Mayar Sherif vs. Lauren Davis - WTA Parma
The week is winding down in Italy, as the quarterfinals are set and will take place on Thursday, as opposed to the more typical Friday slot (as is the case with the other WTA event being played in Estonia).
We’ll be looking to cash a bet from those quarterfinal matches, as Mayar Sherif takes on American Lauren Davis.
Sherif Continues to Build Strong Clay Court Resume
While her hard-court record may be one of the worst on the WTA Tour, the 26-year-old Egyptian has quietly become a force on clay courts at the lower levels.
Since the beginning of the 2021 season, Sherif has now reached eight quarterfinals at the 125K and 250 category tournaments. In fact, with a few of those runs ending in titles, it’s been those clay-court points that have kept her firmly inside the top-100.
With a big serve, comfort on the surface and an extreme forehand grip that allows her to generate a lot of topspin on clay, one can see why she’s had so much success. The slower surface also helps mask some of her mobility issues, and at this level with very few big power players in the field, it’s the perfect recipe for success.
She’s also looked strong this week, having made it through a pair of matches against decent opposition (Anna Bondar, who entered in decent form, and solid youngster Simona Waltert).
In terms of the matchup, Sherif’s heavy topspin should also give a shorter Davis fits with the high-bouncing nature of those groundstrokes.
Davis Having an Impressive Week, but not Suited for Clay
On the flip side of the coin, Davis may be above .500 this season on clay courts, but is far from being well-suited to succeed on the surface.
Her solid, consistent baseline game may adapt well, but the clay isn’t all that forgiving to her flatter hitting style.
The ability to constantly apply pressure on return will also be much tougher in this one than her previous matches, where she played two of the weaker servers on tour in Sara Errani and Sara Sorribes Tormo. Even still, she struggled to get through those, winning two tight sets against Errani and then had to come back from a set down and a break down in the deciding set against Sorribes Tormo to reach this point.
Considering she lost to another good server, but one who is much less adept at playing on clay last week, I’m not sure why Davis is deserving of the pick ‘em status she’s been afforded in this match.
Bet: Sherif ML, 2 units at -108 (Coolbet)
Odds tracked on Betstamp at Tidbits Tennis at time of writing.