IAmGooner Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January ATP Chennai: Falla to beat Machado @ 1.741 (Pinnacle:4pts) ATP Brisbane: Stepanek(to bt Kamke) x WTA Auckland: Georges(to bt Medina-Garrigues) Double @ 2.146 (Pinnacle:2pts) WIN WIN Good start to the new tennis season. Well played today everyone else aswell! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzechPunter Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Just one for WTA, will be back with a couple of more from ATP. 10pts (7/10) C. Suarez-Navarro to bt. H. Watson @ 1.81 at Pinnacle A class difference between these two, so the winner should be clear in the end. Watson with more practice on these courts, but she is young and Carla Suarez-Navarro has enough variety in her game to break Watson down. Heather will improve, but I think that her respectable run will end here with such an experienced player on the other side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atko Posted January 4, 2011 Author Share Posted January 4, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Waiting on the Doha handicaps to come out. This is what I've hit so far... - Robert Kendrick vs Blaz Kavcic - Blaz Kavcic +2.5 games AH @ 1.909 with Pinnacle (6/10) These odds seem all wrong to me. Neither man is a world-beater but I'd say the odds should be a lot closer. Kendrick is a pretty one-dimensional player. He's all about serve and hitting the ball extremely hard, which works against poorer players but not against of any note. I'm not suggesting that Kavcic comes into that category but I feel he's got more variety about him and dexterity. I saw some of his match against Chardy, who is similar to Kendrick in terms of power and how he moves, and he dealt with him clinically. The Slovenian has a decent serve and nice groundies and is improving. Kendrick is the more experienced on a hard court for sure, but like many Americans, he can be a bit susceptible away from home. He beat Gremelmayr but it wasn't a cakewalk. He's a one-dimensional player and I reckon this will be a lot closer than the odds suggest. More than happy to take Kavcic on the plus here. - Guillermo Garcia-Lopez vs Illya Marchenko/Xavier Malisse vs Stephane Robert - Guillermo Garcia-Lopez x Xavier Malisse @ 2.10 with Stan James (4/10) I fancy these two to win but I don't have the trust in them with a handicap. I wrote about Garcia-Lopez and Marchenko earlier in the week. The Spaniard for me is a notch higher in quality in these conditions. He's proven to be a solid Top 40 player and although he can make life hard for himself, ultimately he has more quality than the Ukrainian. Marchenko did beat Zverev but was fragile in that match too. He's a guy that prefers indoor conditions, and I can't see him consistently having enough to trouble Garcia-Lopez. If the Spaniard finds his range, he'll win. As for Malisse, he's another that has a bit too much for his opponent, although this time it is power rather than guile. The Belgian spanked Robert in Orleans last year 6-2 6-1 and although the Frenchman can be crafty, I think he struggles with guys who can hit the ball with a lot of pace and power. I prefer Robert on a clay court, and although I expect him to put up more resistance than he did last time out, Malisse should have too much in his locker for him. - Mardy Fish vs Radek Stepanek - Radek Stepanek +2 games AH @ 1.96 with 188bet (4/10) This should be a really good match. Both men are finding their feet again after injury and both play in a similar style by coming in and attacking the net often. I think the handicap, however, is pretty generous on Stepanek, considering he leads the H2H 3-0. Fish was probably more impressive in R1 in despatching Mannarino but I was heartened by the way Stepanek came back to take care of Kamke. He has a bit of an affinity with Brisbane, having won here two years ago and making the final last year, so there will be no shortage of motivation for the Czech. I expect this one be very close and quite possibly a three-setter. Given that Stepanek holds an edge with his previous record over the American, I'm happy to back him with a few games on my side to take this. - Marcos Baghdatis vs Lukasz Kubot - Marcos Baghdatis -4 games AH @ 1.971 with Pinnacle (4/10) I think there's a big difference in quality between these two on a hard court. Kubot's essentially a doubles man who can play well on the clay, and he'll have to serve very well if he's to hang in here because I feel Baghdatis has got his number in all other departments. The Cypriot came through a tough one against Serra but I was impressed with his grit and determination to fight out a win. Kubot won in a facile manner against Brands, but that was a gift of a R1 tie. I expect this to be a lot tougher. Kubot beat Baghdatis on clay in 2009 but that was during the time when Baghdatis was coming back from injury. He's in much better shape now, he's on a surface that suits him (bear in mind his best results have probably come Down Under) against a player who has limited scope in these conditions. Four games seems a reasonable handicap to me, so I'm taking it. :hope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TennisExpert Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Sport Tennis Event Watson - Suarez Navarro Selection Watson Strength 10/10 Date 05/01/2011 Bookmaker/Price 5Dimes @ 2.20 Reasoning Bookies are idiots, beautiful odds on the better player. I must take it. Watson in this tournament played 4 matches(won Q), in first round destroy Lertcheewakarn, give only 2 games for this girl. Watson have incredible stable serve, really hard to break. This is really important in WTA. Suarez Navarro is claycouter, don't feel good on surface like this. In first round beat in two sets Oprandi, but in second set have big problems - won after TB. In my opinion Watson is better player with better skills and give me money tonight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzechPunter Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Two more for now. 10pts (6/10) Dominika Cibulkova (-2 games) to bt. Roberta Vinci @ 1.87 at Pinnacle Cibulkova is the better player on hard, simple as that. She beat Vinci on hard just last year and there is nothing that happened since then that should change their abilities. Cibulkova was also more impressive in the first round match, so I think she should prevail rather comfortably in this one too. The conditions suit her just right 10pts (8/10) Florian Mayer (-2.5 games) to bt. Ricardas Berankis @ 1.95 at Pinnacle The road ends here for the young talented player in my opinion. He will be playing his fifth match in five days and while that is not so important (though it may be a factor if the match goes to distance), his opponent is. Mayer is good on hard courts and has achived some solid successes last year and I think this year might be a good year for him. He came through the first round without any problems and has already beaten Berankis once, so I can see him doing it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psycho Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January One more from me as well... Brisbane. Andrea Petkovic -3.5 AH vs Jelena Dokic. 1.66 @ Bet365 (6/10) WTA Brisbane, 2nd round. Not a fan of Petkovic for reasons that I'm not allowed to post here. She looks in the mood this time, though, having demolished Dulgheru in round 1 where she dropped just 3 games. Dokic got a win, but it was a tough one, 6-4, 6-3 against Pivovarova. The main thing from that match is that Dokic made 10 double faults and Pivovarova was even worse with 11. Dokic recently was beaten in Ausssie Open qualies final by Olivia Rogowska and generally speaking is far from her best. Petkovic was rock solid against Dulgheru and didn't face a single break point. That's a very rare thing in WTA. Taking -3.5 games @ 1.66 here, because not that sure about -4.5 which is offered at most markets with better odds, of course. Anyway Dokic should be done in very quick time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy25 Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Happy new years guys, taking one late one tonight. Andrea Petkovic vs Jelena Dokic- Petkovic -3.5 handicap 4/6 Bet365- (5/10) Petkovic had a decent end to the season last year, winning the fair share of her matches against pretty handy opponents such as Kerber and Safarova. Comfortable win against Dulgheru in the first round, only losing 3 games in the match. No double faults, no break points on her serve, no problem for her there. Dokic a quality player on her day but unfortunately her day was a long time ago as in 2002 where she was fourth in the world at one point. Nowadays though, she mainly plays the challenger event and missed some match time last year due to injuries and personal problems. 10 double faults in her first round match and this could only be bettered by her opponent having 11. They played eachother back in 09 where Petkovic took it in 3 sets, and fancy her to cover the handicap later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy25 Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Didn't see Psycho had already done a write up on this, bit of a waste that last 10 mins or so :lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atko Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Doha lines finally up, so last two from me. - Ivo Karlovic vs Philipp Kohlschreiber - Philipp Kohlschreiber -2 games AH @ 1.833 with Pinnacle (6/10) Not normally an avid fan of Kohlschreiber but I like the German here. This is a big year for him. He's working under Maclagan and I expect to see some improvement after the off-season. He took Seppi apart fairly comfortably in R1 and meets big-serving Karlovic here. I think the Croat has been given a hard ask here. He was last off the courts after a long match with Rosol and considering that was his first game since May, I expect some fatigue to creep in. Karlovic has never been the fittest anyway and once he tires, he can't keep his big serve up. The German has the game to hold well and will get look-ins on the Karlovic serve, it's just whether he can take them. H2H is 1-1 with Kohlschreiber winning the last meeting. Reckon he'll have too much in the tank for a tired Karlovic. - Viktor Troicki vs Teimuraz Gabashvili - Viktor Troicki -4.5 games AH @ 2.11 with Pinnacle (4/10) The line is probably just about right here but I'm willing to play it. Big gulf in class for me here. Gabashvili, despite winning today, wasn't hugely impressive, with a lot of service games going to the wire. He's got a big game when he's focussed but that happens all too rarely. I think Troicki will make him play too many errors here. The Serb played really well against Stakhovsky today, especially on serve, not facing one break point. He's buoyant after the Davis Cup and I don't expect him to fall short here. He leads the H2H 3-0 over the Russian and although they have been quite close matches in the past, Troicki is playing at a higher level these days. I think we'll see a straightforward win for the Serb in this one. :hope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinhattrick Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January can anyone tell me webpages where i can see the matches? had to reboot the pc and lost the sites... i´m following mayer and would like to see his match.. thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzechPunter Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January www.protennislive.com for livescores, that particular match was not streamed. Anyway, Mayer disappointed me horribly, 6-4 3-0 up against a rather average player and what happens :wall :wall Carla lost, Cibulkova won. Two more for Brisbane, playing surprisingly lot, am I? :lol 10pts (5/10) Feliciano Lopez to bt. Kevin Anderson @ 2.38 at Pinnacle Going for the better player here, the slower conditions will suit him, Anderson is only about serve and power, while Lopez can add some variation to his game. He had some minor health issues, but that should be cleared now and Anderson is that kind of player that is going to go missing at some point, which will allow Lopez to take advantage. Any odds above 1.90 are value in my opinion. 10pts (5/10) Radek Stepanek to bt. Mardy Fish @ 2.40 at Pinnacle Outstanding price, Radek has 3-0 record against Fish. Alright, Fish has improved a lot since their last game, but Stepanek likes the conditions here and he is experienced enough to know how to play around Fish. It may get quite tight, since both are solid on serve but rather average on return, but Stepanek should prevail in the end in my opinion. 2.40 is certainly too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red_impact Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January I like all ATP bets here. Very nice all of them. I take all and hope they all go in. Feels like it's a good chance. Stepanek F Lopez G-G Lopez, hcp Kohli and so on.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red_impact Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Max stakes on -4 Baghtadis to. He will rip Kubot apart! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzechPunter Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Okay, Lopez had health problems that I have seriously underestimated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzechPunter Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Can't have a price above evens on that one. 10pts (7/10) Marcos Baghdatis (-4 games) to bt. L. Kubot @ 2.01 at Pinnacle The price above evens kinda stands out now and needs to be taken. Baghdatis had a tough ride in the first round, but it should be better here - he knows the conditions now and he is a player that I like against Kubot, who is basically all about serve and power. However, Baghdatis can definitely absorb a lot of the pressure and hit some tough shots himself. He is on different level than Kubot and should demolish him if Kubot gives him some chances, which he should. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psycho Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January 1) Auckland. Carla Suarez Navarro to beat Heather Watson. 1.85 @ Pinnacle (6/10) LOSS 2) Brisbane. Dominika Cibulkova -2.5 AH vs Roberta Vinci. 1.96 @ Pinnacle (6/10) WIN 3) Auckland. Julia Goerges -3.5 AH vs Alize Cornet. 1.72 @ >Bet365 (5/10) WIN 4) Brisbane. Oleksandr Dolgopolov +4 AH vs Andy Roddick. 1.87 @ Pinnacle (3/10) LOSS Brisbane. Andrea Petkovic -3.5 AH vs Jelena Dokic. 1.66 @ >Bet365 (6/10) WIN Once again small profit. Both CS Navarro and Dolgopolov screwed up at the end of the first set and never got back in it since. Navarro failed to serve out the first set having even setpoints and Dolgo was a break up against Rod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rokasar Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Cracking shout about Baghdatis, guys. Kubot was all over the place and cyprian won this one easily. Pinnacle offered 2.09 just before match so i took it with happy face. :clap I don't want to get involved very much in tennis at such a early stage of season where amazing happens so i think i just gonna read your reviews for a week or two and pick what i like the most. I made just three bets so far this tennis season and all of them were won so i really want to keep the results like that in future. :lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atko Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Cracking shout about Baghdatis, guys. Kubot was all over the place and cyprian won this one easily. Pinnacle offered 2.09 just before match so i took it with happy face. :clap I don't want to get involved very much in tennis at such a early stage of season where amazing happens so i think i just gonna read your reviews for a week or two and pick what i like the most. I made just three bets so far this tennis season and all of them were won so i really want to keep the results like that in future. :lol Wishing I'd put more on it now :lol Shouldn't be so greedy though. Kubot's a very average singles player off the clay. Someone out there fancied him though, the +4AH got battered off the boards! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bastia Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Sport Tennis Event Karlovic Ivo - Kohlschreiber Philipp Selection Karlovic Ivo (Lay) Strength 10/10 Date 05/01/2011 Bookmaker/Price Sportingbet @ 3.02 Reasoning Ivo, one of the highest if not the highest man from tennis, 2.08 m, I don't know why he isn't play basketball, at this high he serve with a lot of power, but the problem for him will be the German movement, Philipp is faster and if will close the match with short hits, that will be a big problem for Ivo, head to head is 1-1 but I go today on Philipp, he's more constant, younger and better. 2-0 Philipp. good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gabymnk Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Sport Tennis Event Karlovic Ivo - Kohlschreiber Philipp Selection Karlovic Ivo (Lay) Strength 10/10 Date 05/01/2011 Bookmaker/Price Sportingbet @ 3.02 Reasoning Ivo, one of the highest if not the highest man from tennis, 2.08 m, I don't know why he isn't play basketball, at this high he serve with a lot of power, but the problem for him will be the German movement, Philipp is faster and if will close the match with short hits, that will be a big problem for Ivo, head to head is 1-1 but I go today on Philipp, he's more constant, younger and better. 2-0 Philipp. good luck! I agree on this one..... Karlovic should try to finish the points as fast as possible but instead, after coming back from injury he's exchanging a lot of rallies. Yesterday he managed to defeat unexperienced Rosol 7-6 7-6 but today he will have to play a guy who will know what to do and when to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzechPunter Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Baghdatis and Stepanek - easy wins for solid odss :nana:nana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy25 Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Happy new years guys, taking one late one tonight. Andrea Petkovic vs Jelena Dokic- Petkovic -3.5 handicap 4/6 Bet365- (5/10) Petkovic had a decent end to the season last year, winning the fair share of her matches against pretty handy opponents such as Kerber and Safarova. Comfortable win against Dulgheru in the first round, only losing 3 games in the match. No double faults, no break points on her serve, no problem for her there. Dokic a quality player on her day but unfortunately her day was a long time ago as in 2002 where she was fourth in the world at one point. Nowadays though, she mainly plays the challenger event and missed some match time last year due to injuries and personal problems. 10 double faults in her first round match and this could only be bettered by her opponent having 11. They played eachother back in 09 where Petkovic took it in 3 sets, and fancy her to cover the handicap later on. WIN Comfortable for the German earlier only dropping 1 game. Considering following Atko on the Kohlschreiber handicap but will take this one in the meantine. Antonio Veic vs Ernests Gulbis- Gulbis -4.5 handicap- 4/6 Bet365- (5/10) Quite a contrast in players here. Gulbis is now a familiar face on the ATP and had some encouraging results last year taking sets off Nadal and Federer on more than one ocassion. Veic on the other hand mainly enters the clay challenger events and is ranked way down in the hundreds in the rankings. The Latvian beat Hanescu in the first round, serving 11 aces in the process. Veic came through 3 qualifiers then eventually won his first round match but in truth he was really struggling. He was broken 4 times and saved a further 4 break points. For me the quality should prevail here, providing Gulbis doesn't make billions of unforced, don't see him having a problem and his power should be too much for the qualifier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzechPunter Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January One more after the good scores earlier. 10pts (6/10) N. Davydenko (-4 games) to bt J. Nieminen @ 2.03 at Pinnacle Davydenko impressed me in the first round and I am sure he will want to start this year well after his poor matches last year. Nieminen was nothing great yesterday, he struggled to take his chances when it mattered, so Davydenko should be too much for him. His serve is not that good and Davydenko is one of the best players around on return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nkdz Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January tennis section helpful as always. :ok well done guys, i'll be contributing soon, cheers ex-Corinthian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bastia Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Sport Tennis Event Karlovic Ivo - Kohlschreiber Philipp Selection Karlovic Ivo (Lay) Strength 10/10 Date 05/01/2011 Bookmaker/Price Sportingbet @ 3.02 Reasoning Ivo, one of the highest if not the highest man from tennis, 2.08 m, I don't know why he isn't play basketball, at this high he serve with a lot of power, but the problem for him will be the German movement, Philipp is faster and if will close the match with short hits, that will be a big problem for Ivo, head to head is 1-1 but I go today on Philipp, he's more constant, younger and better. 2-0 Philipp. good luck! 7-6(5), (4)6-7, 7-6(2) 2 hours 43 minutes, 50% both players, almost similar statistics, 3 BB miss by Philipp, in rest all was serve, serve... strange match, lost :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzechPunter Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Thank god they did not show that match. That must have been boring as hell. Surprising result as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy25 Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January WIN Comfortable for the German earlier only dropping 1 game. Considering following Atko on the Kohlschreiber handicap but will take this one in the meantine. Antonio Veic vs Ernests Gulbis- Gulbis -4.5 handicap- 4/6 Bet365- (5/10) Quite a contrast in players here. Gulbis is now a familiar face on the ATP and had some encouraging results last year taking sets off Nadal and Federer on more than one ocassion. Veic on the other hand mainly enters the clay challenger events and is ranked way down in the hundreds in the rankings. The Latvian beat Hanescu in the first round, serving 11 aces in the process. Veic came through 3 qualifiers then eventually won his first round match but in truth he was really struggling. He was broken 4 times and saved a further 4 break points. For me the quality should prevail here, providing Gulbis doesn't make billions of unforced, don't see him having a problem and his power should be too much for the qualifier. WIN Another straight forward result there. Fortunate I stayed away from Kohli, looked like an epic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAmGooner Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January It was so obvious Nadal would break in that first game of the third. Cant believe Lacko bagelled him though.............:lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atko Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January Waiting on the Doha handicaps to come out. This is what I've hit so far... - Robert Kendrick vs Blaz Kavcic - Blaz Kavcic +2.5 games AH @ 1.909 with Pinnacle (6/10) These odds seem all wrong to me. Neither man is a world-beater but I'd say the odds should be a lot closer. Kendrick is a pretty one-dimensional player. He's all about serve and hitting the ball extremely hard, which works against poorer players but not against of any note. I'm not suggesting that Kavcic comes into that category but I feel he's got more variety about him and dexterity. I saw some of his match against Chardy, who is similar to Kendrick in terms of power and how he moves, and he dealt with him clinically. The Slovenian has a decent serve and nice groundies and is improving. Kendrick is the more experienced on a hard court for sure, but like many Americans, he can be a bit susceptible away from home. He beat Gremelmayr but it wasn't a cakewalk. He's a one-dimensional player and I reckon this will be a lot closer than the odds suggest. More than happy to take Kavcic on the plus here. - Guillermo Garcia-Lopez vs Illya Marchenko/Xavier Malisse vs Stephane Robert - Guillermo Garcia-Lopez x Xavier Malisse @ 2.10 with Stan James (4/10) I fancy these two to win but I don't have the trust in them with a handicap. I wrote about Garcia-Lopez and Marchenko earlier in the week. The Spaniard for me is a notch higher in quality in these conditions. He's proven to be a solid Top 40 player and although he can make life hard for himself, ultimately he has more quality than the Ukrainian. Marchenko did beat Zverev but was fragile in that match too. He's a guy that prefers indoor conditions, and I can't see him consistently having enough to trouble Garcia-Lopez. If the Spaniard finds his range, he'll win. As for Malisse, he's another that has a bit too much for his opponent, although this time it is power rather than guile. The Belgian spanked Robert in Orleans last year 6-2 6-1 and although the Frenchman can be crafty, I think he struggles with guys who can hit the ball with a lot of pace and power. I prefer Robert on a clay court, and although I expect him to put up more resistance than he did last time out, Malisse should have too much in his locker for him. - Mardy Fish vs Radek Stepanek - Radek Stepanek +2 games AH @ 1.96 with 188bet (4/10) This should be a really good match. Both men are finding their feet again after injury and both play in a similar style by coming in and attacking the net often. I think the handicap, however, is pretty generous on Stepanek, considering he leads the H2H 3-0. Fish was probably more impressive in R1 in despatching Mannarino but I was heartened by the way Stepanek came back to take care of Kamke. He has a bit of an affinity with Brisbane, having won here two years ago and making the final last year, so there will be no shortage of motivation for the Czech. I expect this one be very close and quite possibly a three-setter. Given that Stepanek holds an edge with his previous record over the American, I'm happy to back him with a few games on my side to take this. - Marcos Baghdatis vs Lukasz Kubot - Marcos Baghdatis -4 games AH @ 1.971 with Pinnacle (4/10) I think there's a big difference in quality between these two on a hard court. Kubot's essentially a doubles man who can play well on the clay, and he'll have to serve very well if he's to hang in here because I feel Baghdatis has got his number in all other departments. The Cypriot came through a tough one against Serra but I was impressed with his grit and determination to fight out a win. Kubot won in a facile manner against Brands, but that was a gift of a R1 tie. I expect this to be a lot tougher. Kubot beat Baghdatis on clay in 2009 but that was during the time when Baghdatis was coming back from injury. He's in much better shape now, he's on a surface that suits him (bear in mind his best results have probably come Down Under) against a player who has limited scope in these conditions. Four games seems a reasonable handicap to me, so I'm taking it. :hope Doha lines finally up, so last two from me. - Ivo Karlovic vs Philipp Kohlschreiber - Philipp Kohlschreiber -2 games AH @ 1.833 with Pinnacle (6/10) Not normally an avid fan of Kohlschreiber but I like the German here. This is a big year for him. He's working under Maclagan and I expect to see some improvement after the off-season. He took Seppi apart fairly comfortably in R1 and meets big-serving Karlovic here. I think the Croat has been given a hard ask here. He was last off the courts after a long match with Rosol and considering that was his first game since May, I expect some fatigue to creep in. Karlovic has never been the fittest anyway and once he tires, he can't keep his big serve up. The German has the game to hold well and will get look-ins on the Karlovic serve, it's just whether he can take them. H2H is 1-1 with Kohlschreiber winning the last meeting. Reckon he'll have too much in the tank for a tired Karlovic. - Viktor Troicki vs Teimuraz Gabashvili - Viktor Troicki -4.5 games AH @ 2.11 with Pinnacle (4/10) The line is probably just about right here but I'm willing to play it. Big gulf in class for me here. Gabashvili, despite winning today, wasn't hugely impressive, with a lot of service games going to the wire. He's got a big game when he's focussed but that happens all too rarely. I think Troicki will make him play too many errors here. The Serb played really well against Stakhovsky today, especially on serve, not facing one break point. He's buoyant after the Davis Cup and I don't expect him to fall short here. He leads the H2H 3-0 over the Russian and although they have been quite close matches in the past, Troicki is playing at a higher level these days. I think we'll see a straightforward win for the Serb in this one. :hope Kavcic d. Kendrick 6-2 6-2 - WIN Garcia-Lopez d. Marchenko 6-1 6-4/Malisse d. Robert 6-2 6-2 - WIN Stepanek d. Fish 6-3 6-1 - WIN Baghdatis d. Kubot 6-2 6-2 - WIN Karlovic d. Kohlschreiber 7-6 6-7 7-6 - LOSS Troicki d. Gabashvili 6-3 6-1 - WIN I couldn't really have asked for a better day. Kohlschreiber's loss was a pain but more than compensated for. Well done to all the other winners today, seems to be have been a good week for all so far :ok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CzechPunter Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Re: Tennis - 1-9 January One more after the good scores earlier. 10pts (6/10) N. Davydenko (-4 games) to bt J. Nieminen @ 2.03 at Pinnacle Ending a good day with a push. (6-4 7-5) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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