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We’ve completed one round at the ATP 250 in Sofia, Bulgaria, while the women are still wrapping up the first round in Linz, Austria. With the top seed out, youngsters Jannik Sinner ($10,200) and Felix Auger-Aliassime ($9,700) can smell their respective first ATP titles, while the second seed Elise Mertens ($10,600) will take the court for the first time in Austria. Let’s look at who you should consider for your fantasy tennis rosters on DraftKings.
Set your DraftKings fantasy tennis lineups here: TEN $40K Line Painter [$10K to 1st]
High-priced Options
Elise Mertens ($10,600)
Similar to Aryna Sabalenka on Monday, Mertens has high aspirations and never takes a match off. The Belgian has an undeniable mental fortitude and is the model of consistency, rarely dropping a match to a bad opponent. She’s 19-7 dating back to the restart and with the exception of her very first match back she’s only lost to the best of the best — three of the top six women in the world, former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka and former No. 4 Caroline Garcia. A loss to Anhelina Kalinina ($4,500) — in fact, just anything short of a straight-sets win — would come as a massive shock. Mertens has been rolling with no signs of letting up.
Jannik Sinner ($10,200)
If you’ve got some low-priced options you love on this slate, I’d recommend paying up twice here for Mertens and Sinner — this is one of those times where the slate’s most expensive names are all in very good spots. As mentioned above, Sinner is looking for his maiden ATP title — at least if you don’t count last year’s NextGen Finals, which had non-traditional scoring and a select pool of players under 21. A title here would put a bow on what’s been an ultimately successful debut year in the main draws for the wunderkind. Despite a 19-16 record, Sinner has beaten some of the best in the world — Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex Zverev, to name a few — and almost every loss has been to a quality opponent. He just disposed of a very tricky opponent on Tuesday in Marton Fucsovics like it was nothing and the run will continue against Marc-Andrea Huesler ($4,700) who has come on over the past two months but doesn’t have near the talent that the Italian teenager possesses.
Others to consider: Ekate Alexandrova ($9,600)
Value FLEX Options
Egor Gerasimov ($6,800)
Gerasimov should probably be the favorite over Adrian Mannarino ($8,400) in this one, but with the Frenchman’s recent run of eight wins in 11 matches — all on indoor hardcourts — oddsmakers have given him the edge. This is a big-time letdown spot for Mannarino, who hardly made it through what should have been an easy victory over World No. 150 Martin Klizan. He looked all out of sorts in his service games, but most importantly, he really struggled when Klizan injected pace into rallies and became aggressive. Gerasimov’s one-two punch of his serve and forehand are in their best form on these courts in Sofia, which are perhaps some of the fastest around. The Belarusian has won six of eight and beat Mannarino last season indoors in what was their third meeting. Gerasimov’s two losses to Mannarino came in 2014 and 2018 when he wasn’t anywhere near as good as he is now, and the 2019 match in Saint Petersburg should be an accurate representation of what happens on Wednesday — one-way traffic.
Greet Minnen ($6,400)
The young Belgian has been an absolute force to be reckoned with on the ITF Tour over the past three years, capturing six titles and winning 119 out of 190 matches across all levels. Now Minnen, 23, is beginning to make in-roads at the WTA level. A huge straight-sets win over the supremely talented Dayana Yastremska in Round 1 can’t go overlooked and neither can this spot against Barbora Krejcikova ($8,600). While she had a great run at the French Open this summer, Krejcikova hasn’t had much luck on hardcourts over her career and has mainly focused on her doubles, where she ranks No. 13 and is a former World No. 1. Many will chase Krejcikova based off her result at the French Open and with much unknown about Minnen, but I think this is a smash spot. Minnen’s got the resilience to break through here and hold serve at a higher rate in a match that should ultimately see a ton of breaks, just as her win over Yastremska did. It might not be the easiest victory, but I expect Minnen to come away with it. At $6,400, you take a win however you can get it.
Others to consider: Aslan Karatsev ($5,700)
Set your DraftKings fantasy tennis lineups here: TEN $40K Line Painter [$10K to 1st]
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