Tennis best bets for the Italian Open – Thursday, May 18th
The Italian Open, also known as Internazionali BNL d’Italia, is a 1000-level clay-court tournament for both the men and the women. This is one of the most exciting tournaments of the entire year, and we’ll have best bets for it on a daily basis. With that in mind, keep reading for our tennis best bet for Thursday, May 18th. Also, make sure you actively check out our Pro Picks page, as we have been posting plays there regularly throughout the year. We ended up having a very profitable two weeks in Madrid, with a lot of the winners being posted to that page. And this tournament has already been very kind go to us.
MORE: Check out our Pro Picks page for everything our experts have
Borna Coric vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
Coric is 3-1 in the last four matches these two have played. The match before this recent stretch was their lone clay meeting, where the Croatian had to retire with an injury. Also, in the match that Coric lost to Tsitsipas, he was still able to force a deciding third set. With that in mind, these two have never played a complete match in which Coric wouldn’t have won a +1.5 sets bet.
Coric might not have more dangerous weapons than Tsitsipas, but I also don’t think he has as brutal of weaknesses. Sure, Tsitsipas’ serve and forehand are elite, but the backhand is an absolute mess. So, I expect Coric to pick on the Tsitsipas backhand quite a bit, especially with the way the Croatian has been hitting from that side over the last couple of weeks. Most backhand-to-backhand exchanges between these two should favor Coric.
Tsitsipas’ mental toughness is also a bit of a question mark in this specific matchup. The Greek star is prone to on-court blowups and he has had them against this very opponent. Meanwhile, Coric is tough as nails mentally, and he always believes he has a chance to win a match. He genuinely has a great fighting spirit.
It’s also worth mentioning that Tsitsipas’ serve isn’t as dialed in as it used to be. The ability to hit aces and win easy service games was crucial for Tsitsipas when he started to get in his own way mentally. Without having the luxury to fall back on that serve, he just isn’t the player he used to be — and we have seen that throughout the course of this clay-court season.
I’m not sitting here and telling you to back Coric to win on the moneyline, even if I do think there’s a decent shot he wins outright. However, backing Coric to win a set at plus-money odds is something you can’t pass up. This matchup has been a legitimate mental hurdle for Tsitsipas in the past, so why would he go out and run Coric off the court now? The Croatian is playing some of the best tennis of his life lately.
Bet: Coric +1.5 Sets (+105 – 2.5 units)