Tennis - 18-24 April

[Atko]

Knock yourself out chaps :ok

[Atko]

Re: Tennis - 18-24 April Going to fire in early doors with two selections. Nikolay Davydenko v Alexandr Dolgopolov Alexandr Dolgopolov @ 1.826 with Pinnacle 6pts I think the bookies are vastly overrating Davydenko here. The wee Russian is a skeleton of the player we enjoyed at the tail end of 2009 and I think he's going to be pretty vulnerable against Dolgopolov. Both men had poor Monte Carlos - Dolgopolov was battered by Ernests Gulbis, Davydenko fell to Robin Haase - but I'm more willing to entrust my faith in the Ukrainian. Clay is his preferred surface and has a lovely array of shots to move Davydenko around. The Russian is good at putting the ball deep and in the corners but his shots don't have any crunch anymore, he can't find the points he used to be able to. His serve is especially weak, and worse returners than Dolgopolov have been picking on it. Davydenko's in a bad place right now, and I'm not sure he's got it in him to live with someone like Dolgopolov on clay. Santiago Giraldo v Thomaz Bellucci Thomaz Bellucci @ 1.781 with Pinnacle 6pts This will not be an easy match on the eye or indeed the nerves but I reckon Bellucci will have the job done come the end. I think it'd be fair to say Bellucci hasn't done himself justice in recent weeks, poor results in America and then losing to Gilles Simon in Monte Carlo. Willing to forgive Bellucci for that because Simon was playing well last week. He should get an easier ride against Giraldo, who had a shocker against Daniel Gimeno-Traver in Monaco. Giraldo played some fine clay court tennis in South America but he still lacks consistency and maturity. You could say that about Bellucci too but I think the Brazilian has more on clay - it's his favoured surface and he causes issues with his lefty serve and forehand. Giraldo prefers things a little quicker, and is out of form. The Colombian beat Bellucci in two this year in Auckland but that was on a hard court. Tellingly, Bellucci won their only Tour meeting on clay. It's also worth noting Bellucci made the quarters here last time out, so conditions suit, plus he has something to defend. Could be messy but I think Bellucci will take this, and would have had him priced a little lower than he is here. :hope