[Tennis - 28 February - 6 March]

Re: Tennis - 28 February - 6 March

Having my first Davis Cup one this week, doesn't look to be much else about. Jurgen Melzer vs Giles Simon- Melzer to win- 11/10 Bet365- (5/10) Agreeing with Cramer on this one. Melzer is by far more the accomplished clay courter and he should have settled in now after a dodgy first match against Chardy. He won his doubles match and the crowd should give him a lift in this one. Granted his form of recent has been a bit inconsistent but in front of his own crowd against a guy like Simon, who barely plays on clay, he shouldn't be marked as the underdog in my book. They've played on clay once which Melzer won and he should be up for this one. Decent price as well so sticking my neck out for a win for the Austrian team.

WIN Hats off to Jurgen. Thought he was done in the fourth at a break down but managed to save my skin and give the Austrian team some hope. Really enjoyable to watch though, best Melzer match since his French Open meeting with Djokovic last year.

[Tennis - 28 February - 6 March]

Re: Tennis - 28 February - 6 March Having my first Davis Cup one this week, doesn't look to be much else about. Jurgen Melzer vs Giles Simon- Melzer to win- 11/10 Bet365- (5/10) Agreeing with Cramer on this one. Melzer is by far more the accomplished clay courter and he should have settled in now after a dodgy first match against Chardy. He won his doubles match and the crowd should give him a lift in this one. Granted his form of recent has been a bit inconsistent but in front of his own crowd against a guy like Simon, who barely plays on clay, he shouldn't be marked as the underdog in my book. They've played on clay once which Melzer won and he should be up for this one. Decent price as well so sticking my neck out for a win for the Austrian team.

[Tennis - 28 February - 6 March]

Re: Tennis - 28 February - 6 March

One for me today, well tomorrow morning UK time, can't see much else to take atm, waiting for Davis Cup to kick into action. Jelena Jankovic vs Sybille Bammer- Jankovic -5.5 handicap- 4/5 Bet365- (5/10) Agreed on the Jankovic front but taking her on the handicap rather than the overs as Bammer is a player you have to be wary against. She has enough about her to not let Jankovic walk all over her like most of the Serb's recent opponents which is putting me off the overs as she could force a tie break or even pinch a set. Saying that, if you look at most of Bammer's results against the better players, even if she does take a close set off Jankovic, there is usually a tanked set thrown in there at some point which leads me to the handicap. Jankovic should be able to take at least one set in comfortable fashion which would put the handicap in good stead regardless of a 3 setter. Way I see it going is on one of two ways. Either Jankovic wins in solid straight sets or loses a tie break in one set but wins the other two in a convincing manner. Either way the handicap looks decent to me. H2H speaks volumes as well, something like 8:1 to the Serb, to which the handicap has been covered on most ocassions.

LOSS Unders would have been the better option after all as the she fell one game short of the handicap. Wins from the previous day keep me in good profit though.

[Tennis - 28 February - 6 March]

Re: Tennis - 28 February - 6 March One for me today, well tomorrow morning UK time, can't see much else to take atm, waiting for Davis Cup to kick into action. Jelena Jankovic vs Sybille Bammer- Jankovic -5.5 handicap- 4/5 Bet365- (5/10) Agreed on the Jankovic front but taking her on the handicap rather than the overs as Bammer is a player you have to be wary against. She has enough about her to not let Jankovic walk all over her like most of the Serb's recent opponents which is putting me off the overs as she could force a tie break or even pinch a set. Saying that, if you look at most of Bammer's results against the better players, even if she does take a close set off Jankovic, there is usually a tanked set thrown in there at some point which leads me to the handicap. Jankovic should be able to take at least one set in comfortable fashion which would put the handicap in good stead regardless of a 3 setter. Way I see it going is on one of two ways. Either Jankovic wins in solid straight sets or loses a tie break in one set but wins the other two in a convincing manner. Either way the handicap looks decent to me. H2H speaks volumes as well, something like 8:1 to the Serb, to which the handicap has been covered on most ocassions.

[Cricket: ICC World Cup 2011]

Re: Cricket: ICC World Cup 2011

Tennis has dried up a bit this week so taking my first bet of the world cup. This one stood out like a sore thumb. Dale Steyn performance 40 points & over- 8/13 Bet365- (7/10) Granted it's not the most appealing of prices but I'm really struggling to see how Steyn won't take at least a couple of wickets in this one. For some time now he has consistently knocked teams over and is acknowledged as one of the best bowlers in the international world. Watching Holland's batting against the WI wasn't the prettiest of sights, with Roach causing them all sorts of problems and the Dutch batsman not coping with him at all. Steyn should provide the same kind of problems with his pace and swing and I fail to see the Dutch upper order coping early on. He's going to be bowling the important overs in the powerplays where wickets are always likely and Steyn will know the right line and lengths to bowl. Expect Holland to struggle with the SA bowling attack and two wickets for their main man shouldn't be too much to ask for.

LOSS Quite suprised he didn't bag another wicket but Tahir wrapped it up for them. 10 points short of the target unfortunately.

[Tennis - 28 February - 6 March]

Re: Tennis - 28 February - 6 March

First bit of tennis action this week involving the women over in Mexico. Taken 3, one of which is tomorrow. Laura Pous Tio vs Anastasija Sevastova- Sevastova -4.5 handicap- 5/6 Bet365- (6/10) Fancy Sevastova to have a decent week or so over in Mexico. She made the semis last year and I don't see why she can't repeat this form looking at her potential draw. She hasn't played a great deal of tennis this year but when she has played, she's looked in decent shape and beaten some handy opponents. She beat Wickmayer at the AO which was a really good result for Latvian and the only players she's lost to this year are Wozniacki, Kanepi and Radwanska, all opponents who are on a completely different level to Pous-Tio who she faces today. The Spaniard is pretty decent on clay but on the hard courts it's a different story. She doesn't play much on the hard surfaces, mainly just clay but she has won her qualifiers in Mexico, all be it against lesser opponents to make the main draw. This wil be a massive test for the Spaniard who I'm not sure will be able to keep up with Sevastova. They've played once before which was actually on Pous-Tio's favoured clay but Sevastova won that in two comfortable sets, covering the handicap. This time it's on the hard surface and Sevastova should win this without too much trouble. Jelena Jankovic vs Lourdes Dominguez Lino- Under 18.5 games- 5/6 Bet365- (6/10) Pretty generous offer here on Jankovic to win this one in comfortable straight sets. She looks to be back to somewhere around her best recently, giving a couple of good weeks in Dubai and Doha, only losing to Wozniacki and Zvonareva. She looks be back to the Jankovic of the past and in truth she should take this one without too much worry. Lino is another player who plays her best tennis on the clay and on the hard courts against good quality opponents she doesn't really have the game to trouble players like Jankovic. She has played on clay for the last two weeks so I can only imagine she's playing this week to pick up some cash before moving back to the clay courts next week. Jankovic has won both meetings between the two easily, both back in 2006 but with Jankovic playing good tennis at the minute, would expect a similiar scoreline. Simona Halep vs Alize Cornet- Cornet -2.5 handicap- 4/5 Bet365- (5/10) Thought long and hard over this one but eventually decided that the handicap is within reach for Cornet. She looks to be playing some decent stuff this year on the hard courts which she must have worked on in the off-season as last year she could only produce on clay. Saw her match against Clijsters at the AO and she troubled the Belgian at times in that first set but she had that extra bit of quality to see Cornet off. She did however beat Kuzzy in the Fed cup and took a set of Pavlyuchenkova which is a pretty decent effort. She did lose to Arvidsson last week which considering the Swede's form was a bad result but hoping she will be up for this week. Halep has played a couple of matches on clay recently, both of which she lost so she may struggle to come to turns with the quicker courts after a little break. Even on the hard courts her results have been a bit of a mixture so not entirely convinced that she is in the right place at the minute to beat Cornet. Could well go the distance but I'd fancy Cornet to get the job done here, and feel if she does win the match she should cover the handicap providing she keeps her head in shape and doesn't have mental breaks.

WIN WIN WIN Nice to have a full house to start the month. Both handicaps came through easily enough with Jankovic covering the unders with a good second set.

[Cricket: ICC World Cup 2011]

Re: Cricket: ICC World Cup 2011 Tennis has dried up a bit this week so taking my first bet of the world cup. This one stood out like a sore thumb. Dale Steyn performance 40 points & over- 8/13 Bet365- (7/10) Granted it's not the most appealing of prices but I'm really struggling to see how Steyn won't take at least a couple of wickets in this one. For some time now he has consistently knocked teams over and is acknowledged as one of the best bowlers in the international world. Watching Holland's batting against the WI wasn't the prettiest of sights, with Roach causing them all sorts of problems and the Dutch batsman not coping with him at all. Steyn should provide the same kind of problems with his pace and swing and I fail to see the Dutch upper order coping early on. He's going to be bowling the important overs in the powerplays where wickets are always likely and Steyn will know the right line and lengths to bowl. Expect Holland to struggle with the SA bowling attack and two wickets for their main man shouldn't be too much to ask for.

[Tennis - 28 February - 6 March]

Re: Tennis - 28 February - 6 March

Good luck mate, but it's in Mexico not Canada;) Don't think I'll be getting involved until Davis Cup, unless something really stands out.

Yep my mistake, thanks for pointing it out. Mind was on other things ;)

[Tennis - 28 February - 6 March]

Re: Tennis - 28 February - 6 March First bit of tennis action this week involving the women over in Mexico. Taken 3, one of which is tomorrow. Laura Pous Tio vs Anastasija Sevastova- Sevastova -4.5 handicap- 5/6 Bet365- (6/10) Fancy Sevastova to have a decent week or so over in Mexico. She made the semis last year and I don't see why she can't repeat this form looking at her potential draw. She hasn't played a great deal of tennis this year but when she has played, she's looked in decent shape and beaten some handy opponents. She beat Wickmayer at the AO which was a really good result for Latvian and the only players she's lost to this year are Wozniacki, Kanepi and Radwanska, all opponents who are on a completely different level to Pous-Tio who she faces today. The Spaniard is pretty decent on clay but on the hard courts it's a different story. She doesn't play much on the hard surfaces, mainly just clay but she has won her qualifiers in Mexico, all be it against lesser opponents to make the main draw. This wil be a massive test for the Spaniard who I'm not sure will be able to keep up with Sevastova. They've played once before which was actually on Pous-Tio's favoured clay but Sevastova won that in two comfortable sets, covering the handicap. This time it's on the hard surface and Sevastova should win this without too much trouble. Jelena Jankovic vs Lourdes Dominguez Lino- Under 18.5 games- 5/6 Bet365- (6/10) Pretty generous offer here on Jankovic to win this one in comfortable straight sets. She looks to be back to somewhere around her best recently, giving a couple of good weeks in Dubai and Doha, only losing to Wozniacki and Zvonareva. She looks be back to the Jankovic of the past and in truth she should take this one without too much worry. Lino is another player who plays her best tennis on the clay and on the hard courts against good quality opponents she doesn't really have the game to trouble players like Jankovic. She has played on clay for the last two weeks so I can only imagine she's playing this week to pick up some cash before moving back to the clay courts next week. Jankovic has won both meetings between the two easily, both back in 2006 but with Jankovic playing good tennis at the minute, would expect a similiar scoreline. Simona Halep vs Alize Cornet- Cornet -2.5 handicap- 4/5 Bet365- (5/10) Thought long and hard over this one but eventually decided that the handicap is within reach for Cornet. She looks to be playing some decent stuff this year on the hard courts which she must have worked on in the off-season as last year she could only produce on clay. Saw her match against Clijsters at the AO and she troubled the Belgian at times in that first set but she had that extra bit of quality to see Cornet off. She did however beat Kuzzy in the Fed cup and took a set of Pavlyuchenkova which is a pretty decent effort. She did lose to Arvidsson last week which considering the Swede's form was a bad result but hoping she will be up for this week. Halep has played a couple of matches on clay recently, both of which she lost so she may struggle to come to turns with the quicker courts after a little break. Even on the hard courts her results have been a bit of a mixture so not entirely convinced that she is in the right place at the minute to beat Cornet. Could well go the distance but I'd fancy Cornet to get the job done here, and feel if she does win the match she should cover the handicap providing she keeps her head in shape and doesn't have mental breaks.

[Tennis - 28 February - 6 March]

Re: Tennis - 28 February - 6 March Davis Cup is so ridiculous. 1st round is in a week or so with the final being played at the end of the year. Just doesn't make any sense to me really. Feel it should be done like a proper tournament with it lasting over a few weeks. Early thoughts are leaning towards Serbia due to current players form and their draw but due to the time break in between matches, really hard to call.

[Tennis - 21-27 February]

Re: Tennis - 21-27 February

Not going over the top this week like most as there doesn't seem to be much value about. Taken 2 for today though. Adrian Mannarino vs Alejandro Falla X Jelena Jankovic vs Klara Zakopalova- 2.14 @ Bet365- (5/10) Think this double is an attractive price for two players who I think will take their respective matches but not entirely sure about their handicaps. Mannarino has shown he can play with the big boys this year and has beaten some pretty handy opponents, whilst getting to an ATP semi a few weeks back. Falla is a strange on for me. He's not been great by any standards this year but the weird thing for me is that a couple of weeks back he went off to play in a clay challenger tournament before returning to the hard courts. That has got to interrupt any player's game on the hard courts after playing on the clay as the speed is completely different. He's won 4 straight matches now at Delray Beach after coming through qualifiers and beating Hajek, but Mannarino is a complete step up in class. He'll play his laid back defensive game and can see Falla getting frustrated and making errors. Taking it in a double rather than the handicap just in case the Frenchman has one of his horror sets in which he goes missing but fancy him to win the match. Doubling him up with Jankovic who looks to be back in some form. Watched her last match against Mirza and she outclassed her in every department and ignored the Indian support in the crowd which says to me her head is back in the right place. Zakopalova beat Li in the last round but Li last week wasn't great and she choked and eventually lost to Wickmayer. Can only guess she wasn't too interested in yesterdays match allowing the Czech an easy win. Zakopalova is only here due to her being a lucky loser as she lost to Dushevina in qualifiers but she's played a fair bit of tennis so fatigue may start to creep in against Jankovic who will make her run and will vary her shot selection up. They've played 3 times but Jankovic has won the only recent meeting and that was at the back end of last season where she wasn't playing well at all. She looks to be putting runs of wins together now and would fancy her to come through this to get into the semis. Daniela Hantuchova vs Vera Zvonareva- Zvonareva -3.5 handicap- 8/11 Bet365- (5/10) Favouring the Russian here to get the job done despite the result a couple of weeks back. She hasn't won a title for just over a year now which should be her motivation over the coming weeks and she has a really good chance of at least making the final. She was destructive against Cibulkova yesterday where many people thought that Vera would struggle. But just 3 games dropped shows that she is up for this week to me and she will be fresh and roaring to go today to make up for the defeat that she suffered to Hantuchova in Thailand. I'm still not overly convinced about Hantuchova yet. Granted she took the title in Thailand but since then she lost to Chakvetadze easily and then needed 3 sets to beat Azarenka and Dushevina. Dushevina could have easily beat her having several chances to take it in straight sets but it wasn't to be. Looking at the stats in that one, Hantuchova allowed her opponent 14 break points, saving 11 of them. If that is the case today, Zvonareva won't need a second invitation to break her serve. The H2H is 4-2 in Vera's favour although the last 2 have been won by Hantuchova. The handicap that I've taken today has been covered in 5/6 matches, including one of those matches which Zvonareva lost! Really think Vera will want revenge and the handicap is low enough for a player of her quality.

LOSS LOSS That's me done this week. Complete minefield so need to stay away for a few days. Hope for a better one next week.

[Tennis - 21-27 February]

Re: Tennis - 21-27 February Zvonareva onto the blacklist indefinitely. Whenever I see her she is so distinctly average. Find it hard to comprehend why she can ever trouble players such as Wozniacki and Clijsters. She's a no bet for a good bit of time now. Gasquet beating Simon as well, strange.

[Tennis - 21-27 February]

Re: Tennis - 21-27 February Not going over the top this week like most as there doesn't seem to be much value about. Taken 2 for today though. Adrian Mannarino vs Alejandro Falla X Jelena Jankovic vs Klara Zakopalova- 2.14 @ Bet365- (5/10) Think this double is an attractive price for two players who I think will take their respective matches but not entirely sure about their handicaps. Mannarino has shown he can play with the big boys this year and has beaten some pretty handy opponents, whilst getting to an ATP semi a few weeks back. Falla is a strange on for me. He's not been great by any standards this year but the weird thing for me is that a couple of weeks back he went off to play in a clay challenger tournament before returning to the hard courts. That has got to interrupt any player's game on the hard courts after playing on the clay as the speed is completely different. He's won 4 straight matches now at Delray Beach after coming through qualifiers and beating Hajek, but Mannarino is a complete step up in class. He'll play his laid back defensive game and can see Falla getting frustrated and making errors. Taking it in a double rather than the handicap just in case the Frenchman has one of his horror sets in which he goes missing but fancy him to win the match. Doubling him up with Jankovic who looks to be back in some form. Watched her last match against Mirza and she outclassed her in every department and ignored the Indian support in the crowd which says to me her head is back in the right place. Zakopalova beat Li in the last round but Li last week wasn't great and she choked and eventually lost to Wickmayer. Can only guess she wasn't too interested in yesterdays match allowing the Czech an easy win. Zakopalova is only here due to her being a lucky loser as she lost to Dushevina in qualifiers but she's played a fair bit of tennis so fatigue may start to creep in against Jankovic who will make her run and will vary her shot selection up. They've played 3 times but Jankovic has won the only recent meeting and that was at the back end of last season where she wasn't playing well at all. She looks to be putting runs of wins together now and would fancy her to come through this to get into the semis. Daniela Hantuchova vs Vera Zvonareva- Zvonareva -3.5 handicap- 8/11 Bet365- (5/10) Favouring the Russian here to get the job done despite the result a couple of weeks back. She hasn't won a title for just over a year now which should be her motivation over the coming weeks and she has a really good chance of at least making the final. She was destructive against Cibulkova yesterday where many people thought that Vera would struggle. But just 3 games dropped shows that she is up for this week to me and she will be fresh and roaring to go today to make up for the defeat that she suffered to Hantuchova in Thailand. I'm still not overly convinced about Hantuchova yet. Granted she took the title in Thailand but since then she lost to Chakvetadze easily and then needed 3 sets to beat Azarenka and Dushevina. Dushevina could have easily beat her having several chances to take it in straight sets but it wasn't to be. Looking at the stats in that one, Hantuchova allowed her opponent 14 break points, saving 11 of them. If that is the case today, Zvonareva won't need a second invitation to break her serve. The H2H is 4-2 in Vera's favour although the last 2 have been won by Hantuchova. The handicap that I've taken today has been covered in 5/6 matches, including one of those matches which Zvonareva lost! Really think Vera will want revenge and the handicap is low enough for a player of her quality.

[Tennis - 21-27 February]

Re: Tennis - 21-27 February

Really tricky last few days, lots of retirements and lots of weird happenings. Taken 2 for today though involving one from the men's and women's game. Jelena Jankovic v Sania Mirza- Jankovic -4.5 handicap- 4/5 Bet365- (5/10) Jankovic looks to be returning to some form after a truly horrid run in the second part of last year. But wins over Stosur, Kanepi and a good show against Wozniacki looked to have restored some confidence in the Serb's game. She easily beat her last opponent so she will be fresh for this one and should be in the right mental condition. Mirza did wel to beat Jovanovski in the her first round match in what was a break fest in that one but it was a good win for the Indian nonetheless. Feel Jankovic's shots will be too much for her today though. She's been beaten very easily by lesser opponents in recent weeks and Jankovic on the rise in form, feel she should take this one in good fashion. H2H stands at 4-0 to Jelena, with the handicap for this one covered in 3 of those 4 matches. Really good chance for the Serb to announce she's back on form this week and she should be good for Mirza here. Straight set win would bring the handicap into play. Feliciano Lopez vs Novak Djokovic- Djokovic -5.5 handicap- 5/6 Bet365- (4/10) Not the smallest of handicaps for the men's game in a 3 setter but I feel Novak can cover it here. He's on a 13 win streak including that AO grand slam win and unbeaten in all matches in the current calendar year. In these matches, he has only dropped a total of 2 sets in all and he's playing great tennis like we saw against Federer and Murray in Australia. Feliciano Lopez's form this year has been extremely indifferent, losing to players who he would be expected to beat. Didn't get past the first round at the AO and if that form is carried into today's matches, really cannot see how he is going to live with Djokovic who is on fire right now. Djokovic has won both matches that the two have played in straight sets and the best of 3 match that they played, the 5.5 handicap was covered. An early break for Djokovic could see him romp home here, covering the handicap in the process.

WIN LOSS Broke even. Jankovic destroyed Mirza without breaking into sweat but Djokovic tanked the 2nd set, killing the bet. Really hard results to predict this week.

[Tennis - 21-27 February]

Re: Tennis - 21-27 February Really tricky last few days, lots of retirements and lots of weird happenings. Taken 2 for today though involving one from the men's and women's game. Jelena Jankovic v Sania Mirza- Jankovic -4.5 handicap- 4/5 Bet365- (5/10) Jankovic looks to be returning to some form after a truly horrid run in the second part of last year. But wins over Stosur, Kanepi and a good show against Wozniacki looked to have restored some confidence in the Serb's game. She easily beat her last opponent so she will be fresh for this one and should be in the right mental condition. Mirza did wel to beat Jovanovski in the her first round match in what was a break fest in that one but it was a good win for the Indian nonetheless. Feel Jankovic's shots will be too much for her today though. She's been beaten very easily by lesser opponents in recent weeks and Jankovic on the rise in form, feel she should take this one in good fashion. H2H stands at 4-0 to Jelena, with the handicap for this one covered in 3 of those 4 matches. Really good chance for the Serb to announce she's back on form this week and she should be good for Mirza here. Straight set win would bring the handicap into play. Feliciano Lopez vs Novak Djokovic- Djokovic -5.5 handicap- 5/6 Bet365- (4/10) Not the smallest of handicaps for the men's game in a 3 setter but I feel Novak can cover it here. He's on a 13 win streak including that AO grand slam win and unbeaten in all matches in the current calendar year. In these matches, he has only dropped a total of 2 sets in all and he's playing great tennis like we saw against Federer and Murray in Australia. Feliciano Lopez's form this year has been extremely indifferent, losing to players who he would be expected to beat. Didn't get past the first round at the AO and if that form is carried into today's matches, really cannot see how he is going to live with Djokovic who is on fire right now. Djokovic has won both matches that the two have played in straight sets and the best of 3 match that they played, the 5.5 handicap was covered. An early break for Djokovic could see him romp home here, covering the handicap in the process.

[Tennis - 21-27 February]

Re: Tennis - 21-27 February Soooo annoyed and frustrated. Always planned to take Peer at above evens but didn't get round to it. Always likely she was going to beat Kuzzy after her final defeat a couple of days back. Ahhhh. Glad Czech got on Peer though, bookies deserved to be punished with that price.

[Tennis - 21-27 February]

Re: Tennis - 21-27 February

Agreed with Atko on the Federer front. Nobody in his half who he shouldn't comfortably beat then either Berdych or more likely Djoko in the final. Still can't take any outright at that price though. I was considering Stepanek over in Delray Beach at around 14s. His potential opponents are all beatable and he has indeed beat most of them in the past. I also considered Peer as a bit of a longshot over in Doha but her draw is so tricky I'm staying away from that although there could be some opportunities to back her this week like I did last week. Back to the individual matches, taken an early one over in Doha and expect the price to drop fairly rapidly over the next 24 hours. Lucie Safarova vs Agnieszka Radwanska- Radwanska -4.5 handicap- 5/6 Bet365- (5/10) Thought it would be a 5.5 handicap at a skinnier price so more than happy to take this one. Noticed Pinnacle have this handicap at -5 at around the same price which shows some decent value here. Safarova has been struggling through injury for the last week or so which she picked up playing doubles over in Dubai. This problem clearly affected her game as she was hammered by Zakopalova 6-2 6-2 so not sure how fit she really is going into this tournament. Radwanska is a better player than Zakopolova and has had some good wins this year. Made the quarter finals last week before falling narrowly to Kuznetsova but she easily beat Bartoli, a good quality player in the second round and has been competitive in matches against Clijsters and Azarenka this year on the hard surfaces. As I've mentioned, the thigh injury to Lucie might restrict her movement ont he court and I fully expect Agy to exploit this weakness and take this one in comfortable fashion.

LOSS Should have come in with Agy leading 5-1 in the first but she somehow managed to lose in straight sets :\

[Tennis - 21-27 February]

Re: Tennis - 21-27 February

What happened to Radwanska here? Was following the match on livescore' date=' she was 5-1 up in the first set and cruising and went on to lose 7 of the next 8 games? Injury? I know tennis is an up and down sport but I couldn't believe what happened here[/quote'] Must admit I didn't watch the match but when I checked the score and it was 5-1, thought the bet was in the bag, but wasn't to be. Even more shocked that Radwanska slipped up as Safarova is meant to be struggling through injury. Apologies if you followed on that one.

[Tennis - 14-20 February]

Re: Tennis - 14-20 February Roddick hit the roof :lol. Raonic doesn't know when to quit it seems. Edit: Now turned into a game of wta with break points in every game.

[Tennis - 14-20 February]

Re: Tennis - 14-20 February

One final bet for me this week which has been a good one. Andy Roddick vs Milos Raonic- Tie break to be played in match- 4/6 Bet365- (5/10) Only thing that interests me in this one. Looked into the overs as well but chances are if does go for the overs, there is more than likely going to be a tie break at some stage and being at better odds, I've leaned towards the tie break. Both huge servers and quite average returners in my opinion. Whenever I watch Roddick nowadays it's always clear to me that he's not the player he once was and without his monster serve, he wouldn't be in the top 10. During rallies he's always likely to drop a ball in mid court and give good opponents plenty of chances to finish the point off. Fortunately for the American, Raonic is almost an identical match of himself with a massive serve and a killer forehand. I say this is fortunate for Roddick because on serve, Raonic isn't likely to return a great deal of balls with the speed and depth of Roddick's service games. Same applies on Raonic's serve as we've seen in recent weeks, the likes of Ferrer who is a better returner than Roddick struggled to do anything on the Canadian's serve. Clash of the two serves in this one and I expect the points to be short and sweet, without many long rallies. Due to this, can see a 7-6 set at least once later on.

WIN Never in doubt after Roddick saved the early break points. Really good end to the week and happy to sit back and enjoy this one. Great shout by Cramer as well with the no breaks in set :ok

[Tennis - 21-27 February]

Re: Tennis - 21-27 February Agreed with Atko on the Federer front. Nobody in his half who he shouldn't comfortably beat then either Berdych or more likely Djoko in the final. Still can't take any outright at that price though. I was considering Stepanek over in Delray Beach at around 14s. His potential opponents are all beatable and he has indeed beat most of them in the past. I also considered Peer as a bit of a longshot over in Doha but her draw is so tricky I'm staying away from that although there could be some opportunities to back her this week like I did last week. Back to the individual matches, taken an early one over in Doha and expect the price to drop fairly rapidly over the next 24 hours. Lucie Safarova vs Agnieszka Radwanska- Radwanska -4.5 handicap- 5/6 Bet365- (5/10) Thought it would be a 5.5 handicap at a skinnier price so more than happy to take this one. Noticed Pinnacle have this handicap at -5 at around the same price which shows some decent value here. Safarova has been struggling through injury for the last week or so which she picked up playing doubles over in Dubai. This problem clearly affected her game as she was hammered by Zakopalova 6-2 6-2 so not sure how fit she really is going into this tournament. Radwanska is a better player than Zakopolova and has had some good wins this year. Made the quarter finals last week before falling narrowly to Kuznetsova but she easily beat Bartoli, a good quality player in the second round and has been competitive in matches against Clijsters and Azarenka this year on the hard surfaces. As I've mentioned, the thigh injury to Lucie might restrict her movement ont he court and I fully expect Agy to exploit this weakness and take this one in comfortable fashion.

[Tennis - 14-20 February]

Re: Tennis - 14-20 February One final bet for me this week which has been a good one. Andy Roddick vs Milos Raonic- Tie break to be played in match- 4/6 Bet365- (5/10) Only thing that interests me in this one. Looked into the overs as well but chances are if does go for the overs, there is more than likely going to be a tie break at some stage and being at better odds, I've leaned towards the tie break. Both huge servers and quite average returners in my opinion. Whenever I watch Roddick nowadays it's always clear to me that he's not the player he once was and without his monster serve, he wouldn't be in the top 10. During rallies he's always likely to drop a ball in mid court and give good opponents plenty of chances to finish the point off. Fortunately for the American, Raonic is almost an identical match of himself with a massive serve and a killer forehand. I say this is fortunate for Roddick because on serve, Raonic isn't likely to return a great deal of balls with the speed and depth of Roddick's service games. Same applies on Raonic's serve as we've seen in recent weeks, the likes of Ferrer who is a better returner than Roddick struggled to do anything on the Canadian's serve. Clash of the two serves in this one and I expect the points to be short and sweet, without many long rallies. Due to this, can see a 7-6 set at least once later on.

[Tennis - 14-20 February]

Re: Tennis - 14-20 February

Been keeping an eye on the handicap on this one for much of the morning and happy enough to take it at the price it is now. First men's bet of the week strangely enough. Robin Soderling vs Dmitry Tursunov- Soderling -4.5 handicap- 11/10 Bet365- (4/10) Although Robin has been a bit hit and miss in recent times I think he may well call the shots in this one. He easily dispatched of Llodra after he got his first break and managed to look decent on serve, saving all 5 of Llodra's break points. 13 aces and a high first serve percentage against the Frenchman, if Robin repeats this, the Russian will find Soderling a tough nut to crack on serve as he's not as good as Llodra on return. In fairness to Tursunov, he's done exceptionally well to come back from his ankle surgery and has had some decent results this year including the scalps of Golubev, Ljubicic and now Melzer. However I always feel when watching the Russian that he is always vulnerable to a really poor set, like the second set yesterday against Melzer. Soderling if he really wants today could come away from this with a comfortable victory and look to get another title this year. With the odds above evens, depending on who serves first, a break in either set could seal the deal here. Just edging towards that extra bit of quality on the Swede's part, just hope his head is in the right place which is should be after demolishing Llodra.

WIN Tursunov always likely to have a poor set ;)

[Tennis - 14-20 February]

Re: Tennis - 14-20 February

fishy25: Why do you think that Llodra is better on return than Tursunov? I always thought it is the other way around.

Really? In my books I always have Llodra as a pretty decent returner tbh, especially indoors. He's got that extra variation on court that allows him to mix the play up and get back into rallies. Think that when he plays doubles it helps his singles game as his reflexes and as I say variation of game improves as a result. Not saying Tursunov is a bad returner at all, but Llodra has that ability to slice and spin the ball to make his opponent play an extra shot in rallies.

[Tennis - 14-20 February]

Re: Tennis - 14-20 February Been keeping an eye on the handicap on this one for much of the morning and happy enough to take it at the price it is now. First men's bet of the week strangely enough. Robin Soderling vs Dmitry Tursunov- Soderling -4.5 handicap- 11/10 Bet365- (4/10) Although Robin has been a bit hit and miss in recent times I think he may well call the shots in this one. He easily dispatched of Llodra after he got his first break and managed to look decent on serve, saving all 5 of Llodra's break points. 13 aces and a high first serve percentage against the Frenchman, if Robin repeats this, the Russian will find Soderling a tough nut to crack on serve as he's not as good as Llodra on return. In fairness to Tursunov, he's done exceptionally well to come back from his ankle surgery and has had some decent results this year including the scalps of Golubev, Ljubicic and now Melzer. However I always feel when watching the Russian that he is always vulnerable to a really poor set, like the second set yesterday against Melzer. Soderling if he really wants today could come away from this with a comfortable victory and look to get another title this year. With the odds above evens, depending on who serves first, a break in either set could seal the deal here. Just edging towards that extra bit of quality on the Swede's part, just hope his head is in the right place which is should be after demolishing Llodra.