Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May)

[WinningTipster]

ATP and WTA Madrid tournaments starting today. 3 picks for the WTA Madrid tournament: RUS +5.5 GAMES HANDICAP TO DEFEAT SHARAPOVA @ 2.05 pinnaclesports NICULESCU -1.5 GAMES HANDICAP TO DEFEAT SCHEEPERS @ 1.95 pinnaclesports MEDINA TO DEFEAT SAFAROVA @ 1.75 betfair Sharapova is not a top clay court player and it always takes her 2-3 weeks to get adjusted to clay. Rus can hold hew own in long rallies and will win some games for sure to make it a close match. Niculescu is a great clay court player both consistent and powerful with good form last week and two good wins in qualies here is a favorite against an average hard court player Scheepers. Medina a winner last week in Estoril against an injured and out-of-form Safarova.

[Atko]

Re: Tennis 25 April - 1 May Madrid gets under way today and I'll take one bet for the opening session ... Juan Monaco v Andrey Golubev - Juan Monaco -2.5 games AH @ 1.70 with 188bet 6pts You can get a -3 handicap at better odds but I'm content to take the smaller line and odds, simply because I expected this to be somewhere in the region of -4 games. Neither player has been especially hot this year, but Golubev appears to be in far worse shape than the Argentine. He's yet to win a Tour match on clay this year and seems to have completely lost all semblance of form since his Davis Cup success with Kazakhstan. Some of his defeats have been pretty galling - he threw away a 6-0 lead against Pere Riba a few weeks ago - and hasn't really been competitive. Monaco lost to Feliciano Lopez in Belgrade at the start of the week, although that piece of form doesn't look too shabby considering Lopez has made the final of that event. Monaco is certainly the more accustomed player in these conditions. He is a better mover and has better defensive qualities. This is an entirely winnable match for him and I expect the Argentine to come through and take the line, which should, IMO, be a lot higher. :hope