Konta surge looks set to continue against Garcia

BT Sport 2, 7am

ATP Paris Masters
Sky Sports 1, 1pm

Johanna Konta made no mistake when dismissing Sam Stosur 6-4 6-2 in her Zhuhai Trophy opener on Wednesday and the Briton can be supported in her winner-take-all group-stage clash with Caroline Garcia today.

Konta is the second-favourite to win in China after dual Wimbledon heroine Petra Kvitova and it will be a surprise if the British number one fluffs her lines at this point of the tournament.

The Eastbourne resident will have been hurting after being ejected from the WTA Championships last week when Svetlana Kuznet­sova’s Kremlin Cup title triumph saw her and not Konta qualify for the Singapore finale.

But Konta, the top seed in this week’s second-tier event, is good enough and tough enough at her best to go close to lifting the trophy this week. Garcia is still improving and a talented operator herself, it will be a surprise if the Frenchwoman is capable of thwarting Konta.

Garcia beat Stosur 6-4 6-3 yesterday and so on paper there appears to be little between her and Konta.

But bookmakers think enough of the favourite to quote her at short prices, so the best way of supporting the Stanford champion could be to successfully concede a start of 3.5 games.

In the Paris Masters, top seed Novak Djokovic, whose world number one status is under serious threat from Andy Murray, takes on Marin Cilic.

The Serb will take comfort from the fact that Cilic, who he leads 14-0 in their head-to-head series, may soon tire in the wake of his title triumph in the Swiss Indoors last week.

But there may be a slight problem regarding rustiness with Djokovic so it does not look a match for staking heavily on.

Recommendation
J Konta -3.5 games
1pt 4-6 general