The Pick presented by DraftKings Sportsbook: Cameron Norrie vs. Taylor Fritz, ATP Paris third round

Both Taylor Fritz and Cameron Norrie will not stop winning, but one will have to lose tomorrow as they face off for a spot in the Rolex Paris Masters quarterfinal.

Norrie, the Indian Wells champion, is 9-1 in his last 10 matches, while the American is a sizzling 8-2. Fritz and Norrie have faced off seven times before on the ATP Tour, so there shouldn’t be any secrets come match-time, but there will likely be some jaw-dropping points. Norrie leads the head to head 4-3, and all three of his losses have gone the distance.

Fritz will bring his trademark power and aggression, while Norrie will bring his problem-solver’s mentality and his incredible fitness and consistency to this phenomenal clash of styles.

According to the oddsmakers, the Brit is listed as a slight -142 favorite over the American, and is projected to win by 1.5 total games.

With Jannik Sinner and Felix Auger-Aliassime falling on Wednesday, the race for the last ATP Finals spot will come down to Hubert Hurkacz and Norrie. The Pole is currently 80 points ahead of the Brit, so Norrie will need to advance at least one round further to solidify his spot.

On the court, look for Norrie to try and disrupt Fritz’s rhythm with his seriously frustrating variety of both spin and margin. His backhand rarely clears the net by more than a few inches, while his forehand is as shapely as they come. As proven by his 50 wins on the season, it’s not a very fun combination to deal with.

Fritz has the ability to beat any player on any given day, and is solid value as an underdog, but after all Norrie has accomplished this season, I cannot, in good faith, recommend betting against the Brit right now.

Both players have the hot hand, but Norrie’s is a bit warmer, so we are going to make a small play on Norrie to cover his -1.5 game handicap. I am not a big fan of betting over/under game totals, as it’s typically less predictable than the actual outcome, but I certainly can’t argue against taking the over 23 game total as well.

The Pick: Cameron Norrie -1.5 games