The Saif Space

Osaka, Sakkari, Muguruza. Who was most disappointing? I say the latter. Raducanu, Kalinina, Andreescu. Who was the most impressive? I say the latter. Things are starting to heat up in Madrid, as all the rats are exterminated and the true contenders are starting to make their way to the fore-front. I discuss Sara Sorribes Tormo being a professional pest, and Jil Teichmann's quiet success thus far....

Ohhhh Paulaaa Badooooosaaaaaa... looked like an amateur on court against Simona Halep. Good day of tennis, and I'm not just talking about our bets. Impressive outing between Bencic/Muchova, as well Martic/Anisimova, and Putintseva/Gauff. Horrible stuff from Zidansek, Yastremska, and Badosa, with the latter being the only player to lose UNDER the posted total. Alexandrova keeps winning. Kostyuk x R...

What an absolute sh1t show today in Madrid. Some very interesting sequences, and the final score-line would shock you if at any point you stepped away for 20 minutes, during ANY match. Giorgi, Bondar, Martincova, Potapova, Konjuh, Pavlyuchenkova all committed crimes on courts. Good wins for Kostyuk, Andreescu, Muguruza, and Teichmann. Look ahead and preview of all Round 2 matches on Saturday from...

NPD upsets Cirstea, Jabeur is the luckiest player in the world. Sabalenka is Anisimova's dog, Cornet committed a crime. Alexandrova with a clutch win (!). Badosa continues to front run... Gets Simo Halep next. Preview of Tauson x Kostyuk, Potapova x Osaka, Andreescu x Riske, and much more on Friday.

No Iga Swiatek this week. Please talk to me nice when approaching the subject. FULL preview of the draw, and we recap the final round of qualifying and where they are placed in the draw. Sabalenka trails the H2H with Anisimova 0-3 but is defending champion here in Madrid. Begu? NPD? Dog day? Good luck to us. Twitter: @SaifSmacks

I delve into a deep discussion about the new world #2, Queen Rat. Also known as Paula Badosa. What is a rat? And more importantly, how is Paula Badosa world #2? I do my best to attempt to answer those questions. WTA Madrid Qualis, recap of round 1 and preview of round 2.  Paste this in twitter search bar and enjoy: from:saifsmacks badosa

A conclusion to the three-part series wrongfully named 'there is only one', it concluded with Iga Swiatek losing to our dubbed 'the one', Aryna Sabalenka. I discuss my thoughts on Iga Swiatek, her dominance, and the current state of the WTA tour. I also preview the 24 (!) qualies taking place in WTA Madrid tomorrow.

Sabalenka beats new world no.2 Badosa. Iga Swiatek beats Samsonova in 3 hours. Sabalenka is coming for her neck. Kudermetova stomps Cirstea, and Potapova continues to impress. Look for Kudermetova to win the final (!!!) in the all-Russian affair. 

There is only one: Aryna Sabalenka. Fantastic day of betting, and a fantastic day of tennis matches, except for Badosa x Jabeur. Good on Emma for avoiding bakery products altogether in her 64 64 loss to Bad Girl Iga. Anna Bondar is the best player you've never heard of, and her match against Kudermetova was the match of the day that you will also never hear about it. Twitter: @SaifSmacks

What is the 'it' factor? Who has 'it'? Does Rybakina? How about Alexandrova? Full recap of Thursday's action in WTA Istanbul and Stuttgart, and a full preview of Friday's quarterfinals. Emma x Iga, Paula x Ons, Anett x Aryna... Some slate.

Hear my thoughts on Novak Djokovic x Miomir Kecmanovic, and how 'The Occasion' is something to consider when approaching this match from a handicapping standpoint. Something to think about...

The 'going for the win' mentality for second serves, vs the 'trying to not lose' mentality. Today I start off by talking about how we should always try to go for the win, and be brave, with everything in life. Who's gonna beat Leylah Fernandez? She's the defending champion! Will Sori Cirstea win Lyon and overtake Simona as Romanian no.1? She would also achieve a career high ranking of world no.21!...

Take a bow, Queen Dayana. Unbelievable performance by Yastremska that took a lot of guts and guile. I recap the two tournaments in Monterrey and Lyon thus far, and preview the upcoming matches for Wednesday. I also discuss the FUTURE of the WTA tour, whilst also addressing some concerns in some of the young, promising players (Potapova, Kostyuk, Frech) and also some of the veteran players who seem...

Wow wow wow. Carlitos in Rio. Djokovic, Rublev and Jiri Vesely in Dubai, Medvedev, Zverev, and Nadal in Acapulco. Ostapenko in Dubai, Swiatek in Doha, and Sabalenka, Kvitova, Badosa, Sakkari, Halep, Yastremska, Kasatkina, Tomljanovic. FAA, Tsitsipas. A lotof players feature in our 2.5 week long recap, and I try my best to cover everything! Welcome back!!!

Losing a deciding set is no fun. Especially if it's after you won the first, and especially losing it in a tiebreak. Mixed results from our bets, although the WTA St. Petersburg tournament seems to be delightful thus far. Kudermetova, Giorgi, Teichmann, Cornet, all with first round exits. That's how good the draw is. Kvitova loses tomorrow? Can Xinyu Wang get it going? Shapovalov plays who? 

Time to get back on the grind and take off. Australian Summer of Tennis is over, and it's now week-to-week all around the world until Paris in May. ATP Rotterdam & WTA St. Petersburg will have the majority of our attention for this week, and I discuss the draws and preview R1 matchups.

Is Barty the answer to our week-long question; Who the f*ck is gonna beat Madison Keys? Tsitsipas peaking at the right time. Nadal easy path to the final, thanks to his quirks and his poor gamesmanship. Matteo thank you letter to Djokovic. Iga Swiatek beat Kaia Kanepi. Can Daniel Collins put an end to her? Full recap of the QF & a big preview of the final four and what's to come.

Madness

Ohhhhh Jessssieee Pegulaaaaaaaaa.... She made her QF. Who the f*ck is gonna beat Madison Keys? Not Badosa. Krejcikova maybe? Sabalenka to the semi final. Shapovalov looks very good. Don't sleep on Sori Cirstea. Medvedev x Cressy is a science experiment. Line movement, good or bad? Usually good if it's AGAINST you. 

There is only one Aryna Sabalenka. Rublev upset. Cornet, Collins comebacks. Is Badosa gonna beat Madison Keys? Will Pegula make a semi-final? Why is nobody talking about Simona Halep? What bout Azarenka? Elise Mertens is quietly winning. Sabalenka x Halep semi-final? Kasatkina is finally going home. Huge day betting wise, and we are heading into Week 2.

Can Sabalenka get on track and make a semi-final against Halep potentially? Who is gonna beat Keys? Is Pegula gonna make a QF? Does Anisimova stand a chance against Barty? Benoit Paire surely can't upset Tsitsipas, right? Evans or FAA?

HOLY F*CK!!! What a day of tennis. Kyrgios x Medvedev, and Raducanu, Kontaveit, Muguruza, & Rybakina all bowing out. Halep's easy path to a semi-final. Sabalenka's resurgence? Updated top 5 favorites going into round 3, and as always, a big preview to round 3 & beyond, as we analyze the draw and look ahead to Week 2.

Carlitos Alcaraz, Aslan Karatsev, Madison Keys, Kudermetova, Sakkari, Qinwen Zheng, Qiang Wang, and much more. BIG recap and my thoughts on the first three days of action thus far, with a big look-ahead of the WTA Round 3 & 4 as well as some QF matchups potentially. As always, we recap every match from last night and cover every match coming up tonight.

Emma Raducanu, Aryna Sabalenka, Leylah Annie Fernandez, Petra Kvitova, and much more. Preview of Bencic x Anisimova, Qinwen Zheng x Sakkari (I didn't say anything), and every other Wednesday morning matchup to kick off Round 2.

Full recap of Day 1, and a full preview of Day 2. Raducanu x Stephens, Coco Gauff first round exit, obnoxious behavior, and much more. Is tennis in trouble? Best thing I saw day one, worst thing I saw, and what confused me the most.