This article is part of our Tennis Picks series.
The Canadian Open rolls on Friday with Round of 16 action from the hard courts of Montreal (men's singles) and Toronto (women's singles). A top contender in the women's draw could have a hard time against a big-hitting youngster, while an American underdog on the men's side will try to notch a second consecutive top-15 win.
All Tennis Odds & Lines are taken from DraftKings Sportsbook, but you can sometimes find more favorable odds on some of these matches by checking mobile sportsbooks such as FanDuel Sportsbook, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, or any of the other best sports betting sites. We offer exclusive sign-up bonuses for some of those sportsbooks in states where sports betting has gone live.
All men's and women's singles matches at the Canadian Open are best of three sets. A mix of players' previous hard court results, recent form and stylistic matchups can help pinpoint intriguing betting opportunities, both among favorites likely to cruise to victory and underdogs ready to pull off upsets. The aforementioned underdogs are highlighted in the Upset Alert section, the Lock It In section covers players who can safely be viewed as overwhelming favorites, while the Value Bets section recommends enticing options in matchups that are considered closer to toss-ups.
Canadian Open Tennis Picks: Upset Alert
Brandon Nakashima (+180) vs. Andrey Rublev
Nakashima's coming off a major upset win over fellow American Tommy Paul, ending Paul's 13-match winning streak against players other than Carlos Alcaraz. He'll be looking to follow that win over the world No. 12 with another upset victory against the eighth-ranked Rublev. Nakashima's ability to take care of his serve should keep him competitive against Rublev, whose return of serve is probably the Russian's biggest weakness. Nakashima also has the better backhand between these two, and he was able to get into favorable rally patterns en route to a clay-court win over Rublev earlier this year.
Diana Shnaider (+400) vs. Coco Gauff
Shnaider has the skill set to give Gauff trouble, as the big-hitting Russian's penetrating groundstrokes can rob Gauff of time in a way the top-seeded American has rarely had to deal with in the last few months. This will be only Gauff's second hard-court match since late March, while Shnaider will be full of confidence in key moments after winning each of her first two matches here in third-set tiebreaks. Shnaider comes into this tournament having won titles in two of her previous four tournaments to bump her ranking up to 25th, so this battle between 20-year-olds is likely to be much more competitive than the odds suggest.
Canadian Open Tennis Odds: Lock It In
Alexander Zverev (-215) vs. Holger Rune
Zverev has been in far better form in 2024, with a 48-14 overall record, a Grand Slam final, another Grand Slam semifinal and a Masters 1000 title. The 6-foot-6 German has climbed back up to No. 4 in the rankings, while Rune has dropped to 17th after being ranked fourth last August. The Dane came into this tournament just 14-10 in his last 24 matches, and he hasn't faced a top-70 opponent en route to the Round of 16 here, while Zverev just dominated 30th-ranked Jordan Thompson 6-1, 6-1. Zverev won a five-set battle against Rune at this year's French Open, getting revenge for Rune's clay-court win in their first meeting back in 2022.
Canadian Open Tennis Predictions: Value Bets
Nuno Borges (-140) vs. Kei Nishikori
Borges is playing the best tennis of his career, as the 27-year-old from Portugal beat Rafael Nadal in the Bastad final last month to claim his first ATP title and enter the top 50. He has pulled out a pair of gritty three-set victories here, including a 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4) second-round triumph over 15th-ranked Ugo Humbert. Nishikori turned back the clock in his 6-4, 6-4 second-round win over 11th-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas, but the 576th-ranked Nishikori's best days are far behind him at age 34 after numerous injuries. He came into this tournament with just one ATP Tour-level win in 2024, and it remains to be seen how Nishikori's body will handle the physicality of playing hard-court matches on back-to-back days.
Marta Kostyuk (+125) vs. Emma Navarro
Kostyuk has recently rediscovered the form that helped her reach the Australian Open quarterfinals and Indian Wells semifinals earlier this year, pushing Donna Vekic to the limit in the quarterfinals at the Olympics and rebounding from that disappointment here by blowing out Tatjana Maria 6-0, 6-2 before knocking off big-name compatriot Elina Svitolina 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. The 22-year-old Kostyuk and 23-year-old Navarro have both had breakout seasons to climb to 20th and 15th, respectively in the WTA rankings. Kostyuk has more power off the ground and has already demonstrated her strong from at this tournament with the win over Svitolina, so the Ukrainian is the better value as the slight underdog in what's likely to be the first of many clashes between these up-and-coming opponents.
Honorable Mention
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (-110) vs. Matteo Arnaldi
