Tennis acca tips: Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina to move on in Montreal

There are full slates of matches at both Toronto and Montreal on Thursday as they continue to play catch-up.

The weather forecasts looks mostly clear, but scattered showers in Montreal might cause problems.

The WTA field remains star-studded with each match of our women's singles picks involving a top ten player.

Here we look at eight of the matches slated to go down on Thursday and make picks to help you build your accumulator.

ATP Toronto: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs Casper Ruud | Pick: Ruud

ATP Toronto: Mackenzie McDonald vs Milos Raonic | Pick: McDonald

ATP Toronto: Taylor Fritz vs Alex De Minaur | Pick: De Minaur

ATP Toronto: Lorenzo Musetti vs Daniil Medvedev | Pick: Medvedev

WTA Montreal: Jessica Pegula vs Jasmine Paolini | Pick: Pegula

WTA Montreal: Iga Swiatek vs Karolina Muchova | Pick: Swiatek

WTA Montreal: Marketa Vondrousova vs Coco Gauff | Pick: Vondrousova

WTA Montreal: Sloane Stephens vs Elena Rybakina | Pick: Rybakina

Casper Ruud hasn't beaten Alejandro Davidovich Fokina since they were both NextGen stars, but they have had only one full ATP Tour meeting.

Davidovich Fokina beat Ruud in the 2021 French Open, that said, this clash comes on a much faster surface.

Given both players actually favour clay, this is a tricky one to pick, but Ruud has looked close to his best and also has an appearance in a Grand Slam final on this surface.

Ruud is out to win his first title at a level higher than ATP 250 but still needs to win four matches to claim a Masters title.

Mackenzie McDonald and Milos Raonic would not have expected to meet each other at this stage.

Both players have bested seeds to reach this point, with Raonic stunning Frances Tiafoe in the opening round.

Meanwhile, American journeyman McDonald beat Andrey Rublev in straight sets last time out.

These two have met twice but both their clashes came in 2018 with McDonald winning in Shanghai after a defeat to Raonic at Wimbledon.

In-form Alex De Minaur should pose a significant threat to Taylor Fritz even if the American is on a three-match winning streak against the Australian.

De Minaur won the first four matches in their rivalry, although only two of those meetings were full ATP Tour matches.

De Minaur reached the final in Los Cabos last week meanwhile, Fritz made a disappointing return to action in Washington.

Fritz had to battle past Ugo Humbert in three sets, while De Minaur has won both of his matches this week in straight sets.

Lorenzo Musetti may look fresh with his new haircut, but he will need a whole lot more to get beyond hard court expert Daniil Medvedev.

This will be the first meeting between these players in full competition.

Medvedev started his campaign with a straightforward win over Musetti's compatriot Matteo Arnaldi last time out.

Meanwhile, Musetti had to battle past Thanasi Kokkinakis after he dropped the first set to the Australian.

Jessica Pegula's mental blocks have become something of a talking point, but she traditionally hasn't struggled in the Round of 16.

Jasmine Paolini has been in decent form in recent weeks, but she has just four hard court wins this season, and that includes a walkover win over Madison Keys in the Round of 32.

Pegula has dominated the rivalry to date, winning all four of the matches she has contested against Paolini.

By contrast to Paolini, Pegula owns 24 hard court match wins this season and has the same number of defeats as the Italian, with both entering seven tournaments on the surface.

Iga Swiatek has looked close to her best already this week but faces a big test in the form of one of the consistent core of Czech players who keep the WTA Tour competitive.

Muchova has a win over Swiatek, but their most memorable clash was this season's French Open final, which the world No 1 won on three sets.

Muchova ran her close and should feel that she could cause an upset in Montreal although, make no mistake, it would be a major shock.

This will be the first meeting between the players on a hard court, with both their previous clashes being on clay courts.

This one is a real poser of a pick, given how well Coco Gauff has been playing of late.

While Marketa Vondrousova is the Wimbledon champion, she also lacks for time on court recently.

If Vondrousova can bring her power advantage to bear on Gauff, she should be able to come out on top.

Gauff leads the head-to-head rivalry 1-0 thanks to a 2021 win over Vondrousova in Dubai.

Elena Rybakina looked rusty as she battled through a second round clash with American Jennifer Brady and will need to step up her tennis if she is to get beyond the handy Sloane Stephens.

Despite having to play an extra round, Stephens has spent less time on court thanks to a walkover win over Victoria Azarenka in the Round of 32.

While those factors point to Stephens being favoured, she currently has a 5-8 record on hard courts, while Rybakina's is 22-5, including a title run at Indian Wells and her appearances in the Australian and Miami Open finals.

Rybakina is yet to face Stephens but should hold the edge based on her pedigree.

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