The Lynx girls are currently much stronger than the Fever as they have 14 wins out of 16 games compared to the Fever's 8 out of 16. In this season, as usual, the Lynx defeated the Fever by 11 points. I believe that the Lynx will successfully defend their tournament title, as they are a very strong and dominant team at the moment, which should be proven at home.
Dominyka scored 76 and 79 points in the attack, so stability is felt, and against Israel, who plays well in the attack and is given a double-digit handicap, this line should confidently be enough. Facing the Swiss, who have gathered almost 180 points against Israel in the attack, fast breaks and weak defense from Dominyka should be exploited, so this line seems confidently enough for Peru.
The last opportunity for one non-European club to reach the quarterfinals. The Monterrey club, who have good football players according to Mexican standards such as Ramos, are clearly weaker compared to Dortmund. The German club, which is getting even better, is strong and with their young players they can achieve great things. There should be no nerves from the Dortmund players, as that is to be expected from a Mexican club. Good odds, and all Europeans have been successful against their opponents from other continents in the knock-out stages, so there should be no difference here, especially considering that there have already been two surprises in a row. Therefore, I don't think we should expect any more of them.
Israel started the championship very successfully by crushing Peru, who were playing at home, and managing to defeat them by a 25-point margin with a score of 102 points. Due to the potentially political situation, the game between Israel and Jordan did not take place, so Israel had extra time to rest and prepare for the game against Dominica. The young team of Dominica lost to the Swiss team, and their offense also seemed weak with a score of 76 points against Switzerland and 79 points against the youth team of Jordan. Although youth teams are unpredictable, Israel appears to be significantly better and seeing their game against Switzerland and strong offense, Dominica does not seem to have a chance against them. Therefore, even though it is a large deficit, in such championships we often see big score gaps.
I had the opportunity to observe the Jews and was pleasantly surprised by their playing style - fast-paced offense, free-flowing basketball, a love for running and not hesitating in attacks. They are definitely not supporters of positional basketball, and this time they even have a rival who does not play positional basketball. The Dominican national team, just like the men's team, often plays a hurricane-type game, where the main weapon is to attack, rather than defend. The Jews, after getting energy from the game against Jordan, will definitely have enough for their rapid offense against Peru.
The royal club of Madrid, Real, starts the knockout stages and has faced a strong opponent in terms of the championship, but weak compared to European standards. Juventus is no longer the team that was one of the strongest in Europe, now they have a rather weak and average squad that sometimes manages to score but consistently loses, especially against teams of this level like Real. We can see a strong determination from Spanish clubs both in terms of discussions before the championship and during the games. Although the new Real coach is trying to maneuver the squad, I believe that the Madrid club is much stronger and Juventus' abilities were clearly shown in their easy defeat by City in the last round of the group stage. The odds are good because Juventus' successful game against very weak teams seems to have overshadowed everyone, and I think we should take advantage of that.
The choice for the winner of the third quarter. The weakest quarter without any doubt because there is no Djokovic, Alcaraz or Sinner. I choose Fritz, an outstanding player who had a great season and played on grass, winning 2 out of 3 tournaments, even though he didn't demonstrate his best game at Eastbourne. His main opponents are Zverev and Medvedev. I won't say anything new about Zverev, he is a player with a weak mentality and has generally shown the worst results in Grand Slams, never reaching the 4th round. And Fritz himself has beaten him before, including at last year's Wimbledon and this year's Stuttgart Final on grass.
Medvedev is not in his best form this year, even though he played fairly well on grass at Halle, but was easily handled by Bublik. Also, one solid tournament is not enough to convince me. Other candidates like Berrettini, who hasn't played in any tournament in the past month and a half, will definitely fall early, and Khachanov doesn't convince me either.
The surface is favorable for Fritz, a rising player, although there is always a risk with him at Grand Slams because he has had some failures in the past. However, he also has a potential to reach the final. Personally, I see him as the favorite in this quarter.
Real Madrid has started to show good form after a not-so-successful tournament start and potential star Mbappe will return to the lineup for this match. I will not mention anything new about these teams' offensive abilities, as we saw two goals being scored in a blink of an eye. However, when they played against Man City, we saw that they have weaknesses in defense, as they let in 5 goals in that game, and even one of the lower ranked teams, Wydad, managed to score against them. I believe that at least 2 goals will be scored against the Italian team.
The Real train slowly but surely drives on, with a 3-1 win against Al Hilal and 3-0 against Peru (with 10 players) and Salzburg. In my opinion, Real is a significantly superior team in this match, with no shortage of motivation in the tournament since they have not won any trophies this year and Mbappe has also returned to training. Although he was not registered for the last game, I believe he should make an appearance in this one. Juventus started the tournament with a stumble, and being in a group with 2 of the worst teams in the tournament didn't help. When they faced City, they were defeated 5-2, showing that Juventus still struggles against top-level teams. I think Real will take it 3-1.
(Minnesota Lynx) @-222 8/10
