Tennis - 25-31 October

[Atko]

In here :ok

[Atko]

Re: Tennis - 25-31 October Four selections for tomorrow's action in the men's tournaments. - Edouard Roger-Vasselin -2.5 games AH (vs Frederico Gil) @ 1.885 with Pinnacle (6/10) I can't get away from the French player in this match-up in Montpellier. There wouldn't be a huge amount between them on clay but I expect Roger-Vasselin to win indoors. They've met twice before - Gil winning on clay but Roger-Vasselin on hard - so I think that shows the relative surface strengths of each. Gil is a plucky player but hasn't got a huge game and he often struggles with timing and bounce judgement in these conditions. He's been playing in clay events in the lead-up to Montpellier and I don't think he comes here adequately prepared. Roger-Vasselin was in Orleans last week playing a Challenger and generally picks up a few wins in these lower-classed French events. He took Xavier Malisse fairly close in Metz earlier this month and has beaten guys such as Juan Martin Del Potro in the past on such surface. That form alone is better than anything Gil has to offer. I think he should be getting past Gil and a -2.5 game handicap isn't a great deal to ask for. - Jan Hajek (vs Pere Riba) @ 1.862 with Pinnacle (5/10) I'm going with the more experienced indoor player here in Vienna. These two guys are not exactly set-the-pulse-racing players but one has to win, and I reckon it'll be Hajek. He got wiped off the court by Tobias Kamke last week but the German was coming into form after a Challenger win and is comfortable in the conditions. Riba is essentially a clay courter. He's never played a Tour match indoors and was in South America as early as last week playing in clay challengers. I reckon indoor conditions here are going to be too quick for Riba's liking. Hajek has only won a handful of matches indoors but he's played in such an environment more often and, for my money, is a little stronger on serve and a bit more consistent. This won't be a classic but reckon Hajek will do the job, especially as he's defending ranking points from last year here. - Arnaud Clement -2 games AH (vs Albert Montanes) @ 1.943 with Pinnacle (5/10) I'm very surprised to see Montanes in Montpellier and I'm assuming he's only here to make up his quota of 250 tournaments. Montanes is ranked 23 in the world but he's not there because of his indoor attributes. He'd be a 60-80 player in these conditions because he is a clay courter by trade. There's no doubt he's improved on quicker surfaces but he's not played an indoor match this year. Clement's not the force he was but he's still capable of putting on a show and I expect his motivation to be very high in France. He was in Stockholm last week and lost to Ivan Ljubcic, but before that had messed up Olivier Rochus, bagelling the Belgian. I wouldn't expect such antics but Clement is going to be more comfortable out here. He's beaten Montanes twice before in their only meetings which suggests the Spaniard isn't wild about coming up against him. I reckon Montanes is here for the cheque and if Clement's motivated for this, I expect him to cover a two-game line. - Martin Fischer +2.5 games AH (vs Andreas Seppi) @ 1.943 with Pinnacle (4/10) I think it would be fair to call this a speculative bet, but there's quite often a wee shock in such small events involving a home player and Seppi has history of crashing out to such. He lost in Bucharest a few events back to Adrian Ungur in the first round. He's mentally quite a frail player and I reckon he doesn't concentrate nearly as much as he should when he's playing lower-ranked players. He lost in Vienna at the first hurdle in the last two years, last year going out to Jan Hajek. He is a better player overall than Fischer but I expect the 24-year-old Austrian to raise his game here. He's had a very good year, a career best, and comes into this event with some practice on this surface in Orleans. When he's been up against bigger players in the Slams this season, he's run them extremely close. He took Thomaz Bellucci to four close sets at SW19 (three of which were breakers) and took Horacio Zeballos to 6-8 in the fifth at Roland Garros. There's no doubting his ability to compete with these guys. Seppi can be brilliant but he can also be very flaky, and it wouldn't surprise me to see Fischer give him a real run for his money by taking a set or keeping it extremely close. :hope