TipResumen

PREVIEW

In all honesty it has been a disappointing season on the hard courts for Caroline Garcia and this player still feels some way away from winning a Grand Slam title on any surface. That might be strange to say for a top 10 Ranked player, but I would be stunned if Garcia is able to make a significant impact at the upcoming US Open. The Frenchwoman has really struggled when she has been asked to step up and take on the best players on the Tour, while her overall game still needs some real improvement. The Garcia serve is a decent weapon for her, but her return is not quite up to the level required to make an impact at the highest level. However there has been a significant improvement when Garcia has faced players outside of the top 20 in the World Rankings. Those are highlighted by some strong numbers on the hard courts and there are improvements across the board in those matches compared with her overall numbers on this surface. Garcia will respect Aliaksandra Sasnovich after needing three sets to beat this opponent at the Australian Open, while Sasnovich has already won four matches in New Haven after coming through the Qualifiers to reach the main draw. Earlier this season Sasnovich reached the Final in Brisbane having seen off some top 20 opponents on the way, and she has a serve that needs to be respected. However the return game has been an issue for her and I think Sasnovich may just be put under enough pressure by the Garcia serve to feel scoreboard pressure and ultimately crack under that. Both players will need the second serve to be effective to win this match and I am just about giving the edge to Garcia there. I also think she is the slightly superior returner and I will back the Frenchwoman to get through this match.



PREDICTION

I will back the Frenchwoman to win and cover in a tough Second Round match.