amity

Alexander Shevchenko to beat Daniel Evans at 2.40 with Unibet
Fully agree with @MJT here after taking a second look at the card. Shevchenko is motivated, you just can't get rid of him, and he really took the fight to Korda in the previous round, even though he was a big underdog and even though Korda wasn't bad at all for the first two sets before falling apart with an injury. Evans can be a bit sluggish these days, and his overall game plan is starting to get hit by his age unfortunately.

Punters Lounge EFL Championship Preview. Hosted by our very own Darran Pearce and our Football League expert @GabSutton 
League 1 and 2 are to come. 
 

Well I'm still waiting on Yuan after yesterday's rain, and I'm not feeling it elsewhere. Will take a look again later on, maybe I'll post a bet or two. Good luck everyone!

Cheers @Torque Hopefully due a bit of luck after that Ofner performance earlier! Started much better so far in Washington which is good.

J Cristian -1.5 Games v E Arango 1.95, Pinnacle
Cristian looked good in her opening round win against former champion Bouzkova. Her backhand in particular was working very well. Cristian beat Arango 6-4 6-2 just a few months ago on clay and I would say on a hard court this would favour her even more. She has a decent serve and really pushed Haddad Maia at Wimbledon. Not been overly impressed with Arango's results on hard courts whereas Cristian has been picking up some good wins this year against the likes of Tauson & Wickmayer. Willing to side with her here if she can reproduce the form she did in her last match.

Awful performance from Medjedovic. No idea why he didn't retire given he was clearly not fit and took the MTO in the 1st set. So frustrating when you see a player clearly injured but yet decides to continue to play putting in pretty much zero effort. Will be avoiding him now until next season at the earliest. 

This is some dire effort from Medjeduvic. 🙈 
Not touching with him a barge pole again after this 'phoned it in' performance. 🤦‍♂️

Will be rooting for Wawrinka in the finals today, great to see him in that position again!

U Humber -1.5 Games v A Vukic 1.83, Bet365 (NAP)
Was really impressed with Humbert in his 7-6 6-4 victory over number 2 seed De Minaur. Vukic doesn’t particularly have the greatest return game and in baseline rallies I would favour Humbert to get the better of most. I struggle to see what Vukic can do to hurt Humbert in this match up really. He would have to serve incredibly well and hit a large number of winners which I think he may struggle to do over a sustained period. Even if this was close and went to 3 sets every chance Humbert can cover this line.
A Zverev v A Fils Over 21.5 Games 1.85, William Hill (NB)
I think this could be a little closer than the odds suggest. Fils was excellent yesterday in his crushing 6-0 6-4 victory over the number 1 seed Ruud and is a player with huge potential. He seems to be really enjoying the conditions in Hamburg and playing some great tennis having yet to drop a set this week. The same can also be said for Zverev and he is still the favourite in this match up but I would not be at all surprised if there is either a very close set (7/5 or 7/6) or if Fils even takes this to 3. Although Zverev is playing well he is still not quite at the level yet he was before his injury last year and as long as Fils continues to serve well with his usual aggressive game he will prove to be a real test for Zverev here. 
L Djere v Z Zhang Over 22.5 Games 1.92, Unibet
Both players have been playing some great tennis this week and this should be a very good match. Djere continued his impressive head to head record against Musetti winning 7-5 6-3. Zhang after beating Hanfmann followed up that victory against another German player Altmaier in straight sets 6-4 6-4. The slow and damp conditions in Hamburg have really suited the powerful Zhang game this week as it allows him to hit through his opponents. Zhang often has moments in sets where he is pretty unplayable so I can see this one being either a very close 2 setter or most likely going to 3. Djere is a great player to back on Clay when underdog but he is never really someone I would trust as favourite.

I'll be leaving Saturday alone betting-wise, but good luck to everyone who's getting stuck in!

Ruud (vs. Fils) + Zverev (vs. van Assche) at 1.56 with Bet365
Going with a small fav combo tomorrow. Ruud showed good fight in his comeback today, while Zverev has been dominant so far as well. Plenty of points and money on the line here, so the motivation should be there.

It's mad isn't it. The ONLY positive is that he is now in the group where my outright are and Saengkham got through today. So, in effect, to make the final we're looking at :
Wakelin
Saengkahm
Winner of (Jak Jones/Craigie/M.White/Long)
Winner of (Yuelong/Guodong/Woollaston/Holt)
that's one open group. Winner of it is in the final. Yes, they'll play Trump or Mark Williams but each-way placing as a minimum.

Wakelin chose yesterday to put in one of his brilliant spells. No doubt he'll revert to his normal mediocre standard after this! 

Wakelin chose yesterday to put in one of his brilliant spells. No doubt he'll revert to his normal mediocre standard after this! 

4 180s and a high checkout of 86. Seriously? 86 highest break when you have played 18 legs. The quality in some of these matches has been shocking..

The start of the 2nd stage today and Group E, comprising of Kyren Wilson, Chris Wakelin, Anthony Hamilton & Sam Lam. Despite being 4/6, I just can't see past Kyren winning this group. 4 centuries already in this and topping his group with 3 wins from 3 and conceding just 1 frame. Might not be fantastic odds but I can't see past it.
6pts K.Wilson to win Group E 4/6 Willhill

Michelsen breadsticked Kei Nishikori in the third set. The 18 y.o California kid means business! I'm not gonna bet on his semifinal today though. I'll place a bet on the other semi instead. The French fella is a reliable server and has too much firepower for Shimizu. 
G.M Perricard to beat Yuta Shimizu at 1.53 with bet365
I'm also adding: Richard Gasquet to win in straight sets against Daniel Rincon at 2.1 with bet365
 

Great call. For tomorrow I think I'll go for Over 40.5 on Alcaraz - Djokovic. I personally think Djokovic will win again but it's not going to be easy. Even if Alcaraz wins the 40.5 line should be a pretty easy over. 

Alex Michelsen (+1.5 sets) to beat Kei Nishikori at 1.72 with bet365 (Challenger Chicago, USA)
Nishikori is trying to make a big comeback and the signs are positive, but the young American has impressed me a lot with his game so far. I think he's immensely talented and it'll be a shame if he doesn't find a way to bring this talent into fruition at some point. He's definitely capable of beating Nishikori today, let alone grabbing a set.

Seems like this has come back around very quickly. How time flies. The World Matchplay is a huge event. Only the Worlds would get more appeal really. I mentioned last year that it's normally won by 'big' players and that happened once again last year, with MVG beating Price in the final.
It kicks off July 15th and runs til 23rd July, at the Winter Gardens. It's a much longer leg format and that will be part of the reason that the very best normally win this one.
I think the best bet comes in the shape of Van Den Bergh. He has the best draw and you can get 28/1 for him in some places. If we divide the draw into sections and we look to the likely winner then we see M.Smith in 1, Price in 2, MVG in 4 and Van Den Bergh in 3. This section has Clayton (who I thought about), Searle, Gilding, RVB.  Whilst I can see Clayton beating Van Den Bergh, I just don't think you can ignore the past success that Van Den Bergh has had, here.
I'll take 2 from the top half and 2 from the bottom half. I was temped with Dobey after some decent performances at the Players Championship. I am also keen to see how De Sousa performs. In reality though, I think Van Den Bergh is some solid value.
interesting that Betfred are going 4 places for this (1/4th off the odds instead of 1/2) but in an event where it's normally won by a big player that doesn't interest me.
2pts e/w Van Den Bergh to win World Matchplay 28/1 William Hill
1.5pt e/w Chisnall to win World Matchplay 25/1 William Hill
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0.75pts e/w Cullen to win World Matchplay 80/1 Skybet
0.75pts e/w Gilding to win World Matchplay 150/1 Paddypower

I have a small wager at 500/1 e/w on Eubanks to win the title but I think it comes to an end today. Truth be told he was lucky to beat Tsitsipas, who was the better player for most of the match I would say, and it was really only in the last two sets that Eubanks upped his level enough to edge out the Greek, but I can't see Meds allowing the same to happen.
Eubanks might be able to keep the pressure on enough to grab a set but it will take a poor day at the office for the Russian and a very good one for the American, for him to make it through to the semis.

I don't think much has changed since they played each other in the final last year - except for the prices, which are reversed. On that basis, Jabeur might represent some value but even so I think Rybakina wins as she handles the big moments better. Part of that is down to having a metronomic game style which means everything is repeatable and that's in stark contrast to Jabeur, who has lots of variety in her game and who sometimes seems to be unable to decide which shot to play out of the myriad of shots she possesses. When you're under pressure you want to be able to fall back on patterns of play that don't require too much thought and in that sense Rybakina has the edge.

Congrats on the people that went for Eubanks. I'll try Alcaraz as well.

Keys to beat Kartal 2-0 at 1.67 with Bet365
Keys in great form winning the title last week. Bit of rest and now against Kartal who is multiple levels below Keys, in her first MD match here. She won't deal with Keys' serve and will be like a rabbit in headlights.