Thursday tennis acca tips: In-form Carolina Garcia and Maria Sakkari to continue their roll

Carolina Garcia and Maria Sakkari have been placed on a quarter-final collision course this week while they have also become embroiled in controversy.

They were the players awarded so-called 'Performance Byes' in Tokyo in a situation that saw third seed Elina Rybakina withdraw from the tournament.

Despite all that drama, both Garcia and Sakkari are among our tips to win their matches on Thursday, 28 September 2023.

 

ATP Astana: Stan Wawrinka vs Marcos Giron | Pick: Wawrinka

ATP Astana: Juan Pablo Varillas vs Dominic Thiem | Pick: Thiem

ATP Beijing: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs Yi Zhou | Pick: Davidovich Fokina

ATP Beijing: Alex De Minaur vs Andy Murray | Pick: De Minaur

WTA Tokyo: Caroline Garcia vs Anhelina Kalinina | Pick: Garcia

WTA Tokyo: Misaki Doi vs Maria Sakkari | Pick: Sakkari

WTA Ningbo: Ons Jabeur vs Vera Zvonareva | Pick: Jabeur

WTA Ningbo: Diana Shnaider vs Petra Kvitova | Pick: Kvitova

 

ATP Astana: Stan Wawrinka vs Marcos Giron

Stan Wawrinka returns to ATP Tour action after the Davis Cup, where he rolled back the years in aid of Switzerland.

His opponent is Marcos Giron, who was well out of the frame for US Davis Cup participation.

This will be the first time that Giron has lined up opposite Wawrinka in ATP Tour competition.

Giron reached the second round in Chengdu last week before losing to Arthur Rinderknech.

 

ATP Astana: Juan Pablo Varillas vs Dominic Thiem

Juan Pablo Varillas currently holds a rankings edge over Dominic Thiem, but he is unlikely to believe that makes him the favourite for this clash.

Thiem has threatened to return to his best form in patches this season and is favoured to secure a place in the next round.

The players have met twice in the past, but those meetings, which have gone each way, were both on clay.

Thiem has a far better record on hard courts and has bags of experience to call on.

 

ATP Beijing: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs Yi Zhou

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina will be up against a home player in his first outing in Beijing as he prepares to face Yi Zhou.

Davidovich Fokina's all-court play has come on in leaps and bounds, and he should breeze past Zhou.

The Spaniard has been mixing it with the best in the world this season, and his high-energy game will be tough for Zhou to handle.

Zhou needs to be patient and clinical when it comes to seizing the impetus in this match, and even then, he will be up against it to get the result.

 

ATP Beijing: Alex De Minaur vs Andy Murray

Andy Murray has been given a nightmare draw in the form of top 20 star Alex De Minaur.

De Minaur was in great touch during the North American swing and will be out to continue that in China.

Murray needs a big win, but it doesn't look like it will come in this encounter.

The Australian has boundless energy reserves and could just run Murray ragged. 

 

WTA Tokyo: Caroline Garcia vs Anhelina Kalinina

Anhelina Kalinina put away rising American star Ashlyn Krueger to earn her date with top-ten star Carolina Garcia.

Garcia earned a controversial bye into the second round despite being seeded fifth, with the WTA 500 usually handed passage to the second round to the top four seeds.

She returns to action for the first time since losing to Sakkari in Guadalajara, and Garcia could book a rematch with victory in Tokyo.

This will be the first time that Garcia and Kalinina face off on the WTA Tour or in any sort of competitive match.

 

WTA Tokyo: Misaki Doi vs Maria Sakkari

Sakkari also enjoyed a bye into the second round and now has to defeat home hope Misaki Doi to get another go at Garcia.

The Greek No 1 will be out to avenge a loss to Doi in their only previous meeting.

Sakkari had to retire from that meeting after a first-set tiebreaker, although it was in the 2017 season, so its relevance will be limited.

With a WTA 1000 title banked, Sakkari can make a big push for the Tour finals with a strong effort in Tokyo.

 

WTA Ningbo: Ons Jabeur vs Vera Zvonareva

Ons Jabeur can extend her 2-1 career head-to-head lead over Vera Zvonareva when they meet in Ningbo.

Jabeur has opted to turn out at the WTA 250 event with one eye on Shanghai.

Jabeur has won both her outings in Ningbo in straight sets and should be out to do so again.

Zvonareva has the potential to trouble Jabeur, but the Tunisian should power through.

 

WTA Ningbo: Diana Shnaider vs Petra Kvitova

Petra Kvitova enjoyed her first outing since the US Open as she recorded a win over Anna-Lena Friedsam.

The Czech looked close to her peak level as she blew through that encounter and should be able to secure a last-four place.

Kvitova has reached two semi-finals this season, winning both of them as she claimed the title in Miami and was runner-up in Berlin.

This will be the first time that Kvitova faces Shnaider in a WTA Tour match.