US Open - Womens Day 1 Picks

Aussie Ashleigh Barty should hold a surface advantage when she meets Ana Konjuh on the opening day. Barty is 11-6 on hard courts against Top 100 players over the past two seasons, and might well have enjoyed a more successful warm-up swing had she not run into Garbine Muguruza and Caroline Wozniacki in Montreal and Cincinnati.

Konjuh is just 19-18 against Top 100 players over the past two seasons on hard courts, and the recent retirement and then defeat to Cibulkova are enough reasons to think that Barty can continue her good form on the surface. She is 8/15 in a number of places.

1pt Barty to beat Konjuh at 8/15 (General)

Monica Puig looks a good value 7/4 to beat Maijana Luicic-Baroni in straight sets. The pair have met twice over the past few seasons, with Puig winning 6-1 6-2 at Indian Wells (Hard Courts) last season, and 6-3 6-1 on Clay in 2014.

It's a good time to play Lucic-Baroni again - since the Rome Masters, the Croat has lost in the 1st round at Roland Garos, Eastbourne, Wimbledon, the Rogers Cup and Cincinnati. She did finally reach a 2nd round last time out in New Haven, but her recent form is woeful and she looks there for the taking. It's not like she's played a raft of high quality opponents, so the 7/4 has to be the play in this one.

2pts Puig to win 2-0 against Lucis-Baroni at 7/4 (General)

Our third selection is Pauline Parmentier to beat Oceane Dodin - an opponent who hasn't enjoyed their meetings this year.

Dodin is just 1-10 against Top 100 players on Hard Courts over the past couple of years, and that record hasn't been helped by defeats to Parmentier at both Miami and Indian Wells this year- Miami saw Parmentier win 6-2 6-1, while Indian Wells was 6-2 6-4.

At 8/11 Parmentier is the play in this one for small stakes.

1pt Parmentier to beat Dodin at 8/11