop and it's clear they'll have a big advantage on the rebounds. The Breakers have a better starting five, but also the bench, and I'm really convinced they'll win. Details

Once again the bookmakers are putting too much faith in the Wildcats. A great second half against the Breakers is in no way enough for them to be this favored against the Hawks as well. There are many reasons, starting with their centers. Mat Knight played awfully against the Breakers, and it's clear that the Wildcats need more time to tune up. Nevill on the other hadn left the opposite impression and will also have a big advantage in height, giving the away team dominance under the rim. At the perimeter, Damian spoke about facing Ervin several times, but will more likely be guarding the excellent Carson, while Ervin will face Beal. The away team are ahead in those duels as well, since Carson is great in penetrations while Beal can hardly defend against Beal's speed. Home team's point guard, Damian Martin, failed in creating chances on offense, as expected, and the only position where the home team have any edge is at forward, where DeAndre Daniels is a class above Forman. Although Oscar can play defense well, DeAndre showed his quality and the Wildcats will expect him to score more. In closing, the Wildcats have not shown a team game nor do they prevail in quality. They lost Hire, an important player, who will be subbed for by Mathiang Muo, and have no alternative for DeAndre. Overall, I believe the Hawks will put up a stiff resistance and might even surprise. Details

Jabeur left a much better impression indoors than Allertova, struggling only against Zanevska, who played a phenomenal match. More important than the score is the fact she was confident in the finish of the match, still playing her game even while faced with defeat. Just like at Linz, Jabeur is at 65-75% of her first serve here in Luxembourg, which gives her an edge over Allertova. Denisa was lucky in Luxembourg, as Cabeza-Candela should have beaten her but she managed to scrape by. Vankova was not much of a challenge while Karantantcheva basically beat herself being too nervous in the final period of the match and getting Allertova into the main draw through her unforced errors. We should also mention Allertova prefers clay and is just a bit under average indoors. In closing, Jabeur will certainly have the edge on her serve, and I believe she will get points in rallies more easily as she is much more consistent than Karatantcheva but also likes to step into the court and dictate the game. She is fresher and more confident, while also having less ups and downs during the match, making her victory a sure thing. Details

The fact Voegele is ranked better is the only advantage she has over the opponent today, if that can even be considered an advantage. Her last round opponent her the perfect chance to knock her out of the tournament, but Schmiedlova once again managed to gamble away what was already a sure win. While Voegele was supposed to lose, Friedsam once again did brilliantly. The surface and the conditions suit her, while her powerful service and forehand dominate the rallies. Cepelova didn't do well, but Friedman should get credit for it. It's quite clear they're in for the match similar to their last round matches. Voegele will be the inferior opponent once again, with Friedsam in control. I have much more faith in Friedsam because of her confidence and the good-quality first serve. I'm convinced she will win by more than 3 games. Details