Tsonga -Djokovic

Week 3:Miami


20.Tsonga -Djokovic 1@2.2 bet365

Week 3: Miami

Week 3: Miami

16.T. Belluci - F. Santoro 2@1.78 pinnacle

17.M. Russel - V. Hanescu 2@2.41 pinnacle

18.J. Chardy -M. Youzhny 2@2.30 pinnacle

19.I. Kunitsyn - G.Canas 2@2.31 pinnacle

Andy Murray - Roger Federer

Week 2:Indian Wells

15.Andy Murray - Roger Federer 2@1.77 pinnacle

M. Safin -J.Isner ; S.Wawrinka -S.Querrey

Week 2:Indian Wells


13.M. Safin -J.Isner 1@1.877 pinnacle

14.S.Wawrinka -S.Querrey 1@1.893 pinnacle

F. Gonzalez -J. Blake ; I.Ljubicic -G.Simon

Week 2:Indian Wells

11.F. Gonzalez -J. Blake 1@1.73 Ladbrokes

12. I.Ljubicic -G.Simon :Ljubicic +3.5 game handicap @1.91 Ladbrokes

J. Melzer -T. Dent

Week 2:Indian Wells

10.J. Melzer -T. Dent 1@1.78 pinnacle
Even though Melzer had some bad results lately, he is still my favourite in front of "service only" Dent. Jurgen played some good tennis in the weekend in the Davis Cup , even though he lost both games.

I. Ljubicic -M. Ancic ; I. Andreev -E.Gulbis

Week 2: Indian Wells

8.I. Ljubicic -M. Ancic 1@2.78 pinnacle

9.I. Andreev -E.Gulbis 1@2 pinnacle

Russell-G.Garcia Lopez ;Youzhny - V. Troicki

Week 2 :Indian Wells

6.M. Russell-G.Garcia Lopez 2@2.38 pinnacle
Again on GG Lopez, Russell, playing at home, is way overrated.

7.M. Youzhny - V. Troicki 1@1.62 pinnacle
Youzhny played great in the Davis Cup, seems to be on the right track.

Vassallo Arguello-M. Granollers , G. Garcia-Lopez-G. Muller

4.M. Vassallo Arguello-M. Granollers 1@2,19 pinnacle
Arguello should prouve to much from the back of the court for Grannollers. My only concers is that he nedeed almost 3 hourse against Navarro yesterday.

5. G. Garcia-Lopez-G. Muller 1@2.15 pinnacle
Garcia Lopez always copes well with big servers, played always well against the ones like Isner..expekt tie-breaks.

Haas- Chardy,Korolev -Kunitsyn,Fognini - Granollers

From today, I will start making picks again , also keeping a record of them.Some will have an explanation, some won't, depending on my free time.

1.Fognini - Granollers 1@2.2 betfair
Not much to say, h2h is 2-0, saw Granollers at Costa de Sauipe, he was awful , nearly lost to Saretta.

2.Korolev -Kunitsyn 1@1.75 betfair h2h 1-0 long time ago. Only impressive win for Kunitsyn is over Andreev, while Korolev is just over mediocre, but constant.Saw him at the US Open 2008 live against Soderling , very impressive!

3. Haas- Chardy 2@2.51 pinnacle
Haas needs 2 tournaments in a row with good results to convince me to bet on him.Chardy has his chance!

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - Juan Martin Del Potro

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - Juan Martin Del Potro : Tsonga 2-0@ 2.80 paddy power

The third match in the gold group , between 2 promising players, both having progressed a lot in the season that stands to end.
Del Potro impressed in the summer with his 4 in a row titles, 2 on hard court , two on clay. Also the season highlights include impressive results , mainly on hard court. He has a powerfull serve, decent groundstrokes, but he still has to improve in his consistency.Won only 59% of his first serve points and allowed 11 break point opportunities to Djokovic. His serve can let him down sometimes, and when he's lost, he's lost...

Tsonga is one of my favourites, like his offensive style, great service aswell, but more stable mentaly, and a better game overall I would say. 2 things worry me:he won only 38% percent on his second serve agains Davydenko and gived him 11 break point opportunities.They have met one before, Del Potro won in 3 sets, but now the situation is different. Potro lost to Djokovic, Tsonga lost to Davydenko in a close 3 set match, ending in a tiebreak. In my opinion the winner of this match will be the one that will advance forward along with Djokovic, from this group.
At the end of the day, Tsonga should prouve to much for Potro.

Tomas Berdych - Robin Soderling

Tomas Berdych - Robin Soderling: Berdych @1.80 pinnacle

This encounter is between two of my personal favourites.Berdych is the former champion here, and is eager to defend his points. Has a great record on grass, being 9-1 in his last 10 grass games.
His game is perfect for grass, with strong serve and powerfull groundstrokes. Also his volleys are decent even though he does not come very often to the net. In the first round had no problems against Johansson , facing only 3 break points.
Soderling has a similar game plan, with strong serve, and hard hitting from the baseline. He lacks mentally and this is why he did not managed to confirm at the highest level. He has all the skills, but is very inconsecvent.He lost a set in the first round to Petzschner , being sometimes shaky on serve.
Head to head record is 3-3, no games on grass.
I expect a well balanced game, with only a few balls deciding the winner. The one who will take the chances the opponent will give him , will eventually win.

Berdych@1.80 pinnacle

Robin Haase -Sergio Roitman

Robin Haase - Sergio Roitman :Roitman @3.22 expekt

Expekt is offering 3.22 for the Roitman victory..how crazy is that? This encounter is between one exclusively claycourter and a player who suits better hard courts.
Haase's game is more suited to faster surfaces, because he has a powerfull serve and strong groundstrokes. Although Haase has a positive record on clay this season , I don't rate his wins over Mirnyi , Schukin or the 2 top 280+ players he defeated in the davis cup. His win over Safin on clay is also overrated , I watched the game, and it was one of those matched when Safin defeated himself. He had 3 match points in the second set, but lost.
Roitman is passing a difficult period, being defeated in the second round at 2 consecutive challangers.But I trust him to give a good battle and to keep close.He has the skills and the weapons to defeat Haase, on clay.
The odds are great, perfect for arbitrage or later trading, but keep it low stakes as Roitman' s form is questionable.
Roitman@3.22 expekt

Roger Federer -Rafael Nadal

Roger Federer -Rafael Nadal: Federer@2.56 betfair
This is one of those matches you would like to just sit and watch..

Hamburg is the place where Federer plays his best clay tennis, being a 4 time winner here.The last time last year, winning against Nadal in the final.Everyone said then that Nadal was tired after competing succesive at Monte Carlo,Barcelona, Rome, and Hamburg. Others say Hamburg's clay is faster than normal courts.I disagree, Federer simply was better that day.I saw the final in Monte Carlo this year, Federer was playing good, had one break ahead in the first set, and 2 breaks ahead in the second, but lost in straight sets...Nadal recovered incredible in both sets.
Some say Nadal could be fatigued after such a long and demanding match with Djokovic today...remember what happened after the 3 set and almost 4 hours game with Moya in Chennai last year..he lost shamefully against Youzhny the next day.
Federer says he is more interested in winning at Wimbledon tha winning at Roland Garros, but I know he is very determined to win the only grand slam he is missing. Although his game is more suited to faster surfaces, he has the potential and the weapons to to this.
All this week , had no problems with Verdasco, Seppi and the others, serving perfectly and playing excellent. The only worrying thing should be his first serve percentage. His percentage was very low, and he had some problems winning points on his second serve.

Tomorrow , Federer will defeat Nadal in Hamburg.Again.
Federer@2.56 betfair

Rafael Nadal - Novak Djokovic

Rafael Nadal - Novak Djokovic :Nadal 2-0@2.22 betfair

The semifinal of the Hamburg Masters presents Nadal and Djokovic in what should be a great match to watch. Nadal had a breakdown last week loosing badly to Juan Carlos Ferrero, but seemed to have recovered to his normal game this week. Defeated Starace , Moya and Murray in straight sets.
Djokovic on the other hand had a little problems yesterday against Montanes , making to much unforced errors, and being shaky on his second serve.
Nadal has never lost a set on clay in favour of Djokovic.In fact he never lost a set on clay, in front of Ferrero , Ferer and Federer, a total of 5 sets lost in the last 50 matches.

Nadal should have to much diversity on clay, and prouve too consistent , and should prevail in two sets.

Nadal 2-0@2.22 betfair

Marat Safin -Marin Cilic

Marat Safin -Marin Cilic :Cilic@2 betfair

I have to go against one of my favourites here, because Safin isn't anymore the former 1st ranked player of the world.A lot of potential, a lot of talent, wasted I guess over the years.. Safin is now only a shadow of the 2002 Safin, the new one making an incredible amount of unforced errors, and having a shaky serve sometimes. Still has that incredible attitude, and personality, but lacks in mental strength and consistency. Had to play qualifiers, lost a set to a 300+ ranked player, and did not seem to enjoy clay in the last weeks.
Cilic is a young talent, constant improving, with good results , and I trust him to win today, taking into consideration he will be smart enough to let Marat beat himself.

Cilic@2 betfair

Novak Djokovic -Radek Stepanek

Novak Djokovic -Radek Stepanek :Stepanek +5 game handicap @1.83 bet365

Well, this is a more balanced game as the odds suggest. Their head to head shows their encounters were always very close.Their last one, at the US Open last year, ended in 5 dramatic sets, with Djokovic reaching for the victory in the decisive tie-break. Stepanek was impressive on serve against Federer, and looked to have resources on return also. Djokovic was impressive last night against Almagro , but Nicholas was clearly out of his normal parameters.
This should be another close encounter , and the handicap for Stepanek is very generous. Djokovic has progressed lately , everyone knows that, but he still has things to do to take his game to another level.Also he gave 11 break point opportunities to Andreev , and another 5 to Darcis in the previous rounds. Today Stepanek will take the chances he will have.

Attention! If Djokovic wins by 5 games the bet is lost , as bet365 has also a tie option.So actually the handicap is +4.5 games.
Stepanek +5 game handicap@1.83 bet365

Andy Murray -Stanislas Wawrinka

Andy Murray -Stanislas Wawrinka :Wawrinka @1.96 betfair

Odds dropping faster since this morning in what I consider a 1.6 match for Wawrinka.
Watched Murray against Djokovic and his game is simply not made for clay. Had no weapons, and made a lot of unfforced errors. Also, he would have lost I suppose if Del Potro would not have withdrawn with a back injury.
Wawrinka was impressive on clay last season and even though he had some problems against Safin in the first round he should prevail here.
Head to head is 2-2 , with Wawrinka winning 3-0 their only game on clay. Their last encounter was a close one, was on Wawrinka then, and yet again today.
Big confidence in Wawrinka to win@1.96 betfair

Radek Stepanek - Jarkko Nieminen

Radek Stepanek - Jarkko Nieminen : Stepanek 2-0@2.38 stan james

Nieminen is in a horrible form lately, defeating only Giquel in this clay season.Also , he lost 10 of his last 12 games ,6 of them in straight sets. His game is more suited to faster surfaces, as he has a strong serve and powerfull groundstrokes.
Stepanek defeated Andreev in 3 sets on clay last month, and lost to Soderling after 3 close sets.
Head to head is 2-1 in favour of Nieminen , but the last encounter was won by Radek, here in Rome two years ago.

I expekt Stepanek to win this, and the odds for a two set win are very tempting.
Stepanek 2-0@2.38 stan james

Simone Bolelli - Paul Henri Mathieu

Simone Bolelli - Paul Henri Mathieu :Bolelli +3.5 game handicap @1.85 gamebookers

I usually don't like betting against Mathieu as he is one of my personal favourites, but he is given to much credit in this encounter. He lost last week against Tipsarevic in a match he should have won without big problems.Also wathed him against Blake in the Davis Cup and although he played the better tennis, lost after a complete mental breakdown , wasting 2 match points. He is a "mood " player, and needs some good points to have a good confidence and moral.
Bolelli had a good week , defeating Seppi and Lee in straight sets, loosing only one service game in the hole tournament.
I don't say Bolelli will win today , but he will keep it close and could easily grab a set.
Bolelli +3.5 game handicap@1.85 gamebookers