Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January)

[IAmGooner]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) Youzhny (to bt Raonic) x Berdych (to bt Gasquet) Double @ 1.945 (Pinnacle:5pts) End of the line for Raonic I think, simply because Youzhny is a good returner(better than Llodra and Phau anyway) and has a far superior baseline game. He can go walkabouts at times as shown against Kavcic but still a classy opponent. Raonic served like a demon last night...if he does that again this could be a long one but Youzhny should force him to play more points and once rallies start has the advantage. Raonic is all about big serve and setting up the forehand to finish points, not sure that'll be enough here as Youzhny's variety can expose his groundstrokes. Can't see anything but Berdy coming through in the second match, my guess is 4 sets maximum to take Gasquet out. I dont like Gasquet and still not that impressed when I watch him....he's been broken a few times in his matches and tends to throw in poor service games at times. Berdy is looking good for a run here....think he'll be able to carve out more break chances and I expect the better player to come through.Beating Kohli was a good win for Berdych...Kohli is a dangerous floater and can be a big game player so I think Berdych is ready for this one. GL!

[IAmGooner]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) I think Wawrinka should beat Monfils aswell but the price and value is gone. Likewise in the Stakhovsky match although I'd be more confident in Wawrinka doing the job tbh.

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) I like five today. Hopefully a good day and some luck awaits. 10pts (8/10) T.Berdych (-4.5) to bt. R.Gasquet @ 1.86 at Pinnacle Gasquet is still pretty shaky, while Berdych is able to keep his serve very consistent nowadays. Both are very talented, but Berdych actually put in the hard work and that is the main difference between them. He has the power to move the Frenchman around - and Gasquet really has no solid weapons. I reckon an easy win for the Czech. 10pts (7/10) I.Ljubicic to bt. N.Almagro @ 2.05 at Pinnacle Ljubicic should not be the underdog. He is able to match Almagro in every deparment and the main difference is that he is much more consistent and stable, while Almagro is almost bound to make some stupid errors on the way. Ljubicic should be the favorite, so I like taking him as the underdog. 10pts (7/10) A.Sevastova to bt. V.Manasieva @ 1.72 at Pinnacle As much as you like Manasieva, she must be quite tired. She had to come through the qualifiers and life does not get easier for her. She was handed a win by Bartoli, so she is overrated here. Sevastova meanwhile beat two solid players, Wickmayer and Hercog. With more energy, I fancy her to come through 10pts (7/10) S.Wawrinka to bt. G.Monfils @ 1.81 at Centrebet Wawrinka has shown much more than Monfils so far. He has a title already and beat two tricky players - Dimitrov is certainly hard to play. Monfils should have lost to de Bakker and he was a little bit unconvincing against Gil, who is at least a level below Wawrinka. This is a solid step up in quality and I do not think the Frenchman can make it this time. 10pts (5/10) J.Goerges (+4) to bt. M.Sharapova @ 2.02 at Pinnacle I think there is a good chance that Goerges takes something from this one. Perhaps a set, perhaps the whole match. Sharapova is through thanks to the fact that she had to play average opponents. She is struggling with her shots a lot and makes far too many mistakes. Goerges is a talented and improving player that has the abilities to push Sharapova here. Their only previous meeting ended 7-6 6-1, but Goerges improved since then, while Sharapova seems to be still struggling.

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) Interesting thing...how often do you see Venus Williams as the underdog against someone like Petkovic? I guess the injury must be quite serious then, otherwise she would be a huge favorite for the bookies.

[IAmGooner]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January)

Interesting thing...how often do you see Venus Williams as the underdog against someone like Petkovic? I guess the injury must be quite serious then' date=' otherwise she would be a huge favorite for the bookies.[/quote'] Was just about to post this. I heard both had injuries. Watched bit of Petkovic vs Keothavong and she was average for a while. Venus lost a set to Zahlavova too...:lol I'd say that one will be a mess to watch. Do like Peer as underdog vs Pennetta for the following day. 2.390 is a good price for a 50:50 match, Peer is ultra consistent and I think a bigger fighter than Pennetta.

[smegmaniac]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January)

WIN....Raonic was beastly on serve. Little choke in the 3rd granted. WIN....good win for Baghy. Good night overall....had a couple of small side plays aswell that cancelled eachother out(Petrova h-cap and zakopalova).

good work Gooner! You were right about llodra for sure! And in hindsight we all should have put big money on bagdatis but sure we should be happy with what we got!

[smegmaniac]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) what do you think of schiavone at 4-7 with skybet!? niculescu has won both her matches easily so far... but it has to be said that bacszinsky is woefully out of form and would hate having to play someone like niculescu anyway with all her forehand slices and drop shots and variety....as for pironkova she simply hadn't the power to hit through niculescu whose movement was excellent...chasing down one too many balls for pironkova ...but pironkova was lucky enough to get past parmentier and i feel these were two lucky draws for niculescu! She's the female version of santoro on the wta tour is niculescu but i think if there is any player that can outfox this vixen... it's schiavone! she's struggled so far...but she was cruising against marino and then lost concentration and found herself in a 3rd set battle she did well to come through...marino after all did give venus trouble at the Us open! niculescu doesn't outhit players..she just confuses, frustrates and forces them to hit one extra shot while there's no player in the game that uses the drop shot more than her! however, i reckon a shrewd schiavone who has already beaten niculescu in 2009 knows how to play against this style...she's more than comfortable finsihing off points at the net and if ya haven't got the brute power to hit through hanescu well then you have to be willing to follow up approach shots and finish them off at the net! I am worried that she'll be tired though...but she has the experience...this is new territory for niculescu...I've seen her bottle it in the past....she hasn't been given an opportunity to get tight against her previous out of form opponents... surely that won't be the case against schiavone! either way i think the price should be more like 1-3! anybody got any thoughts??

[homunculus]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January)

Sorry for anyone that followed that pile of pish (red impact).

Yeah, you got me :-(. But it's my fault because I forgot to read my notes stating that Marchenko is nothing but a joke.

[HeresTheKey]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) i think zachlakova is a figter for me zachlakova(ah + 5,5) @ 2 with 3/6

[martinhattrick]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) Ljubicic vs Almagro ov. 40.5 games (5pts) 1.943 at pinnacle This match has over written in it´s name IMO. Ljubicic is a well known bomber, a very tough man to be broken. However, his return game in not very effective so 1 or maybe 2 tiebreaks could be played here. On the other hand Almagro is a messy player that can hit incredible shots and the next point make the most silly unforced error. He needed to go to the 5th set to defeat a poor form Andreev and i don´t see him defeating ljubo easyly. However he is a real fighter and will give his very best effort, wheter he is playing his best tennis or not, but he won´t stop fighting that is for sure. I can see here a 4 or 5 sets match and maybe a couple of tiebreaks so i´ll go for the over... GL:hope

[fishy25]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) Agreeing with most of what's been said and taking four myself. Tomas Berdych vs Richard Gasquet- Berdych -4.5 handicap - 4/5 Bet365- (6/10) Simply have to fancy the Czech here over a much indifferent Frenchman. Gasquet's form cannot be ignored here. He recently lost to a lesser opponent in Phau, as well as dropping a set to Seppi. His opponents in the slam would have been a dream for him tbh. A guy ranked outside the top 200, and a youngster who is still developing and has played a ton of games recently. Despite this, he didn't blow either of them off the court in any of the sets, and if young Mannarino took the tie break a couple of days ago, he may well have gone on and took the match. He will have to play a couple of levels above this standard if he is to trouble Berdych today. The Czech is now vastly experienced in going into the second week of the slams after his final loss to Nadal at Wimbledon, and his semi show at the French Open. He came on leaps and bounds and shows he can now mix it with the big boys, beating the likes of Federer and Roddick last year in big tournaments. He played some good stuff against Kohli in the last round and I would arguably say Gasquet isn't a better opponent than the German atm. Berdych is likely to want to make amends for his early exits 12 months ago and also against Llodra in the US open. The H2H stands at 2-1 to the Frenchman but more relevantly, their only recent meeting last year Berdych won at the expence of 2 games in Monte-Carlo. Only way that Gasquet will have a chance is if Berdych hits wildly and Gasquet ups his level. Can't see if happening and fancy Berdych, even if Gasquet nicks a tight set, to cover the handicap. Andy Roddick vs Robin Haase- Haase +6.5 handicap- 8/11 Bet365- (5/10) Fancy the Dutchman to keep this relatively close. He's made the step up from challenger level to the big boys at the start of this season with some good results. Taking sets of Wawrinka and Isner, whilst beating Monaco and Cuevas have given him some confidence and he shouldn't fear Roddick today IMO. He's quick around the court with a big serve and that will certainly give Roddick something to think about. Last year, players with a good first serve gave Roddick problems. The likes of Cilic, Fish and Ljubicic beating him whilst Anderson took a set off him in Brisbane a couple of weeks back. Always feel when watching Roddick now, in a long rally, I'm never confident that he will win the rally unlike the other top 7 players. If Haase gets his game going early, he should be able to force a tie break or to, and maybe even pinch a set. Tommy Robredo vs Sergiy Stakhovsky- Stakhovsky -1.5 handicap- Evens Bet365- (5/10) Annoyed I didn't take Stakhovsky for the outright when the prices were out yesterday as you could have got above evens. However, the handicap is low enough so if he does take the match, he should cover it. Simply cannot favour Tommy here, after his two previous matches and his show in Auckland the week before. He needed a tight 3 set win over Devvarman, a 4 setter against Fish who hasn't practiced and who hammered him in the first set, whilst in the Kiwi Land, Venus managed to take a set off him and he lost to Bellucci. Stakhovsky on the other hand came into this week off the back of victories against Becker and GGL, two very different opponents who would have tested different parts of the Ukranian's game. Two comfortable straight set wins over Brands and Kubot as well so he should be mightily fresh for tonight. Robredo's form just means he cannot be backed IMO. Lasy year he went through spells of hot and cold and although he has managed to win his last two, think Stakhovsky will be the 2nd Ukranian through to round 4. H2H is 1-1, both played on the hard courts last year, but these were played when Robredo was playing better tennis than he is now. Fancy Stakhovsky here, and hopefully alongside this, the marginal handicap. Nicolas Almagro vs Ivan Ljubicic- Ljubicic -1.5 handicap- Evens Bet365- (4/10) Like Stakhovsky, annoyed I didn't take Ljubicic early and would have got a better price for the outright which is annoying. Like the Ukranian though, if he wins the match, the handicap should go hand in hand. There's still some fitness concerns over Ljubicic but Almagro is hardly likely to be fresh out the packet either. Extremely lucky to get past Andreev, who to put it bluntly, fcuked it up in the fourth. But Almagro also dropped a set against Robert in the match before which is in truth really poor for a top 20 player to do. Ljubicic is serving very well though, and this should cause Almagro all sorts of problems as he won't be able to get into any sort of routine or gain any consistent rhythm. Ljubicic leads the H2H 3-1 as well, which will give him some extra confidence, as he's won the last 2 on Almagro's favoured clay, so he will know how to beat him. Will probably be a tight one, with shifts in momentum, but just giving the edge to Ivan here.

[ronalbac]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) My bet is: Sergiy Stakhovsky -1.5 games Stanislas Wawrinka win Viktor Troicki v Novak Djokovic : over 34.5 games GL

[homunculus]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) Troicki vs Djokovic over 36.5 games @Pinnacle 1.885 They played together 4 times in 2010 and 3 times the line was crossed (not sure about 6-3 7-5 in Cinci, so perhaps it was all 4 times). Troicki is big server and we all remember what happened this year at US Open - pretty tight 5-setter in which Djokovic almost lost in 4. They today's game is played the wery first in Hisense arena, which means that there will be about 25-30 centigrade with humidity about 40% according to the forecast, so Djokovic will have his infamous problems. I expect at least four-setter, which should cover the line easily. Scheepers vs Azarenka: Scheepers +7 games AH @Pinnacle 2,180 This bet is basically against Azarenka. Like Djokovic, Azarenka hates to play in warm open air conditions. It could be seen in her yesterday's match with nobody Hlavackova that ended 6-4 6-4 for Azarenka. Azarenka was broken 5 times in this match. I especially loved her net approaches with mighty smashes ending in the net or half meter long or wide, after which she always produced funny god-arguing gestures trying to find out wo is the responsible here :-) I expect something similar in this match. Azarenka's first match against Woerle was played in the local evening at comfortable temperature, and Woerle lost 0-6 2-6. If Scheepers has any motivation left, this has good chance to come through. Edit - forgot to add that this match is scheduled as the 2nd one in Show court 2 after Almagro vs Ljubicic, so the expected start time is something like 1:00-2:00 pm local time.

[Tulenos]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January)

My bet is: Sergiy Stakhovsky -1.5 games Stanislas Wawrinka win Viktor Troicki v Novak Djokovic : over 34.5 games GL

Could you add some reasoning, mate?;)

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) Okay, the line added a half game, but this price is alright with me now. So one more. 10pts (6/10) V.Troicki/N.Djokovic Over 36.5 games @ 1.90 at Pinnacle These two have been involved in some epics together and Troicki will alway fight Novak with all his power (and ultimately lose once again, I guess). The conditions will not suid Novak at all, but he will outclass Troicki. Still, the line is pretty low for players that can serve well. It can be even coverd in three sets, but four sets almost guarantee it. And I can see this being a four-setter pretty easily.

[Atko]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) Here are the rest of my R3 bets... - Roger Federer -8 games AH (vs Xavier Malisse) @ 1.943 with Pinnacle (6/10) No doubt that Malisse has done well recently but I think it'll come to an end abruptly here. All Malisse's wins have been against fairly average players. He made it this far by virtue of a kind draw, getting Andujar and Montanes, neither of which do well on the hard courts. He's got a nasty match-up tonight because I think Federer is going to be a motivated man. He's had his shock - Simon put him through the wringer - and now I expect him to put on the afterburners. He will want to get this done quickly and efficiently. He has a 7-1 record over Malisse, albeit the last meeting was five years ago, so I don't pay much attention to that. Malisse has got a big serve but good players get a read on it. I expect Federer to do that and then break down the rest of the Belgian's game. I can see him taking a set 6-1 or 6-2, and that could be enough to get the line done. Odds seem good to me, so I'll take it. - Alexandr Dolgopolov +4 games AH (vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga) @ 1.87 with Pinnacle (6/10) Backing Dolgopolov again here. The Ukrainian is just playing very well at the moment, with confidence and a swagger, and I expect him to push Tsonga close. He took the Frenchman to five close sets last year at Wimbledon and has improved since then. This bet is as much against Tsonga as it is for Dolgopolov. I feel he's struggling. Yes, he's got to R3, but Petzschner took him to five and if Seppi had a bit more nous and composure, he would have taken at least a set off him. Tsonga's serve is a little off and his groundies aren't as precise as usual. Obviously his record in Australia has to be respected, but this is a really tough match-up for him. Dolgopolov will fire all sorts of shots at him and get under his skin. Think this will be tight, and Dolgopolov can cover the line here for me, especially with Tsonga looking a little off-colour at present. - Under 28.5 games AH (Robin Soderling vs Jan Hernych) @ 1.87 with Pinnacle (6/10) End of the road, surely, for Hernych here. Got to give the Czech an immense amount of credit for getting this far but I think that's it for him. He's come through the qualies and then had a beast of a match with Bellucci today, coming through 8-6 in the fifth. He's 31, not the fittest, and he's going to be tired. His serve was all over the shop after the third set today and he was in part helped by an atrocious display by Bellucci. Soderling won't be as generous. He's playing tremendously well at the moment, serving bombs and oozing in confidence. There are several class differences between the two and assuming the Swede stays focused, he will blitz the Czech. I remember Hernych being beating 6-0 6-0 by Djokovic a year or so ago. I don't expect the same here but I think Soderling will dismantle him. A 6-3 6-3 6-3 score would cover this, and it looks entirely feasible to me. - Tomas Berdych (vs Richard Gasquet) x Marin Cilic (vs John Isner) @ 2.37 with Pinnacle (5/10) I suspect you're all sick of reading about how Berdych will beat Gasquet so I'll keep this one brief. He's a far more consistent and able player on hard. he's got the better serve and won't crumble mentally like Gasquet has done in the past. Gasquet's got the talent but all too often, his mental state holds him back. Berdych gave him a complete spanking last year, 6-2 6-0, and the Czech has pushed on from that. I do wonder about the handicap, however, so I've doubled him up with Cilic. I wanted to see how the Croat has taken to the tournament before entrusting my cash in him, and he's convinced me. Two nice wins over Young and Giraldo, the latter being a very respectable bit of form considering the Colombian's recent form. He's not at his peak but I'm not sure he'll have to be. I stand by what I said about Isner yesterday. His serve is his only real weapon at present. In a rally against a very good player, he'll struggle, and I put Cilic in that category. Stepanek completely folded against Isner and that result puts a false slant on the win. I still think the American is vulnerable, and that Cilic can get the job done here. Odds are appealing too. :hope

[homunculus]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January)

Here are the rest of my R3 bets... [.. snip..] - Under 28.5 games AH (Robin Soderling vs Gilles Muller) @ 1.87 with Pinnacle (6/10) [.. snip..]

You lost despite the fact that you afterposted :-)))))

[Atko]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January)

You lost despite the fact that you afterposted :-)))))

Sorry, that's meant to say Jan Hernych (as it says in the reasoning). I shall edit it accordingly ;)

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) Entirely agree with Soderling against Hernych. Hernych said that he was cramping in the fifth set and called his win "lucky" (it was more of Belluci's failure though). He said that he even went for an underhand serve once due to the cramps :\ (and he claimed he won that point, since Bellucci pushed it wide - typical and I can believe that). He is too tired, there is no question about that and against Soderling, he just won't care probably. He has done more than he expected already.

[homunculus]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January)

Sorry' date=' that's meant to say Jan Hernych (as it says in the reasoning). I shall edit it accordingly ;)[/quote'] I know, I just could not resist. And I shall follow that one (Hernych, that is), thanks for suggesting it.

[Psycho]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) Victoria Azarenka vs Chanelle Scheeper. Under 17 games. 1.85 @ Nordicbet (7/10) Pretty obvious thing that this will the end of the road for Scheepers. She has played couple tough 3-setters and playing early on in the heat against all guns blazin Azarenka is the worst thing she could have got for the 3rd round. As for the match-ups Scheeper has got one massive problem and that is her soft tennis which is just not gonna work against aggressive player like Azarenka. H2H doesn't have a good look either for Chanelle. They've played only once before. Azarenka crushed her 6-1, 6-0 in Charleston 08. Charleston is supposed to be a clay surface but is more like hard courts with a dirt. Anyway Scheeper is tired and going down. Unders for me in this. Handicap on Aza should work as well. Ivan Ljubicic to beat Nicolas Almagro. 2.02 @ Pinnacle (6/10) Went against Almagro in the previous round and it should have worked. Only Andreev was silly enough to fail to win having been a break up in the decider. Ljubicic will hold lot more easier than Igor did and will take some chances that Mugro will give him for sure. Should be a close one, but Ljuba is just a little bit more solid than Almagro. H2H is 3-1 in favor of Ljubicic and I'm happy to take him at this price. Viktor Troicki +6.5 vs Novak Djokovic. 1.93 @ Pinnacle (5/10) I reckon that Troicki will get at least one set out of this. If he's not stupid he might actually win but doubt it. He was very close to upsetting Nole @ US Open last year but had a massive choke and gave it away. Djokovic has not been blessed by organizers and put out to play in the earliest possible time. That will be very hard for him as Novak has been notoriously struggling in the heat. Can't see him winning in straight sets. And with Troicki taking one set here, he should be able to cover the handicap. Wasn't it for Troicki's poor mentality I'd actually take a crack at him beating Djokovic who absolutely hates to play in the heat and will struggle again for sure. Settling just for Troicki handicap, though. Dominika Cibulkova to beat Caroline Wozniacki. 4.82 @ Pinnacle (3/10) Cibulkova beat Wozniacki just prior to Aussie Open and that will be a massive boost for the Slovak player. She definitely will feel that she's got every chance of repeating that shock result. Wozniacki has not been even near her best although she has been playing more aggressive lately. Anyway I still believe it's worth to make some investment on Cibulkova here.

[captaincool]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) Gone for a lot today: A. Sevastova & M.Sharapova double @2.35 Both players are better their opponents by quite some way in the world rankings and have also been playing well in Australia. I've been impressed with Sevastova, who beat Wickmayer and Hercog, who are both decent players. Her opponent, Manasieva, may have beaten Bartoli, but 6-0 in the third set shows the Frenchwoman's collapse. I think this will be one game too many for the qualifier. I feel with Sharapova that she's always just around the corner form getting back to the top of the women's game. She has all the attributes, but her serve lets her down too often. She's good enough to beat Gorges though, who tends to lose everytime she comes up against a top 20 player. In fact, I'm not sure she's ever beaten a top 10 player. Sharapova beat her well earlier in the year and I think she'll do so again today. Ivan Ljubicic to beat Nicolas Almagro @1.91 Ljubicic is a veteran on the ATP Tour and although he now tends to come up short against the top players, Almagro is not currently playing to the standard his ranking indicates. The Spaniard is a clay courter and struggled to get past both Robert and Andreev, neither of whom are anwhere near as good as Ljubicic. Ljubicic has a 3-1 head to head lead and beat Almagro on his beloved clay the last 2 times they met, so he should do the business today. Sergey Stakhovsky to beat Tommy Robredo @1.73 Everything that needs to be said about this bet has been said already. Stakhovsky is a better player than Robredo and he's been playing well in Oz, whereas I think the Spaniard snuck through against Devverman, who's rubbish and Fish, who was ill. Na Li (-5.5 games) @1.91 Li has been excellent in Melbourne and covered this handicap in both her matches. I think she's actually a decent outside chance for the title, because she's hitting the ball really, which can't be said for all of the main contenders. She's beaten Kuzznetsova, Clijsters and Williams already this year and she should be able to blow Zahlavova off the court today. Handicap is a bit bigger than I'd have dreamt of, but it'll do. Schiavone v Nicalescu - Over 20.5 Games @1.91 I toyed with Schiavone to win, but the odds never quite got there. I really like the Italian, but she hasn't been totally firing in Melbourne, but she's a fighter and will never, ever give up. She doesn't have any particular weapon to hurt an opponent, but she grinds them down. Niculescu is playing well enough, I think, to make Schaivone work for the win and it could take the Italian three sets for the third time in a row this week.

[captaincool]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January)

Here are the rest of my R3 bets... - Under 28.5 games AH (Robin Soderling vs Jan Hernych) @ 1.87 with Pinnacle (6/10) End of the road, surely, for Hernych here. Got to give the Czech an immense amount of credit for getting this far but I think that's it for him. He's come through the qualies and then had a beast of a match with Bellucci today, coming through 8-6 in the fifth. He's 31, not the fittest, and he's going to be tired. His serve was all over the shop after the third set today and he was in part helped by an atrocious display by Bellucci. Soderling won't be as generous. He's playing tremendously well at the moment, serving bombs and oozing in confidence. There are several class differences between the two and assuming the Swede stays focused, he will blitz the Czech. I remember Hernych being beating 6-0 6-0 by Djokovic a year or so ago. I don't expect the same here but I think Soderling will dismantle him. A 6-3 6-3 6-3 score would cover this, and it looks entirely feasible to me. :hope

I would be a little wary of taking Soderling on a big handicap (essentially what the bet is). He did, on the face of it, blow Muller away last night, but it looked at the end of the match like he was struggling a bit with something - think it was the heat/humidity? He's played a lot in the build up to the Australian Open, preparing himself well, but he's never been further than the 3rd round here, so he could tighten up a bit. All that said, he should blow Hernych off the court....

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January)

I would be a little wary of taking Soderling on a big handicap (essentially what the bet is). He did, on the face of it, blow Muller away last night, but it looked at the end of the match like he was struggling a bit with something - think it was the heat/humidity? He's played a lot in the build up to the Australian Open, preparing himself well, but he's never been further than the 3rd round here, so he could tighten up a bit. All that said, he should blow Hernych off the court....

I think the main thing here is that Hernych is a weaker opponent than Muller. He is tired, had cramps in yesterday's match, will not go into the match with any sort of great spirit (he basically admitted there is no way he can win). He does not have the serve Muller has and Soderling will outclass him in rallies very, very easily.

[slider24]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) Think Kvitova could be worth a bet to beat Stosur. Stosur will give her a hard ball and if they start trading groundstrokes with eachother I would back in-form Petra to overpower her. As always depends on Kvitova staying consistent but she looks as if she's started the year being exactly that.

[Arantxa]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) Hi folks have been reading here a while and want to share some tips from time to time. There are very skilled people around with perfekt write ups, so i hope i can cuntribute something. Have some side-tips with low stakes on Sevastova, Stakhovsky, Almagro Over 40,5 Games, Troicki Over 36,5 Games, Goerges, Schiavone -3,5 Games; All 2-3/10 and have been explained better by others i think. Schiavone will step up i think and Sharapova is just so poor that she has to be opposed at this price against a decent player. Ljubo/Almagro is bound to go the distance and i think Troicki will give Djoko a good fight, if Djoko can lose a set to Dodig, he can also against Troicki. Stakhovsky seems to get solid by time and Robredo was fortunate with the draw so far, think he will go out today. Manesieva had a good run and is dangerous, but Sevastova is in the Top 50 for some reason and is more prooven at this level. But my main tip where i invest 10/10 is Nisikori vs. Verdasco I played: Nisikori win @2,88 5/10 Nishikori to win 1st set @2,49 4/10 Nishikori to win 3:0 @7,75 0,50/10 Nisikori to win 3:1@6,35 0,50/10 Reason: I watched both matches of both players so far and have to say that Nisikori strikes the ball clean with few errors. He won easily against Mayer, not because Mayer was so bad, but because Nisikori was so good. He plays a Forehand winner whereever he wants to play it. cross or longline. Serve is solid and cant be attacked constantly, backhand also solid, few errors and good dept. Nearly no up and downs, the 6/0 set against Mayer was because all or nothing mood of the german who didn´t know what to do after 2 "normal" sets of playing. Verdasco had an easy warmup against an woefull Schüttler and was quite lucky that Tipsa collapsed after a 2-0 lead. Verdasco´s game is full of errors and i can´t see him win rallies constantly against Nishikori. In my opinion Verdasco will start crappy as always with Nishikori winning the first and maybe also the second set, the Verdasco will come up and try turn the match around. Thats why i have quiet a high stake on the first set win of Kei, i just think that Verdasco is the most vulnerable in the beginning. Overall i think the match is 50/50. It will depend, whenether Kei can win the first 2 sets, the he will win it somehow, if he only wins the first and loses the second i see slight advantages with Verdasco, but still 2,88 is a massive price to find out. Greetz Arantxa

[fagdi]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) Djokovic-Troicki ; over 3.5 sets ; 10units ; 1.90 at bet365 Djokovic and Troicki are good friends and they won Davis Cup a month ago. Their previous meeting on US Open ended 3:2 to Novak. But he was very close to losing that match. Now Troicki is much more consistent than he was then so I think even without them being good friends Troicki has quality to win at least one set. Even if Novak gets a 2:0 lead tonight he will let Troicki take a set.

[IAmGooner]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January) You can also get Troicki to win a set @ 6/5 William Hill.

[fishy25]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January)

Djokovic-Troicki ; over 3.5 sets ; 10units ; 1.90 at bet365 Djokovic and Troicki are good friends and they won Davis Cup a month ago. Their previous meeting on US Open ended 3:2 to Novak. But he was very close to losing that match. Now Troicki is much more consistent than he was then so I think even without them being good friends Troicki has quality to win at least one set. Even if Novak gets a 2:0 lead tonight he will let Troicki take a set.

The beautiful world that tennis revolves around now :lol

[Psycho]

Re: Tennis - The Australian Open (17-30 January)

Djokovic-Troicki ; over 3.5 sets ; 10units ; 1.90 at bet365 Djokovic and Troicki are good friends and they won Davis Cup a month ago. Their previous meeting on US Open ended 3:2 to Novak. But he was very close to losing that match. Now Troicki is much more consistent than he was then so I think even without them being good friends Troicki has quality to win at least one set. Even if Novak gets a 2:0 lead tonight he will let Troicki take a set.

Not sure I can buy this. Djokovic is not stupid and would not want to waste more energy playing needless set even against his pal. He remembers very well that one of the main reasons he was unable to beat Nadal in US Open last year was the fact that he was too tired. Winning in straight sets should be a bonus for him. Although I also believe that Troicki will get at least one set out of this, but not the way like that.