Tennis - 1-9 January

[Iwoo]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Thanks guys, hope the results will deliver the goods ! anyway I forgot to mention that the odds are from my local online bookie. And about the Giraldo, probably he prefers quicker surfaces due to his nice serve he has, I just pointed the he spent a bit more time on "dust" in the past...

[Atko]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Final three from me for the day. - Florian Mayer vs Bernard Tomic - Bernard Tomic +3.5 games AH @ 1.90 with 188bet (3/10) I've been pondering this one all day and now that the money has come for Tomic, I'm going to bite on the handicap. It is as low as 1.80 in some places so feel this represents a bit of value too. Tomic is one of the game's rising stars. He hasn't done a great deal on the Tour but in Australia, a year older and wiser than before, I feel he'll give Mayer a good game here. Tomic isn't about power, he loves to move his opponent about and that won't suit the German, who doesn't move especially well. Tomic reminds me of Murray a little in the way he plays. Lovely languid strokes, he crafts points. Mayer is no mug, and I expect him to win this, but Tomic can keep this close, either by nicking a set or keeping the score close. Mayer can be flaky; Tomic is not without a chance in this one. - Guillermo Garcia-Lopez vs Mikhail Kukushkin - Guillermo Garcia-Lopez -2 games AH @ 1.92 with Pinnacle (3/10) This is another that I've had in my thoughts and I've decided to strike. Garcia-Lopez had a really good 2010. He won a tournament, rattled up the rankings and took some notable scalps (Nadal, Berdych). The question is obviously whether he can repeat that. Time will tell, but I reckon he can cover the line against Kukushkin. The Kazakh also had a fine year but mainly indoors. I don't think a slowish hard court will suit his game, while Garcia-Lopez will enjoy the plexicushion more. The Spaniard is a notch above Kukushkin in terms of quality and I reckon he'll be able to cover this. - Illya Marchenko vs Mischa Zverev - Mischa Zverev @ 2.11 with 188bet (2/10) My smallest bet of the day so far but I reckon Zverev can take this. Both men are probably best indoors but Zverev has little pockets of form on all surfaces. He's a very able player, better than his ranking suggests, but he's been badly curtailed by injuries, and hasn't been able to kick on. I'm going on him being fit at the start of the season, and a fully fit Zverev is better than Marchenko. The Ukrainian is a solild enough player but might find Zverev's variation, especially his forays to the net, difficult to deal with. I'd take this with a bookie that voids retirements given Zverev's history, but if he's near 100%, he's my pick to win this. :hope

[Atko]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January

Thanks guys, hope the results will deliver the goods ! anyway I forgot to mention that the odds are from my local online bookie. And about the Giraldo, probably he prefers quicker surfaces due to his nice serve he has, I just pointed the he spent a bit more time on "dust" in the past...

Yeah his serve and his forehand should work well on a hard court because of his power, but he doesn't get as much time and the ball doesn't sit up as much as on clay, which is why his results are good there. Surprising to see him favour the hard to be honest, but hey ho. I hope he loses tomorrow...

[Iwoo]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Adding two more for tonight for a bit smaller stake : Flavio Cipolla @1,60 vs Matteo Viola CH in Noumea, New Caledonia Two italians meet each other but one of them knows Noumea hard courts a bit better and thats Cippola. He won here in 2008, and last year he made it to the finals where he lost to Florian Mayer. He mostly plays on clay but has also some success on hard courts like here in Noumea, 2nd round of Aus open, 3rd at Us open and both with passing qualies there... On the other hand younger Viola plays almost only on clay and almost only in Italy and neighbouring country's... and now he plays on another continent and his less favoured surface ! Last year he was thrashed 2 times out of 3 matches when played on hard, 2set losses vs players on Cipolla's level (6-2 6-0 was one of the them) so I really believe Cipolla got some nice chances to win here, especially since he knows the conditions very well her in Caledonia and has way much more matches on hard court than his opponent today.

[Iwoo]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Marion Bartoli vs. Vania King - over 19,5 @ 1,85 Head-to-Head matches: 2009 WTA Monterrey (MEX) Hard Marion Bartoli Vania King 2-6 6-2 6-3 2007 WTA Kolkata (IND) I_Hard Vania King Marion Bartoli 6-1 7-5 American King already has 3 matches under her belt here in Brisbane - passed through qualifications, won vs Karatantcheva, Razzano and Riske, only with Razzano in 3 sets. Very solid wins IMO and its always nice to have some more practice on the courts than your opponent and especially on the first tournament of the year. She's against very tricky player today, chubby Marion Bartoli with her really unusual style of play- double handed backhand AND forehand! Its quite uncommon and even harder due to her weight to play that kind of style, because when you are hitting the ball by two handed FH and BH you need to be much more closer to the ball - and that means more running - and that not her best part of game... Anyway I think it could be a bit closer match than the odds suggest, last times these two met was a 3 setter, why not this time also...

[Psycho]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Hello everybody in 2011! Kinda not ready for the new season yet. Maybe something nice will come up. As far as the early going is concerned a lot of crap players involved and the start of the new season is always tricky, no form no nothing, so have to be cautious. Anyway GL to everybody in betting terms in 2011! P.S. Don't get over addicted :rollin

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January I like most of the picks here, but I rarely bet a day in advance and I cannot see much for the first day apart from one from the WTA. 8pts Anna Chakvetadze to bt. Daniela Hantuchova @ 1.83 at Stan James The price has drifted a little, but it is still enough for me. Anna leads the H2H 4-2 and has beaten Hantuchova in the last three metings without much problems. She is still improving, while Hantuchova is a little bit in decline. Both had rather poor form at the end of the year, but I think Chakvetadze has the weapons to get the win here, while Hantuchova will struggle to beat her once again.

[smegmaniac]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January happy new year!! so nice to have the tennis back and some good tipping so far!

[gibraltar]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January

Hello everybody in 2011! Kinda not ready for the new season yet. Maybe something nice will come up. As far as the early going is concerned a lot of crap players involved and the start of the new season is always tricky, no form no nothing, so have to be cautious. Anyway GL to everybody in betting terms in 2011! P.S. Don't get over addicted :rollin

Agreed! Some bets will look great on paper but for all you know the people you're tipping have have had too much turkey and beer at christmas!!

[Boycie]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January First of all hello, and HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!!! I wish you just love and health, for everything else you take care by your own self :ok Just a small contribution from me for now, as it is very hard to find info about form, condition and especially state of minds. I rate this kind of informations most important for the moment and regarding Radek Stepanek, he is satisfied with his off seasion training sessions as he was practicing with 100% so he came to first week of the season with high expectations of (at least) repeat last year success in Brisbane. It doesn't mean this is free money or something like that, just info. Also, don't forget that Kamke is 2010 winner of ATP Newcomer prize.. GL :hope

[TennisExpert]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Sport Tennis Event Dolgopolov - Roddick Selection Dolgopolov +4.5 (Asian-handicap) Strength 10/10 Date 05/01/2011 Bookmaker/Price Pinnacle Sports @ 1.82 Reasoning In my opinion Dolgopolov have very good chance to win with this HC. Dolgopolov is one of the biggest talent in tour, in last year been in TOP40. Have potential to be TOP10 player in future. Dolgopolov in first round here beat without any problems Andreev in two sets, show very confident serve and good tennis on the baseline. Roddick off course have serve advantage, in last season won tournament here, but I don't see easy match for this player. In first round beat Matosevic, but this guy is not Dolgopolov level! I see close match, but Roddick propably take win.

[Atko]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January

Final three from me for the day. - Florian Mayer vs Bernard Tomic - Bernard Tomic +3.5 games AH @ 1.90 with 188bet (3/10) I've been pondering this one all day and now that the money has come for Tomic, I'm going to bite on the handicap. It is as low as 1.80 in some places so feel this represents a bit of value too. Tomic is one of the game's rising stars. He hasn't done a great deal on the Tour but in Australia, a year older and wiser than before, I feel he'll give Mayer a good game here. Tomic isn't about power, he loves to move his opponent about and that won't suit the German, who doesn't move especially well. Tomic reminds me of Murray a little in the way he plays. Lovely languid strokes, he crafts points. Mayer is no mug, and I expect him to win this, but Tomic can keep this close, either by nicking a set or keeping the score close. Mayer can be flaky; Tomic is not without a chance in this one. - Guillermo Garcia-Lopez vs Mikhail Kukushkin - Guillermo Garcia-Lopez -2 games AH @ 1.92 with Pinnacle (3/10) This is another that I've had in my thoughts and I've decided to strike. Garcia-Lopez had a really good 2010. He won a tournament, rattled up the rankings and took some notable scalps (Nadal, Berdych). The question is obviously whether he can repeat that. Time will tell, but I reckon he can cover the line against Kukushkin. The Kazakh also had a fine year but mainly indoors. I don't think a slowish hard court will suit his game, while Garcia-Lopez will enjoy the plexicushion more. The Spaniard is a notch above Kukushkin in terms of quality and I reckon he'll be able to cover this. - Illya Marchenko vs Mischa Zverev - Mischa Zverev @ 2.11 with 188bet (2/10) My smallest bet of the day so far but I reckon Zverev can take this. Both men are probably best indoors but Zverev has little pockets of form on all surfaces. He's a very able player, better than his ranking suggests, but he's been badly curtailed by injuries, and hasn't been able to kick on. I'm going on him being fit at the start of the season, and a fully fit Zverev is better than Marchenko. The Ukrainian is a solild enough player but might find Zverev's variation, especially his forays to the net, difficult to deal with. I'd take this with a bookie that voids retirements given Zverev's history, but if he's near 100%, he's my pick to win this. :hope

Mayer d. Tomic 6-2 6-2 - LOSS Garcia-Lopez d. Kukushkin 6-1 7-6 - WIN Marchenko d. Zverev 7-6 6-4 - LOSS Small loss in today's action, but happy enough with that, got a feel for what's going on today. Looking forward to tomorrow's matches in earnest.

[Psycho]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January I've got 3 selections for Tuesdays matches on ATP... :hope 1) Doha. Rafael Nadal vs Karol Beck. Under 17.5 games. 1.86 @ Unibet. 6/10 Only a few bookies are offering overs/unders for this one and rightly so. 18 games was available with similar odds not so long ago but this one is not bad either. Can't see Beck having much success against world number one. Nadal crushed him 6-1, 6-2 in the same tournament couple years ago and similar outcome is what I expect again. Even one of my all time faves Dani Brands has crushed Beck 2 and 1 last year... 6-3, 6-2 will do for Nadal and it's some couple games more than I reckon it will end up with. 2) Chennai. Alejandro Falla -1.5 AH games vs Rui Machado. 1.84 @ Pinnacle (5/10) Falla ended last year on a very poor run, something like 8 defeats in a row. Not a fan of his, but he should be able to get past Machado who very rarely plays on any other surface than clay. His last win on hard in ATP main draw was against Rik de Voest in US Open 1st round back in 2008. Like I said, he doesn't play on hard that often and is here because of the rankings situation. Falla on paper should not be rated @ 1.70 against a clay courter playing part-time on hard. Taking handicap here on the Colombian. Reckon Falla should be able to win by couple games without any problems. 3) Doha. Lukas Lacko -4 AH vs Pere Riba. 1.83 @ Pinnacle (4/10) Similar thing to the one that in Falla v Machado match. Riba has broken into Top 100 and only because of decent results on clay. He barely plays on hard and has not won a main draw match on ATP level having played two and lost two, both last year. Lacko with much more to offer on faster surfaces. I think 4 games differential is a legit offer here. Riba did beat him last year over 3 sets in Munich but that was on clay. Can't see him achieving the same result here.

[Atko]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January One more to add for tomorrow's action. Heaps of matches, the return of Ivo Karlovic and some names from left-wing (David Goffin, Yuigichi Sugita). Bit of a Challenger feel... - Viktor Troicki vs Sergiy Stakhovsky - Viktor Troicki -3.5 games AH @ 2.04 with Pinnacle (4/10) Troicki had a fabulous end to 2010, winning the Davis Cup for Serbia and improving his ranking. He's a player I expect to challenge for a Top 25 berth. The momentum of the Davis Cup win should spur him on no end and there's the added incentive in Doha of defending ranking points - he got to the semis last year. He's now more than just a server - he's added a rapier forehand and moves around the court a lot better. Stakhovsky's an indoor player for me, he doesn't play particularly well on a slowish hard court outdoor. Potential to serve well and keep it tight but I fear for him in rallies here. He was woeful in the back end of 2010 and I'd wait until he gets back to Eastern Europe before backing him. H2H is 1-1, Troicki won the most recent encounter, both indoors in Zagreb. A break in each set would do this - Troicki's capable of that. :hope

[Atko]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January

I've got 3 selections for Tuesdays matches on ATP... :hope 1) Doha. Rafael Nadal vs Karol Beck. Under 17.5 games. 1.86 @ Unibet. 6/10 Only a few bookies are offering overs/unders for this one and rightly so. 18 games was available with similar odds not so long ago but this one is not bad either. Can't see Beck having much success against world number one. Nadal crushed him 6-1, 6-2 in the same tournament couple years ago and similar outcome is what I expect again. Even one of my all time faves Dani Brands has crushed Beck 2 and 1 last year... 6-3, 6-2 will do for Nadal and it's some couple games more than I reckon it will end up with. 2) Chennai. Alejandro Falla -1.5 AH games vs Rui Machado. 1.84 @ Pinnacle (5/10) Falla ended last year on a very poor run, something like 8 defeats in a row. Not a fan of his, but he should be able to get past Machado who very rarely plays on any other surface than clay. His last win on hard in ATP main draw was against Rik de Voest in US Open 1st round back in 2008. Like I said, he doesn't play on hard that often and is here because of the rankings situation. Falla on paper should not be rated @ 1.70 against a clay courter playing part-time on hard. Taking handicap here on the Colombian. Reckon Falla should be able to win by couple games without any problems. 3) Doha. Lukas Lacko -4 AH vs Pere Riba. 1.83 @ Pinnacle (4/10) Similar thing to the one that in Falla v Machado match. Riba has broken into Top 100 and only because of decent results on clay. He barely plays on hard and has not won a main draw match on ATP level having played two and lost two, both last year. Lacko with much more to offer on faster surfaces. I think 4 games differential is a legit offer here. Riba did beat him last year over 3 sets in Munich but that was on clay. Can't see him achieving the same result here.

Good to see you back mate. You get my vote for newcomer of the year on this forum, some superb work in 2010. Hard to argue with any of those selections. Lacko's maybe a bit too high on the handicap but he should win. Here's to a prosperous 2011 :cheers

[Psycho]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January One WTA, of course :lol for me as well. Auckland. Marina Erakovic +5.5 AH vs Elena Vesnina. 1.79 @ Pinnacle (4/10) Absolutely ridiculous offer here. I reckon it's based on rankings and recent performances, but bookies are missing the big thing that Erakovic is playing in home tournament and she basically plays very little tennis apart from Asia region and grass events in UK. So the focus will be very high here for sure. Vesnina is error prone and that will prevent her from winning by 6 games, I think. Would not be shocked if she even lost. Erakovic has won the only meeting having beaten Vesnina 6-2, 6-1 in US Open qualies back in 2005.

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Psycho can I ask you about Bojana Jovanovski? I have been reading a lot about her and I am wondering what you are thinking about her. She did not have any great results so far, but she is supposedly a great talent. She is certainly a good player, but I do not know much about her. Have you seen her play already? And of course, welcome back to the action. Have a great year!

[Psycho]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January

Good to see you back mate. You get my vote for newcomer of the year on this forum' date=' some superb work in 2010. Hard to argue with any of those selections. Lacko's maybe a bit too high on the handicap but he should win. Here's to a prosperous 2011 :cheers[/quote'] Hey! Cheers to you as well! :cheers

[Psycho]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January

Psycho can I ask you about Bojana Jovanovski? I have been reading a lot about her and I am wondering what you are thinking about her. She did not have any great results so far, but she is supposedly a great talent. She is certainly a good player, but I do not know much about her. Have you seen her play already? And of course, welcome back to the action. Have a great year!

Thanks! Same 2U! No, haven't seen her yet. So can't comment.

[Abdera]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January

One WTA, of course :lol for me as well. Auckland. Marina Erakovic +5.5 AH vs Elena Vesnina. 1.79 @ Pinnacle (4/10) Absolutely ridiculous offer here. I reckon it's based on rankings and recent performances, but bookies are missing the big thing that Erakovic is playing in home tournament and she basically plays very little tennis apart from Asia region and grass events in UK. So the focus will be very high here for sure. Vesnina is error prone and that will prevent her from winning by 6 games, I think. Would not be shocked if she even lost. Erakovic has won the only meeting having beaten Vesnina 6-2, 6-1 in US Open qualies back in 2005.

I guess the handicap is so high because of this: Will Marina Erakovic be tournament fit?*****.co.nz "Erakovic has had a nerve problem in a wrist which forced her off court and while it was hoped she would play in the New Zealand Residentials held last weekend, she was unable to. Even if she is over her injury in time for the Classic, which begins in Auckland on January 3, she'll hardly be match-hardened enough to go up against the likes of Maria Sharapova, Dinar Safina or Svetlana Kuznetsova. Despite this, tournament director Richard Palmer says he's still looking to give Erakovic a wildcard. "I've been in contact with Marina, she's training hard," he said. However, she played doubles and won yesterday so she should be fine.

[Tulenos]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January :welcome to PL, Abdera;)

[WinningTipster]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Hi guys, My first bet of 2011: ATP DOHA: VEIC TO DEFEAT SABRY @ 1.32 on pinnaclesports Sabry is a local wild-card who has no experience playing neither on ATP level or on hard courts. He had some average Challengers results on clay and he should be a level below Veic who has good balanced game (hence solid results on all surfaces) with strong server, good backhand and very good forehand and has won 3 good matches in qualifiers here already.

[omegaa]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January I agree with WinningTipster

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Found one I like so far, one more maybe coming. 10pts (flat stake, confidence 7/10) M. Przysiezny (+4.5 games) to bt. J. Nieminen @ 1.85 at Pinnacle I think that the handicap is a little bit too high here. Przysiezny is pretty good on serve and the courts are quick enough, so he can certainly make use of that. They have met once and the match was all about serve. The season just started and I do not believe that Nieminen can begin in the form from last year. I think the right line is either 3.5 or 3, 4.5 seems to much here.

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January

Found one I like so far, one more maybe coming. 10pts (flat stake, confidence 7/10) M. Przysiezny (+4.5 games) to bt. J. Nieminen @ 1.85 at Pinnacle I think that the handicap is a little bit too high here. Przysiezny is pretty good on serve and the courts are quick enough, so he can certainly make use of that. They have met once and the match was all about serve. The season just started and I do not believe that Nieminen can begin in the form from last year. I think the right line is either 3.5 or 3, 4.5 seems to much here.

Very tight, but came in in the end. :ok The second was Rosol against Karlovic in some sort of handicap or outright, but the prices were cut by a solid margin, so I decided against it.

[Psycho]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January 1) Doha. Rafael Nadal vs Karol Beck. Under 17.5 games. 1.86 @ Unibet. (6/10) WIN 2) Chennai. Alejandro Falla -1.5 AH games vs Rui Machado. 1.84 @ Pinnacle (5/10) WIN 3) Doha. Lukas Lacko -4 AH vs Pere Riba. 1.83 @ Pinnacle (4/10) LOSS 4) Auckland. Marina Erakovic +5.5 AH vs Elena Vesnina. 1.79 @ Pinnacle (4/10) LOSS No the worst start to kick things off. Both biggest bets came off, so made some profit. Can't comment on Lacko's terrible performance, because the match wasn't televised. Saw Erakovic, barely interested in the match and made very little effort. Falla was a huge mess but managed to do the job and Nadal should have won more comfortably, forehand was inconsistent and there were some unforced errors from that wing...

[Psycho]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Have got the same amount selections for Wednesday. WTA takes over big time... 1) Auckland. Carla Suarez Navarro to beat Heather Watson. 1.85 @ Pinnacle (6/10) Spanish clay court specialist Carla Suarez Navarro takes on Heather Watson. Had to admit was shocked to see Navarro being available for backing @ 1.85. She really can play on faster courts as well and is pretty crafty. She got past big hitting Oprandi last night and looked good overall. She rode her luck in the 2nd set tie-break saving couple setpoints but other than that was solid. Watson has played four matches already here including qualies and might be a bit tired, despite it being the start of the year. Not much to be excited about her results thus far and Navarro for me is level or two higher in terms of overall quality and skills. Taking Navarro anytime @ 1.85 against player like Watson. 2) Brisbane. Dominika Cibulkova -2.5 AH vs Roberta Vinci. 1.96 @ Pinnacle (6/10) Dominika Cibulkova is favorite in a match agaisnt Italian Roberta Vinci who is slightly overrated for this one. Cibulkova is way better player on hard and Vinci will be all about dropshots and slices. If she can't get this game working against Cibulkova and I think she won't she will be in big trouble. Cibulkova crushed Errani 3 and 0 in the first round and Errani is not that bad. The only H2H between these two was played last year in Monterrey with Cibulkova winning 6-4, 6-3. The Slovak to win again for me, really can't see her slipping up in this one. 3) Auckland. Julia Goerges -3.5 AH vs Alize Cornet. 1.72 @ Bet365 (5/10) Fancy Goerges to demolish Cornet here. Can't remember Alize playing decent match on hard in a very long time. She should have lost yesterday, being down 3-6, 2-5 against Zahlavova who messed up big time failing to win a single game after failing to serve out the 2nd set. Goerges crushed Cornet 6-1, 6-4 on clay last year and clay is Cornet's favorite surface so you can imagine what will happen on hard. Straight forward win for Goerges in this one. The German girl has got brutal forehand and if serve works ok Cornet won't have much of a chance today. Besides she makes tons of mistakes herself. 4) Brisbane. Oleksandr Dolgopolov +4 AH vs Andy Roddick. 1.87 @ Pinnacle (3/10) Roddick clear favorite in this one, but I can see him struggling much more than he might expect. Not a fan of Dolgopolov but I reckon he can give Roddick real run for his money today. The key in this match-up is Dolgopolov's weird serve motion and it will be very hard for Rod to read it. A lot of people have issues with that. Besides Roddick has got a very lazy return game and basically cares about holding his own serve and rely on tie-breaks. Dolgopolov should be fine against player like Roddick and 4 game handicap looks a decent chance to work out.

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Heh..."Nadal should have won more comfortably" :D You would not guess 6-3 6-0 from that.

[Psycho]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January

Heh..."Nadal should have won more comfortably" :D You would not guess 6-3 6-0 from that.

Well, he was broken once in the first set and failed to convert 9 break points overall, besides made 19 unforced errors. 6-3, 6-0 is a very flattering scoreline for Beck :lol

[Atko]

Re: Tennis - 1-9 January

First couple of days are always tricky for betting in the first week. Small stakes are probably advisable. I've taken a few bets so far and will probably hit more as more markets become available. - Radek Stepanek vs Tobias Kamke - Radek Stepanek -3.5 games AH @ 1.926 with Pinnacle (3/10) I'm going on the assumption that Stepanek is going to be back to somewhere near his best now that he has recovered his fitness. The Czech spent a large part of last year on the treatment table and only really approached his best tennis at the tail end of the season. He'll come into Brisbane a hungry, healthy player and I feel he'll be a little bit too strong for Kamke. Stepanek enjoys playing in Brisbane - he's won the event before and has made the final last year, so as a result has plenty of ranking points to defend. His serve and volley style will get him plenty of cheap points against a relatively average returner in Kamke, who himself isn't wholly dominant on serve. Kamke had a breakthrough year in 2010 but still has plenty to work on if he's to beat guys inside the top 50. I think Stepanek will have too much for him and is perfectly capable of covering a 3.5 game handicap. - Kevin Anderson vs Marcel Granollers - Kevin Anderson -2 games AH @ 1.952 with Pinnacle (3/10) This will probably turn into a serve-fest and I reckon Anderson will have the edge over Granollers. The South African has made vast improvements to his game. He obviously has the huge serve but he is now comfortable from the back of the court and can add a bit more variation to his game. Granollers is a bit of a strange one. He threatens to let the quality that he undoubtedly possesses come to the surface but too often his serve goes awry and his groundstrokes and tactics become loose. He can go four service games without dropping a point and then completely lose focus when it matters. His inconsistency on a court that isn't his favoured surface could be his undoing here. He'll find it hard to break Anderson - his return game is not his best - and I feel he'll come up a little short. Anderson to cover the line. - Alejandro Falla vs Rui Machado - Alejandro Falla -1.5 games AH @ 1.87 with Pinnacle (3/10) I've got to favour Falla here, especially on a quick hard court. My guess is that Machado is here because he's in the Top 100 and wants to cling on to a direct entry to the Australian Open. The Portuguese is a clay court player and has limited experience on a hard court, especially a quick one. Falla isn't a world beater but he won't have to be here. He's got the game to suss out a clay courter on the plexipave of Chennai. He has a greater variety of shots and will enjoy the conditions far more. I'm surprised to see the handicap as low as -1.5 games as I feel he is more than capable of progressing in this one. Machado's record against lefties on the Tour isn't great either, and I fancy him to fall short here. :hope

One early bet in Doha before the handicaps come out. - Rainer Schuettler vs Teimuraz Gabashvili - Rainer Schuettler @ 1.952 with Pinnacle (3/10) I'm expecting a rollercoaster ride with this one but I fancy Schuettler to take down the hugely erratic Gabashvili here. The Russian clearly has talent but he very rarely brings it to the table. He is mentally unstable and an opponent like Schuettler is going to drive him nuts. The German may be 35-year-old but he's actually very quick and fit. He's also canny, loves mixing up the play and Gabashvili won't like the lack of rhythm in this match. Schuettler beat him on a hard court quite comfortably last year and things haven't changed dramatically since then. Fancy the veteran German to take this. Good value on the price as it is much shorter at some bookies. :hope

One more to add for tomorrow's action. Heaps of matches, the return of Ivo Karlovic and some names from left-wing (David Goffin, Yuigichi Sugita). Bit of a Challenger feel... - Viktor Troicki vs Sergiy Stakhovsky - Viktor Troicki -3.5 games AH @ 2.04 with Pinnacle (4/10) Troicki had a fabulous end to 2010, winning the Davis Cup for Serbia and improving his ranking. He's a player I expect to challenge for a Top 25 berth. The momentum of the Davis Cup win should spur him on no end and there's the added incentive in Doha of defending ranking points - he got to the semis last year. He's now more than just a server - he's added a rapier forehand and moves around the court a lot better. Stakhovsky's an indoor player for me, he doesn't play particularly well on a slowish hard court outdoor. Potential to serve well and keep it tight but I fear for him in rallies here. He was woeful in the back end of 2010 and I'd wait until he gets back to Eastern Europe before backing him. H2H is 1-1, Troicki won the most recent encounter, both indoors in Zagreb. A break in each set would do this - Troicki's capable of that. :hope

Stepanek d. Kamke 5-7 6-1 6-4 - WIN Anderson w/o Granollers - VOID Falla d. Machado 7-5 6-3 - WIN Gabashvili d. Schuettler 6-4 7-6 - LOSS Troicki d. Stakhovsky 6-4 7-5 - WIN Good profit for today. Scheuttler was the only let down, he had his chances as you always do against Gabashvili but he didn't do enough. Stepanek and Troicki were pretty solid. As Psycho said, Falla was touch and go for a while, a break down in each set, but recovered well. Some nice profits for all today, good work :ok