[March 18 - March 31]

Re: March 18 - March 31 Petra Martic vs Stefanie Voegle Always close games between these pair and whilst Voegle leads the H2H 3-0 she has been taken into three sets in two of these matches, including a couple of weeks ago in Indian Wells. Martic has been struggling for form over the last few months but by all accounts played much better than she has all season in that match in the Californian desert. She won her first set of the year in clinical fashion dropping only 4 points on her serve, and indeed during the whole match she was only broken twice in 14 service games which is decent by WTA standards, but ultimately proved too much as she failed to take a couple of breaking back opportunities that Voegle presented her. I felt that on another day this could have easily gone Martic’s way so we’ll see what she can do today. Martic to win a set 1.83 at bwin (4 units) Martic to win 3.5 at skybet (2 units) :hope

[March 18 - March 31]

Re: March 18 - March 31 First one taken for Miami tomorrow Annika Beck vs Ula Radwanska Maybe a risky one given that Beck seems to be struggling with results since moving permanently to the WTA tour this year. However it’s not been all bad for the young German, performances have generally varied wildly often within matches from the excellent to the awful and her biggest problem seems to be keeping hold of a lead. Against Bertens in Indian Wells, as well as Erakovic and Peng earlier in the season she’s come out strong, taken the first set and then fallen away. She obviously has the tools to trouble mid ranked competitors but its just a question of focus and being able to tough it out against better opponents. Whilst Radwanska had a strong Indian Wells, she can be pretty hit and miss herself and other than experience she doesn’t have any particular weapons in my opinion that could over power or hit Beck off the court. This should mean it will be pretty close in the opening sets and Beck has a decent chance of nicking something early on. Annika Beck to win a set 2.0 at Paddy Power (3 units) :hope

[March 4 - March 17]

Re: March 4 - March 17 Angelique Kerber vs Garbine Mugurzu After her run at Miami last year I had hoped that the young Spaniard would really kick on but she sort of fell off the scene until last month In Brazil where she popped up again to take a set off Venus Williams. She’s now followed that up with a great run from the qualifiers here to tonights last 16 match. She’s beaten some strong opponents in this run and whilst she still has improvements to make in her game she already possess a couple of great strengths most particularly her serve (particular confident on the second serve), which allows here to normally get a decent foothold within a match and games on the board. She also has a decent array of shots from both sides which should keep Kerber more on the defensive than the German would probably like. This allied with the slower surfaces at Indian Wells may play more into Muguruzu’s hands than Kerbers . As with Burdette the other night, there is an unknown about Mugurzu’s temperament in these big occasions but they are only on court 3 with again no tv coverage so pressure may be lifted a little and she certainly showed no sign of nerves in her last round. Mugurzu to win a set 2.10 at Paddy Power (3 units) Mugurzu to win 4.0 at bet465 (1.5 units) :hope

[March 4 - March 17]

Re: March 4 - March 17 Yeah two great picks there Slider, wish I'd seen them earlier!

Stosur to beat Peng and Anderson to beat Nieminen 2.08 at Stan James (3 units) :ok

The double came in after a little scare from Stosur. Up to +18.81 units. One more taken for the evening Leyton Hewitt vs Stan Wawrinka Just a quick one before I grab some shut eye. Wawrinka is someone who never makes things easy for himself so often he loses focus in a match and when he does it can be quite easy for any half decent opponent to force their way back into things. We saw that with Odesnik in Stan’s opening game where a slow start soon saw him drop the opening set and Hewitt fresh from two good victories will be keen to oppose himself early one. The Aussie seems to be fit and healthy at the moment and when he’s in good condition he still has the game and the belief to test someone like Wawrinka. Their most recent match up in a Davies Cup tie at the back end of 2011 went to 5 sets, and I can see a similarly tough match for Wawrinka if he is to progress here. Hewitt +1.5 sets 1.92 at 188bet (3 units) Hewitt to win 3.4 at bet365 (1.5 units)

[March 4 - March 17]

Re: March 4 - March 17 Nice pick by Czech on Donskoy to take a set. Lets hope that a few other picks can come in tonight.

Maria Kirilenko vs Mallory Burdette Burdette +1.5 sets 2.08 at Sporting Bet (3 units) :ok Burdette to win 3.75 at Ladbrokes (1.5 units) :\

Well I turned a profit here, but again frustrated that the third set didn’t go the way I was hoping for. Still up to +15.57 for the first week of this tournament. There isn’t much catching my eye tomorrow, with only Georges in my thinking at the moment. I will however take a double on two normally pretty reliable performers. Stosur to beat Peng and Anderson to beat Nieminen 2.08 at Stan James (3 units) I was a bit wary that Anderson may struggle coming back into such a big event so soon after surgery but he’s proved his fitness with 2 excellent performances. His serving was incredible against Hanescu, just conceding one break point in the first service game, but after that the Romanian wasn’t able to get anywhere near the big serving Anderson. Then to come through a match against Ferrer must give even more of a confidence boost going into this one against Nieminen who he has a 3-0 H2H record against. Whilst the Finn has done well in recent weeks I always get the feeling that he knows his level and he’s unlikely to really upset the odds that much. Both he and Anderson are somewhat similar players but there is no doubt that Anderson possesses the better game and form at the moment. I wouldn’t read too much into the victory over Verdasco, by all accounts the Spaniard was probably less than 50% fit, still struggling with his neck and Nieminen is the type of guy who generally crushes weak opponents, so I’m not expecting another performance like from the Finn anytime soon. After the nightmare of the Aussie Open / Fed cup performances Sam Stosur has come back with stronger showings in the Middle East and followed it up with a good win in her opening match here against the lively Keys. That I feel was a good match for Stosur, a real test to make sure she was fully prepared for Indian Wells where she needs a good run to properly kick start her season. With Peng up next there is a great chance to reach the last 16 as her Chinese opponent will probably offer less resistance than Keys did, and has been comprehensively beaten by the Australian in their last 2 meetings and has a head to head deficit of 0-4. Peng doesn’t have a great record in recent seasons on hard courts outside Asia and didn’t look comfortable in her opening game almost throwing away the game after bageling Dulgerhu in the opening set. If her first match is anything to go by Stosur will also get great support out in Indian Wells as following the match with Keys, the American’s agent has complained that the crowd were too supportive of the Aussie rather than his client. :hope

[March 4 - March 17]

Re: March 4 - March 17 One already taken for the WTA today. Maria Kirilenko vs Mallory Burdette I’m keen to get on the American Burdette here as she’s got plenty of momentum under her belt and is playing well on these Californian hard courts which are suiting her big hitting style. With Kirilenko still on the mend following her shoulder operation after the Doha event, Burdette does have the attributes that could unsettle and really test the Russian here. By all accounts Kirilenko didn’t look comfortable for much of her second round match up against McHale and it seems a case that the McHale lost her head at a set and a break up. I don’t know enough about Burdette to rule out the possibility of that happening here, but unlike her American compatriot on Friday, she’ll be on an outside court with no TV coverage scheduled so the pressure and expectation should be a little bit less. Burdette +1.5 sets 2.08 at Sporting Bet (3 units) Burdette to win 3.75 at Ladbrokes (1.5 units) :hope I also think there a little bit of value on Jo Larrson today up against Sara Errani, for similar reasons to those which I wrote about in Errani's previous match against Lino. Errani (as well as her Spanish opponent) played terribly in that match, both struggled to hold serve for large periods of the match, so if Larsson can get her serve going then she may be able to get a foothold. At odds of 6.0 for the win its worth some consideration, although the H2H is massively in Errani's favour (5-0)

[March 4 - March 17]

Re: March 4 - March 17 Good to see sliders Mayer pick come through.

Shuai Peng vs Alex Dulgheru It’s great to have Dulgheru back and I believe unlike many players that return too earlier that she and her team have been managing her return to action well. This has meant she’s fresh and raring to go at Indian Wells. I wanted to take a punt on her in round one against de Brito but felt it was advisable to wait and see how she held up and by all accounts she put in a good performance, no concerns about her knee or her general game taking a convincing win against the Portuguese qualifier. If she continues that form into this one then she stands half a chance against a player struggling for consistency over the last year (particulary in events outside of Asia) and one she leads 1-0 in the H2H thanks to a comprehensive win on the Miami hard courts back in 2011. Dulgheru to win a set 1.83 at bwin (4 units) :ok Dulgheru to win 3.25 at Stan James (2 units):\

Well this one was closer that I thought after Dulgheru was bageled in the first set. Still she didn't quite have the legs to complete the turnaround with Peng winning 60 46 63. +1.18 units profits

[March 4 - March 17]

Re: March 4 - March 17 Hmmm, I'm considering Mayer here myself Slider, he hasn't a great record on hard courts but with Youznhy all over the shop in his matches this season he might not need to put that much pressure on the Russian to snatch at least a set here . Anyway one taken for the first matches of the day; Shuai Peng vs Alex Dulgheru It’s great to have Dulgheru back and I believe unlike many players that return too earlier that she and her team have been managing her return to action well. This has meant she’s fresh and raring to go at Indian Wells. I wanted to take a punt on her in round one against de Brito but felt it was advisable to wait and see how she held up and by all accounts she put in a good performance, no concerns about her knee or her general game taking a convincing win against the Portuguese qualifier. If she continues that form into this one then she stands half a chance against a player struggling for consistency over the last year (particulary in events outside of Asia) and one she leads 1-0 in the H2H thanks to a comprehensive win on the Miami hard courts back in 2011. Dulgheru to win a set 1.83 at bwin (4 units) Dulgheru to win 3.25 at Stan James (2 units) :hope

[March 4 - March 17]

Re: March 4 - March 17 Thanks steway

Jelena Jankovic vs Svetlana Kuznetsova Jankovic to win a set 1.73 at skybet (4 units):ok Jankovic to win 2.75 at bet365 (2 units) :\ Sara Errani vs Lourdes Dominguez Lino Lino to win a set 3.75 at skybet (2 units) :ok Lino to win 9.0 at bet365 (1 unit) :\

It's a shame neither of Jankovic or Lino could take the decisive third set, but still +5.42 for the night, taking me back up to +12.65 for the tournament.

[March 4 - March 17]

Re: March 4 - March 17 Jelena Jankovic vs Svetlana Kuznetsova This is an interesting game between two former heavyweights of the womens game, which I suspect will be a lot closer than the odds are suggesting. Both ladies have been in good form since the start of the season, with Jankovic particularly impressing in Bogata last month, taking a confidence boosting first tour title in over three years. This followed on from decent performances at the back end of last season and in Australia in January and showed she was over the abdomen injury that dogged here after the Aussie Open and her preparation for Dubai. She’ll meet the Russian Kuznetsova in good shape, but still quite erratic with a number of her matches this season being quite up and down and she’s been taken into three setters a number of times. The head to head swings slighty in Jankovic’s favour, and its worth noting that the Serb has never failed to take a set of Kuznetsova in any of their outdoor hard matches. Jankovic to win a set 1.73 at skybet (4 units) Jankovic to win 2.75 at bet365 (2 units) Sara Errani vs Lourdes Dominguez Lino Ok this still seems a little crazy but there is definite value on Lino at this price so I’m going to take a punt with a low stake. Its fully possible that Errani may have learnt from her mistakes (and she’s certainly helped by the first round bye) but last year she came into this event after winning on the clay in Acapulco the week before and bombed at the first hurdle losing to Vania King. Of course she’s had a longer period to adjust but having already played a lot of tennis this season with runs in Paris and Dubai prior to her win in Mexico last week as well as plenty of doubles action, then it’s not inconceivable that she may try and conserve something here in an event where she has nothing to defend. There will certainly be number of clay court events (esp Budapest and Barcelona) in the next couple of months that will be a priority because of her successes last year. If she isn’t fully focussed then Lino might be able to trouble her. The head to head is one sided but they’ve all been on clay but Lino was able to take a set in the only hard court match they’ve played. She’s also defending points from last year where she made the round of 32 beating Lisicki on her way and that’s another slight advantage that could balance things up. Lino to win a set 3.75 at skybet (2 units) Lino to win 9.0 at bet365 (1 unit) :hope

[March 4 - March 17]

Re: March 4 - March 17

Victor Hanescu vs Kevin Anderson To me Hanescu is too decent a player to be at such long odds against the big serving Anderson, particularly with the South African still trying to find his momentum again after surgery a month or so ago. He played in Delray Beach last week and didn’t look at his best, conceding a set to Lu and then falling in straight sets to Isner. If he is a little bit rusty then Hanescu is the type of aggressive player that will try and not let him settle early on and has a good enough array of shots to keep Anderson ,who can be a little flat footed at times, on the move. It will of course be tough for Hanescu to overcome Andersons power, but he’s beaten him twice before on clay and took a set off him a couple of years ago on Auckland hard courts so it’s feasible that he can snatch something here. Certainly if he plays as well as he can then the Romanian should be taking Anderson to a tiebreak or two (as he did in Auckland)and these situations can often swing on luck rather than overall quality. Hanescu to win a set 2.50 at William Hills (3 units) Hanescu to win 5.0 at bet365 (1.5 units)

Hanescu was unable to capitilise on an early break and eventually went down in straight sets 7-6 6-3. Down to +7.23 for the tournament.

[March 4 - March 17]

Re: March 4 - March 17 Taken one so far this evening, again where the price seem a bit too long. Victor Hanescu vs Kevin Anderson To me Hanescu is too decent a player to be at such long odds against the big serving Anderson, particularly with the South African still trying to find his momentum again after surgery a month or so ago. He played in Delray Beach last week and didn’t look at his best, conceding a set to Lu and then falling in straight sets to Isner. If he is a little bit rusty then Hanescu is the type of aggressive player that will try and not let him settle early on and has a good enough array of shots to keep Anderson ,who can be a little flat footed at times, on the move. It will of course be tough for Hanescu to overcome Andersons power, but he’s beaten him twice before on clay and took a set off him a couple of years ago on Auckland hard courts so it’s feasible that he can snatch something here. Certainly if he plays as well as he can then the Romanian should be taking Anderson to a tiebreak or two (as he did in Auckland)and these situations can often swing on luck rather than overall quality. Hanescu to win a set 2.50 at William Hills (3 units) Hanescu to win 5.0 at bet365 (1.5 units) :hope

[March 4 - March 17]

Re: March 4 - March 17

Marina Erakovic vs Shahar Peer From a value perspective it’s difficult to not take something on Peer, at what is in my opinion a stand out price. The Israeli Peer had a difficult year in 2012, with a number of injuries and some issues with her coach. She’s now as far as I’m aware working under a new coach and whilst results haven’t quite been there yet she seems to be a lot happier and should be able to work her way back up the rankings and into better form as the year goes on. When she does that she can be a handful on hard courts and let’s not forget she was a quarter finalists here just two years ago. Erakovic despite a decent start to the season has no real pedigree on outdoor hard courts and if she’s motivated enough for this one then Peer can certainly cause Erakovic plenty of headaches. Slightly lower stake than I would normally put on due to the question marks over Peer still. Peer +1.5 sets 2.66 at 188bet (3 units) :ok Peer to win 5.5 at bet365 (1.5 units) :ok

Great start to the tournament for me here, +11.73 units. What do people make of Oudin vs Keys tonight? At 5.0 the price on Oudin seems a little too high given that she beat her younger opponent on American hard courts in an ITF tournmanent just a couple of months ago. However Oudin's form since then has been poor whilst Keys started the season brilliantly on the Austrailian hard court swing. However youngsters like Keys can still be gloriously inconsistent and she maybe focused more on Miami given her run to the last 64 their last year. Has anyone seen Oudin in action recently?

[March 4 - March 17]

Re: March 4 - March 17

Hi everyone, Sorry for an off-topic but as you are aware we have around 4 weeks of some good tennis coming up. First Indian Wells then Miami. My question is, where do you normally watch your matches or highlights? I'm based in the UK but there aren't too many options for me to watch tennis on the tele. What would you recommend? Have you ever used tennistv? Is it any good or is it better to stick with the free streaming? I've tried bet365 as well but to be honest with you the quality of the picture does not allow to watch the matches at any higher resolution and what follows it's not a pleasure at all to follow where the ball landed. I'd appreciate your help. Cheers, Mark

TV coverage for Indian Wells never starts until the first weekend, and I believe its the same with Miami as well. TennisTV is probably the best option for you, the quality of the streams is pretty high, and coverage is comprehensive with plenty of highlights and replays packages to help catch up on matches you may have missed. The contract is a monthly one (£15) so you can cancel at the end of Miami. There are a couple of other options that may be useful as well. British Eurosport have decent coverage of the womens event, around 6 hours a day for the earlier rounds normally & you can subscribe to their online Eurosport player for mimimal cost (£3)and no set contract. The mens draw is covered by Sky, and although more expensive you can subscribe to skygo for about £30 a month, and get live access to all the sports channels for tennis plus everything else they offer, again I don't believe there is any set contract.

[March 4 - March 17]

Re: March 4 - March 17 Marina Erakovic vs Shahar Peer From a value perspective it’s difficult to not take something on Peer, at what is in my opinion a stand out price. The Israeli Peer had a difficult year in 2012, with a number of injuries and some issues with her coach. She’s now as far as I’m aware working under a new coach and whilst results haven’t quite been there yet she seems to be a lot happier and should be able to work her way back up the rankings and into better form as the year goes on. When she does that she can be a handful on hard courts and let’s not forget she was a quarter finalists here just two years ago. Erakovic despite a decent start to the season has no real pedigree on outdoor hard courts and if she’s motivated enough for this one then Peer can certainly cause Erakovic plenty of headaches. Slightly lower stake than I would normally put on due to the question marks over Peer still. Peer +1.5 sets 2.66 at 188bet (3 units) Peer to win 5.5 at bet365 (1.5 units) :hope There seems to be slim pickings for the rest of the first round action in the womens event, although I’m keeping an eye of the price of Jovanovski vs Muguruzu, at 2.26 the Serb looks decent value.

[February 25 - March 3]

Re: February 25 - March 3

Ok, one more for the weekend to bide me over until Indian Wells starts next week. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Bethanie Mattek Sands Just a quick write up given that this one starts shortly. Mattek-Sands is doing well this tournament and whilst she can be pretty infuriating at times when she’s on it she is a tough player to come up against. She’s has an in your face style of play and can ruffle a few feathers when she wants and her Russian opponent here is someone who may struggle with the American’s aggressive style. In the last two meetings Mattek – Sands has been able to take a set off Pavlyuchenkova and if she carries on her momentum from the victory over number one seed Hseih then she may even be able to upset the odds further. Mattek Sands +1.5 sets 1.93 at sportingbet (4 units) Mattek Sands to win 3.4 at sportingbet (2 units)

Both of these were winners, with Mattek Sands settting up a rather unexpected final with Pliskova. It'll be interesting to see how that one gets priced up. Anyway +8.52 for the match, so +30.27 for the week.

[February 25 - March 3]

Re: February 25 - March 3 Ok, one more for the weekend to bide me over until Indian Wells starts next week. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs Bethanie Mattek Sands Just a quick write up given that this one starts shortly. Mattek-Sands is doing well this tournament and whilst she can be pretty infuriating at times when she’s on it she is a tough player to come up against. She’s has an in your face style of play and can ruffle a few feathers when she wants and her Russian opponent here is someone who may struggle with the American’s aggressive style. In the last two meetings Mattek – Sands has been able to take a set off Pavlyuchenkova and if she carries on her momentum from the victory over number one seed Hseih then she may even be able to upset the odds further. Mattek Sands +1.5 sets 1.93 at sportingbet (4 units) Mattek Sands to win 3.4 at sportingbet (2 units) :hope

[February 25 - March 3]

Re: February 25 - March 3

Ayumi Morita vs Luksika Khumkum Khumkum +4.5 games 1.90 at bwin (5 units) :\ Khumkum to win 3.30 at betvictor (2.5 units):\ Tomas Berdych vs Roger Federer Berdych to win a set 2.0 at William Hill (3 units) :ok Berdych to win 3.60 at Ladbrokes (2 units) :ok Richard Berankis vs Edouard Vasselin Richard Berankis to win 1.67 at William Hill (4 units):\

Gutted I took the games handicap on Khumkum rather than the set handicap that I was also weighing up. -3.3 for the day, takes me down to +21.75 for the week.

[February 25 - March 3]

Re: February 25 - March 3 Again as with Querry last night, I actually quite fancied Dodig here as the value bet but with Regnavetto and Czech going big on Haas I’d probably missed something so swerved that one. Still I like the look of another match tonight in Delray Beach. Richard Berankis vs Edouard Vasselin Berankis can be a tricky man to stop when he gets on a run of wins particularly at American based hard court events , something which we’ve seen a few times in the 12 months or so. He reached the last 32 at the Aussie Open after coming through qualifying, and did a similar thing in both Atalanta and LA last year, reaching the final at the latter. For me this current run is baring all the hallmarks of those two tournaments last July, and with the Lithuanian being the much more confident player on hard courts than his French opponent I can see this run continuing for a little while longer. I’m disappointed that I missed him at 15.0 to win the tournament earlier in the day as Ladbrokes have just taken down that market, but I’m going to keep an eye on the price when it goes back up. Richard Berankis to win 1.67 at William Hill (4 units) :hope

[February 25 - March 3]

Re: February 25 - March 3 Yeah excellent calls on Gulbis in here, didn't see any of the match but impressed that Gulbis was able to fight back from 4-0 down in the third. He does seem to way more motivated in recent weeks than we've seen for a while. I've got a couple of picks so far for tomorrow Ayumi Morita vs Luksika Khumkum Following the close call with Maia earlier in the week I’m going to try backing another emergent youngster in Khumkum to cause a few problems in this quarter final in Kuala Lumpur. The young Thai was always a strong performer at ITF level and has slowing been moving up onto the WTA circuit since the second half of last year. Whilst results haven’t always gone her way performances have generally been good and there’s been further improvement since the turn of the year, notably a last 64 slot at the Aussie Open followed by consistent upsetting of the odds against higher ranks opponents such as Kirilenko, Dellacqua and Daniilidou. The victory over the latter in round two here was pretty impressive & despite qualifying here she looks fresh (helped no doubt by the rain delays) as well as being extremely confident. Morita is of course a step up again but she’s not a player that’s going to strike fear into too many opponents and whilst she’s technically sound she does quite often flatter to deceive. Khumkum +4.5 games 1.90 at bwin (5 units) Khumkum to win 3.30 at betvictor (2.5 units) Tomas Berdych vs Roger Federer Smaller stakes on this one, as Federer looks to be playing well and has the added motivation having won here last year. However I think it is fair to say that Roger has faded a little in the last couple of years and is a bit more prone to the odd slip up. He’s already fallen to Benneteau earlier this month in Rotterdam (another event where he was defending his crown), and has struggled against Berdych on outdoor hard courts in the last 18 months, losing twice most recently at last years US Open. Indeed over his career on this surface the h2h reads 4-4 so Federer has no obvious advantage in that regards, and in general on all surfaces Berdych has been able to push Federer harder recently, taking atleast one set in 7 of the last 8 matches played. I do actually think that the Swiss may get through to another final here but I don’t think the odds truly reflect how tough Berdych can make it, so this is more a value pick than anything else. Berdych to win a set 2.0 at William Hill (3 units) Berdych to win 3.60 at Ladbrokes (2 units) :hope

[February 25 - March 3]

Re: February 25 - March 3

Juan Martin Del Potro vs Daniel Brands Del Potro doesn’t quite seem to be firing on all cylinders at the moment and whilst he was able to retain his crown in Rotterdam, elsewhere there has been nothing much to shout about in these early weeks of the season. That’s continued to be the case this week, with Baghdatis pushing him to a third set tie breaker, and earlier today he was hardly convincing or clinical against a weaker opponent in Devarman, squandering a number of break points in an unspectacular victory. Brands is a tough guy to play, with a game based around his big serve which is working well for him so far this tournament. Just in the last game against Youznhy he was winning almost 80% of his service points and offered the Russian nothing in the way of break points and I expect that for much of this match the German will be able to keep up with serve. Certainly that was the case when these two met last year on hard courts in Vienna, with Del Potro needing 3 sets (and 3 tie breaks) to take the win. If Brands can get Del Potro into such tight situations again then he stands half a chance of knicking something. Brands to win a set 3.0 at skybet (2.5 units) Brands to win 6.0 at bet365 (1.5 units)

This one was never really close to coming in. -4 units, taking me to +25.05 for the week.

[February 25 - March 3]

Re: February 25 - March 3 Taking an early one for tommorow; Juan Martin Del Potro vs Daniel Brands Del Potro doesn’t quite seem to be firing on all cylinders at the moment and whilst he was able to retain his crown in Rotterdam, elsewhere there has been nothing much to shout about in these early weeks of the season. That’s continued to be the case this week, with Baghdatis pushing him to a third set tie breaker, and earlier today he was hardly convincing or clinical against a weaker opponent in Devarman, squandering a number of break points in an unspectacular victory. Brands is a tough guy to play, with a game based around his big serve which is working well for him so far this tournament. Just in the last game against Youznhy he was winning almost 80% of his service points and offered the Russian nothing in the way of break points and I expect that for much of this match the German will be able to keep up with serve. Certainly that was the case when these two met last year on hard courts in Vienna, with Del Potro needing 3 sets (and 3 tie breaks) to take the win. If Brands can get Del Potro into such tight situations again then he stands half a chance of knicking something. Brands to win a set 3.0 at skybet (2.5 units) Brands to win 6.0 at bet365 (1.5 units) :hope Hoping to take a handicap as well, but waiting for odds to come up. I also feel the Querrey now at 1.83 offers the best value of the nights games but with Czech & Regnavetto going against him, I've decided to swerve on that one.

[February 25 - March 3]

Re: February 25 - March 3

Beatriz Haddad Maia vs Melinda Czink Maia to win a set 2.20 at Paddy Power (4 units) :ok Maia to win 4.33 at betvictor (2.5 units):\

This was agonisingly close, with Maia eventually going down in a third set tie break. Still +2.3 units for the match, so up to 29.05 units for the week.

[February 25 - March 3]

Re: February 25 - March 3 I've not had much time to look at markets for today, but nothing jumps out in any of the mens events at the moment. The only thing catching my eye is this one in the WTA event in Brazil. Beatriz Haddad Maia vs Melinda Czink Backing a 16 year old virtual unknown has the capacity to go completely wrong, but I just don’t think that anyone warrants being such a big price against someone as unspectacular as Czink. The Hungarian herself has been known for mishaps in the recent past and has never been the most consistent player in games or between tournaments. The Brazilian Maia will obviously benefit from being on home ground and whilst she isn’t the most experienced she has recently played some Fed Cup matches for Brazil and featured in a junior slam final playing the doubles at Rolland Garros last year. She demolished her first round opponent ranked 300+ places above her and has done ok in her fleeting appearances on hard courts consistently beating or pushing higher rated opponents close. The element of surprise could also help the young Brazilian out here. Maia to win a set 2.20 at Paddy Power (4 units) Maia to win 4.33 at betvictor (2.5 units) :hope

[February 25 - March 3]

Re: February 25 - March 3

Jo Wilfred Tsonga vs Michael Llodra Llodra to win a set 2.50 at Paddy Power (5 units) :ok Llodra to win 6.0 at Stan James (2.5 units):ok Janko Tipsarevic vs Nikolay Davydenko Tipsarevic to win 1.80 at Coral (5 units) :\ Juan Martin Del Potro vs Marcos Baghdatis Baghdatis to win a set 2.35 at Bwin (5 units) :ok Baghdatis to win 5.0 at Bet365 (2.5 units) :\ Kei Nishikori vs Ivo Karlovic Karlovic +1.5 sets 2.0 at boylesports (5 units) VOID Karlovic to win 4.0 at Ladbrokes (2.5 units) :ok

Not a bad start to the week for me, Ladbrokes pay out on retirements and with them having the best price too i'm pleased I went with them for Karlovic. +26.75 units for the day. Excellent work by Regnavetto too.