Allow me to vent for a moment, compadres, at this wild roller coaster that is the WTA season.
Four days ago Caroline Wozniacki won Tokyo–a tournament I predicted she would win–and restored order to the unpredictability of the WTA. Two days later the Dane, and thirteen other seeded women, bombed in the first or second round of the Wuhan Open and broke the hearts of many fantasytennisleague.com owners. Two-time champion Petra Kvitova, coming off a quarterfinal at the US Open, was among those that unexpectedly lost.
When all the women you've traded into your #FantasyTennis team this week bomb in the first round at Wuhan… pic.twitter.com/zYYKvXEEPT
— FantasyTennisInsider (@FTL_insider) September 27, 2017
At times like this, it’s easy to get disheartened, but you just have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and make the necessary changes. So what should those changes be? Read on to find out…
Check out who is playing next week with the Player Calendar
Rafael Nadal ($18.85m, 25% owned) is not only really good at tennis, he also plays a lot. This is why he’s the leading Fantasy Tennis points scorer and why you must own him heading into Beijing. Since 2013, Nadal has made the quarterfinals and finals in Beijing twice. In those two finals, he lost to Novak Djokovic – a man who won’t be there this year. In fact, no one with any significant prior success will be there this year; if you take out Tomas Berdych’s 2011 title, the last man to win the tournament who will be competing this year is none other than Rafa himself (won in 2005).
Pablo Carreno Busta ($7.99m, 3.8% owned) had a 100 point week at the US Open but before that was really struggling; if you take out New York he’s averaging 17.6 Fantasy Tennis points from his last four weeks, and if you also take out the French Open he’s averaging 23.5 from his last ten. This is bad, and what’s also concerning is his inexperience in Beijing. I’d much rather Nick Kyrgios ($6.9m, 14.3% owned), who is cheaper, looks to be in a positive mindset from the Laver Cup and won a title this time last year.
If you haven’t got Alexander Zverev ($14.33m, 33.6% owned) yet, get him now. The only knock against the young German has been his performances in majors, with three scores below 55 at Grand Slams in 2017. Due to the shallow China Open draw, the two seed is a very strong chance to make the final, if not win it all.
TL;DR: Rafa and Zverev are must-haves and the rest is a crapshoot.
Roger Federer's season at age 20: 49-21, 1 title
Alexander Zverev's season at age 20 (so far): 47-15, 5 titles #FantasyTennis— FantasyTennisInsider (@FTL_insider) September 26, 2017
Trade out Madison Keys ($10.23m, 2.5% owned). She’s got a wrist injury, which is a big deal when you play tennis. When asked if she’ll play in Beijing for Game Week 32 Keys said, “I have to see how it is the next couple of days.”
Other players I think you can strike a line through include Angie Kerber (form issues), Johanna Konta (made the China Open final last year but has scored above 15 Fantasy Tennis points just once in her last five Game Weeks) and Simona Halep (if you take out Cincinnati, her rolling five-week average is 33.6 Fantasy Tennis points – that’s okay, but not worth the $13.45m price tag.)
Ash Barty ($6.76m, 3% owned) is a smokey worth mentioning. The Aussie is 17-5 in her last 22 matches and reliably beats the players she should. Her biggest problem is when she faces the top seeds in tournaments but if Wuhan is anything to go by–she beat Konta, Radwanksa and plays Pliskova later today–she may be turning that around. Further, Barty rarely loses badly; a large chunk of her Fantasy Tennis points come from winning four games in a set and she’s only been bagelled once all year.
Caroline Garcia ($7.63m, 3.2% owned) has been consistent of late. She doesn’t have a score that really jumps out but has been threatening for a while; she’s 27-9 since the clay court swing.
Garbine Muguruza ($13.41m, 17.6% owned) and Caroline Wozniacki ($11.59m, 10.7%) are must-haves. They are capable of going big on any given week, and with 24 and 40 bonus points for runner-up and title up for grabs next week, you simply have to get them in your team.
TL;DR: Bring in Barty or Garcia if you’re short on cash, Garbi and Woz if you’re not.
Related: Follow the FTL Insider for news, tips and advice on your team
Buy: Ash Barty ($6.76m) — no fuss player is quietly racking up Ws
Honourable mention: Jelena Ostapenko, Albert Ramos-Vinolas
Sell: Roger Federer ($23.24m) — don’t see him playing that much for the rest of the year. Don’t think he does, either.
Honourable mention: Damir Dzumhur
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