Fantasy Tennis League: Week 9 preview

Welcome to Game Week 9!

With the men on Davis Cup duty this week, our attention is focused solely on the WTA. Let’s look at some players who will contend in Charleston or Monterrey, and who also have good keeper value as we approach clay season.

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Three players to pick

Daria Kasatkina $8m

Kasatkina ticks every box in terms of a breakout candidate; semifinal in St Petersburg, final in Dubai, semifinal (and perhaps better) in Indian Wells (including a second straight win over Caroline Wozniacki) and she won a title in Charleston last year. She’s also one of the few women scheduled to play in Game Week 10 (Bogota), which will come in handy.

Naomi Osaka $6m

She’s teased us for a while, but it might finally be time to jump on board the Osaka hype train. The 20-year-old has not lost in the first round of any tournament this year and, aside from Hobart, has not lost to anyone ranked below her. That’s a great sign for such a young player. Plays in Charleston after Miami and then looks ahead to a clay swing that gave her loads of issues in 2017.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova $4m

Pavlyuchenkova has scored more than six Fantasy Tennis points once all year. That’s terrible. But last year she won Monterrey and two weeks later backed it up with a title in Morocco. She may bottom out to $3m – at that price there’s really no downside.

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Top five captain options

1. Garbine Muguruza – $10m

Have you seen the entry list? Lesia Tsurenko, who is ranked world No.40, is probably Muguruza’s biggest threat. By her standards Garbi has had a poor season; she’ll correct course in Monterrey with a confidence-boosting title.

2. Daria Kasatkina – $8m

Sometimes you just have to ride the hot hand – and Dasha’s hand is molten lava.

3. Petra Kvitova – $10m

The Charleston entry list looks packed, but Kasatkina and Kvitova aside, most of the women have been struggling for form. Petra has 14 wins from her last 17 matches and four of those wins have come from women in the Charleston field. A safe bet.

4. Caroline Garcia – $8m

Since her epic finish to 2017 Garcia has cooled off considerably. She’s still beating the opponents she should beat, but is routinely getting outclassed by those at her level. High floor, low-ish ceiling.

5. Naomi Osaka – $6m

See Kasatkina, Daria. Osaka is not only winning a lot, she’s beating pedigreed opponents.

Splitting hairs

Lesia Tsurenko or Petra Martic? Tsurenko.

Maria Sakkari or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova? Pavlyuchenkova.

Sloane Stephens or Madison Keys? Keys.

Jo Konta or Ash Barty? Barty.

Julia Goerges or Caroline Garcia? Garcia.