Charlottesville, VA–I made the mistake of checking out a betting site yesterday for odds on the matches at the Boar’s Head resort Women’s Open, and I was surprised to see that Louisa Chirico was a big underdog in her match against Maya Joint. Of course, she won in straight sets. She’ll have to beat Vegas again today, as Chirico posts as a +198 underdog against top seed Kayla Day. Both players have had a great week, with Chirico advancing in straight sets against Ashton Brown, two games and a retirement for Allie Kiick, and a tough three setter against Grammatikopoulou before yesterday’s win over Joint.

Day hasn’t dropped a set all week with wins over Yamalapalli, Sophie Chang, Lepchenko and Sun. Yesterday, both finalists cruised over very talented opponents. I expect today’s final to be a close match and I still believe that Chirico is a good value if you are looking to wager on this match.

When a player asks if you are Tennis Atlantic, rather than if you are with Tennis Atlantic, the initial reaction is to deny everything. He left yesterday, I’d tell them. But alas, I fessed up when Kayla Day asked me if I was Tennis Atlantic yesterday. She took exception to a post I’d made a day earlier where I thought I heard her use a four-letter word after a missed drop shot in the quarterfinals. She set the record straight: she doesn’t use that kind of language on court.

Chirico look composed from the opening point in her match against future University of Texas MVP Maya Joint as she broke serve in the first game and never looked back. Her confidence and form is at a year-high rank and I’m not sure the odds makers are yet aware of that. Beating the top seed for a second title here in Charlottesville in three years would certainly set the record straight for her as well.

Tomorrow’s title will write itself this afternoon: it’s either the Kayla Day Show, Day of the Living Kayla, Chirico Comeback Tour or Louisa County Comeback. Louisa County is just East of Charlottesville. Joke’s not funny when you have to explain it.

—S. Fogleman