Fantasy Tennis: Last-minute wildcards and advice

This #FantasyTennis Insider is in a good mood today after topping the world in Game Week 23. I owe most of my success to Peng Shuai (who won Nanchang with a whooping 82 points) and John Isner (who won Atlanta) – drafting them both in last week proved my best moves yet this season.

Now I need to back it up – and Game Week 24 is already looking like a challenge. If you think you have your team locked in, I highly recommend having another look.

There’s been an abundance of late wildcards handed out to big-name stars this week, all capable of scoring big #FantasyTennis points.

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The following wildcard entries are all worth drafting in, or at least making sure they are not resting on your bench:

Tomas Berdych ($9.1M): The No.14-ranked Czech returns to action in Los Cabos this week. After his Wimbledon semifinal run, Berdych is obviously keen to maintain his momentum and has taken a wildcard into the Mexican tournament. As the top seed, another deep run looks possible.

Petra Kvitova ($9.38M): Slowly rebuilding in her recovery from a hand injury, the popular Czech is a wildcard entry at Stanford this week. The tournament includes fellow Wimbledon champions Garbine Muguruza and Maria Sharapova – but Kvitova has landed a weaker bottom half of the draw.

Simona Halep ($18.64M): The world No.2 Romanian has taken a wildcard into Washington. While Halep is an expensive option, she is a proven point scorer and has traditionally performed well during the US hard court swing.

Grigor Dimitrov ($6.97M): I had the Bulgarian resting on my bench, so I’m relieved to see he is a wildcard entry in Washington. Dimitrov is back in my team this week now and I’ve got my fingers crossed he can make a deep run – and as one of the most picked players this season, I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Kei Nishikori ($10.19M): The former US Open finalist had a grass season to forget, but is back on his preferred hard courts as a wildcard in Washington. But be wary though, the draw has not been kind to the Japanese star with Juan Martin del Potro looming as a potential third round opponent.

Milos Raonic ($10.77M): The Canadian is one of three top four seeds in Washington who are wildcard entries (alongside Dimitrov and Nishikori). The world No.9 has won all of his eight career titles on hard court, so this is the perfect time of the season to have him in your team.

RELATED: Fantasy Tennis Game Week 24 preview

Insider moves: I’m trying to save my remaining trades for the Asian hard court swing later in the season, so opted not to make any big moves this week. My sole trade was swapping Caroline Garcia ($9.27M) who is not playing this week, for her former doubles partner Kristina Mladenovic ($9.62M), who is the second seed in Washington. I was keen to draft in Halep, but did not have the extra salary to do so. Mladenovic was more affordable and also looks capable of a strong showing this week. The added bonus is she’s also one of the few big names playing in Game Week 27 – and it is always good to look ahead in this game.

Who is playing when? Check out the Fantasy Tennis player schedule