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

[fishy25]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) Nothing for me today as nothing stands out especially. GL to everyone else.

[Atko]

Re: Tennis 25 April - 1 May

Juan Monaco v Andrey Golubev - Juan Monaco -2.5 games AH @ 1.70 with 188bet 6pts WIN

+4.2pts :ok Class shone through in the end. Golubev's picking up a bad habit with winning the first set and losing the match.

[Psycho]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) One early for me... Ivan Ljubicic to beat Gilles Simon. 2.35 @ Pinnacle (5/10) Simon has got massive match-up problems against Ljubicic. With his defensive style of play Ljubicic has got enough chances to make some cracking shots and attack with great deal of success and of course he serves better which is massive advantage against player like Simon who can serve nowhere near the level that is required at this level. Ljubicic leads their H2H series 3-1. The only loss was couple years ago in Paris indoors. Ljubicic lost 4-7 in the final set tie-break. He should have won but failed. The thing about that match was that Simon once again got one of his famous knee injuries and was basically on one leg. Ljubicic could not cope with that mentally and surrendered the lead. Other than that he has been fine against the Frenchman. They have played also in Madrid, in 2009. Ljuba won in three. Fingers crossed Simon does not get injured. If he does, please retire!

[Atko]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) Not many markets up for Round 1 yet of Madrid but I am taking two early bets. I'm sure there will be others as more becomes available. Sam Querrey v Michael Llodra - Michael Llodra @ 2.20 with Stan James 3pts I can't justify Querrey as favourite in any way for this match, the price on Llodra should be closer to 1.75, IMO. Neither man has played much on clay this year - Querrey lost to Ryan Sweeting in Houston, Llodra lost to Milos Raonic in Monaco - and that's it in terms of form. There a few factors that sway me towards Llodra, however. I think he has a good chance in terms of match-up because he'll come to the net often and Querrey isn't a particularly good passer. He's not got a killer forehand or backhand, and as a result, might find the Frenchman tough to pass. I'm also not wild about Americans in Europe. They never really tend to do well except in the UK and Querrey, who has had homesick troubles in the past, could struggle. He went home early in France last year, saying he wanted to be back in the States and had thought about giving up tennis! He's only here because due to his ranking, he has to be. Llodra is not a superstar, so that's why stakes should be kept low, but he's got a good chance of taking this. You can get bigger than 2.20 elsewhere but as Llodra does retire injured from time to time and has been off for a few weeks, I'd take the hit on the odds to get full cover. Ivan Ljubicic v Gilles Simon - Ivan Ljubicic @ 2.20 with Stan James 3pts I'm quite surprised to see Simon favourite in this one. Ljubicic showed up well in Monaco a few weeks back on the red brick and seems to be in decent shape. Same can be said of Simon, but clay is not the Frenchman's best surface and he's had problems with Ljubicic in the past. The Croat leads the H2H 3-1, with a few wins on clay to boot. Simon can probably match him from the baseline but Ljubicic has got the better, more reliable serve, and that could well be the difference. We saw in Estoril a few days ago how Raonic out-served Simon in crucial moments, and I could see the same thing happening here. Ljubicic is wily, and is looking to maximise every last drop of his career before he retires. Due to his age and injury issues in the past I'd take him with a bookie who refunds on retirements too, but he does come here in good shape and is up against an opponent he fares well against on a surface he enjoys. I had Ljubicic priced at 1.64 - my system isn't bombproof but I am surprised that he's so highly priced here. Worth a small shot for sure. :hope

[Psycho]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) Shahar Peer -3.5 AH vs Alisa Kleybanova. 1.98 @ Pinnacle (4/10) Couple things that should work in favour of Peer. First of all and mainly, Kleybanova really not a clay court player and fasters surfaces suit her game more. Secondly, Peer has to have high motivation for this event. She made semifinals last year, so massive points to defend. She has got impressive record against Kleybanova, having beaten the Russian both times. The first match was back in 2004 in Israel, a Challenger event, straight sets win on hard. Alisa nobody player back then but she definitely was at her best last year when Peer beat her in this same tournament 7-6, 6-0. Peer should have won more convincingly as she converted just 4/12 on break points. Like I said, clay really not Kleybanova's thing and I would not be surprised to see her hammered.

[red_impact]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) Nuria Llagostera Vives (+4.5) tb Dinara Safina 1.90 bet365 Clay in Spain is no problem för any of these two but Safina acted strange in Casablanca. I think Vives can over this. Maybe even win.

[red_impact]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) Ivo Karlovic v Gael Monfils under 22.5 games 2.00 bet365 Karlovic movements are not the greatest and his serve works only on hard/grass where he's beaten Monfils last two meetings but they met on clay where Monfils won in two 7-6 6-1. No secret why I think it's a good bet. Karlovic just can't play on clay. Loses heavily if he faces a claycourt-specialist who moves a lot better. Kei Nishikori v Pere Riba 2-0 Nishikori 2.10 bet365 Nishi has everything that Riba don't. Last time I took Nishi 2-0 also but then Riba retired after losing first set 6-2 so hopefully he lose easily without retirement again. Riba retired in two of the last three matches. Lost to Cuevas in Estoril in two. Nishi defeated Cuevas in Houston as well as Fish, both in straight sets.

[dizzyme]

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

Nuria Llagostera Vives (+4.5) tb Dinara Safina 1.90 bet365 Clay in Spain is no problem för any of these two but Safina acted strange in Casablanca. I think Vives can over this. Maybe even win.

She had food poisoning before her quarter final match against Pivovarova and pulled out of the semi due to a lingering fever. Should be recovered by now but still has a dodgy back.

[Simao BVB]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) Hey guys, what about Monfils win against Karlovic? Monfils definitely a better claycourter than Karlovic, he is fast, good in defense and got quite a nice serve. Karlovic only played "clay" in Houston this year. I think Monfils should win this. The other interesting match-up for me is Falla - Baghdatis. Baghdatis in pretty dreadful form last weeks and was never very good on clay. Although Falla doesn't have one of best seasons, he is still in my eyes more suitable on clay than Baghdatis.

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) Only one for me, although I agree with many of the picks here. (4/10) G.Monfils (-2) to bt. I.Karlovic @ 1.82 with Pinnacle This should be all about attitude. Monfils is obviously a class above Karlovic on this surface, so he just needs to concentrate and not make any silly errors. I could never trust Karlovic on clay, since the motivation is not always there and he cannot move around the court too well. A bit risky, but I will go for it.

[Atko]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) Three further bets for me today. Marin Cilic v Potito Starace - Potito Starace + 3.5 games AH @ 1.953 with Pinnacle 4pts I wasn't wholly impressed with Cilic on clay last week and he's got a difficult R1 opponent in Starace here. The Italian is pretty adept on the clay, loves the conditions and should keep this really close. He's a good first server, plays the percentages and will get chances on the Cilic serve. Cilic should probably win this but it'd be no surprise if Starace nicks a set or keeps it close. He's had a decent year thus far. Surprised to see the line so big considering Cilic could only squeeze past Simone Bolelli and Horacio Zeballos last week. Alejandro Falla v Marcos Baghdatis - Alejandro Falla +3 games AH @ 2.08 with Pinnacle 3pts Baghdatis has been very ropey recently, losing some winnable matches. Falla is not an easy man to put away on this surface, he's a sparrer and has come through the qualies, so he should be happy with conditions. Baghdatis is another 'top' player who can go missing. He's not an accomplished clay courter and just doesn't seem reliable these days. The Cypriot should win but might be closer than the line suggests. Andy Roddick v Flavio Cipolla - Flavio Cipolla +4.5 games AH @ 2.03 with Pinnacle 3pts Think this handicap is monstrously high considering this is Roddick's first match on clay this year and that he generally struggles on the red brick in Europe. Cipolla's a dirt rat, a Challenger-dweller but is savvy on this surface, and could cause Roddick issues. Obviously Roddick has an advantage with his serve but I'd fancy Cipolla to keep this fairly close. He's come through the qualies and will be more au fait with the conditions. Roddick is not the force he once was, and I wouldn't be surprised if Cipolla runs him pretty close here. :hope

[fishy25]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) My first ones this week over in Madrid then. Mostly for the men but have taken one for the women as well. Ivo Karlovic vs Gael Monfils- Tie break to be played- 4/5 Bet365-(5/10) Opted for the tie break here instead of the overs as the price is slightly more appealing and it gives the security if one player goes missing for a set. I struggle to see how these two won't serve out at least one tie break in this match. Karlovic has his monster serve as his primary weapon, which Monfils will find difficult to get a hold of. Monfils is the better player and he does also have a pretty handy serve, that put together with Karlovic's lack of returning skills just leads to me to think that a tie break is pretty predictable here. In the past meetings betweeen the two players, they've met 4 times, and there has been a tie break in every match, whilst amazingly in the last 2 matches, there has been 4 tie breaks in total, 2 in both matches. Just fail to see, going on recent history, how another tie break won't be played again today. Marin Cilic vs Potito Starace- Starace +3.5 handicap- 5/6 Bet365- (5/10) With Atko on this one as Starace these days is a pretty handy player on the clay courts. He's already beaten the likes of Simon, Hanescu and Cuevas this year, 3 good clay court opponents while Cilic struggled to get past the likes of Zeballos and Bolelli last week in Munich. He got beaten by a fairly average Davydenko who isn't the player he once was, showing that Cilic is far from his best and Starace should be able to push him. The Italian has a good serve on him and should be able to get some cheap points, like Cilic, but both players should get opportunities to break and it wouldn't be a suprise to see Starace nick a set. Starace won their only match thus far in Rome back in 08 on clay, so I'll take the Italian to keep this one close enough for the handicap. Victor Hanescu vs Xavier Malisse- Hanescu -3 handicap- Evens Bet365- (4/10) Bet365 do actually have a (2.5) handicap up but I'm happy enough with the slightly bigger handicap at a nice price as it's definitely within Hanescu's range. The Romanian actually had to go through qualifiers to book his name in the first round and only just about scraped through against a fellow Romanian yesterday in a third set tie break. However, he seems to be playing some decent stuff recently on the clay. He pushed Starace all the way back in Casablanca, and has beaten Anderson, Golubev and Machado in comfortable fashion in the past few weeks. Malisse hasn't had a great year and has had even less practice on the clay courts. Just two matches this year, and both pretty heavy defeats which doesn't fill with any sort of confidence for the Belgian. Even last year he played very little tennis on the clay, whilst Hanescu is competant on the surface. Just feel that Malisse's lack of court time will affect things here and Hanescu's already won a couple of matches in Madrid, that should see him through and the handicap isn't particularly heavy either. One for the women then. Elena Vesnina vs Vera Zvonareva- Over 19.5 games- 10/11 Bet365- (4/10) Took the overs in Zvonareva's last match against Schnyder which was a strange match as the Russian looked to have the match under complete control after taking the first set 6-2. However she had a shocker in the second losing it 1-6 before regaining her composure and winning the third by the same scores as she took the first set. I'm still not convinced about the Russian on the clay. All 3 of her matches this year have gone to 3 sets, and she got beaten by Stosur last week in Stuggart. Vesnina on the other hand hammered Stosur on clay a couple of weeks back in Charleston, and she's had a lot more court time than Zvonareva on the clay. She actually made the final over in Charleston, beating Peng, Stosur and Goerges to get there, showing she is playing some good tennis and has some confidence with her game. The last meeting between these two went all the way to a final set, as did their only match on clay to date. Vesnina should again keep it tight here and if she plays how she was in Charleston, she could nick a set, if not the match here. Overs for me though.

[WinningTipster]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) Hi guys, 1 more pick for the WTA Madrid tournament: HANTUCHOVA +4 GAMES HANDICAP TO DEFEAT STOSUR @ 1.96 pinnaclesports I am not sure why Stosur is such a favorite in this match, probably based on last year clay court performances (French Open final). Hantuchova is in a good form and it should be a close match similarly to Stuttgart 2 weeks ago (Hantuchova actually winning more points but losing a match).

[red_impact]

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

Kei Nishikori v Pere Riba 2-0 Nishikori 2.10 bet365 Nishi has everything that Riba don't. Last time I took Nishi 2-0 also but then Riba retired after losing first set 6-2 so hopefully he lose easily without retirement again. Riba retired in two of the last three matches. Lost to Cuevas in Estoril in two. Nishi defeated Cuevas in Houston as well as Fish, both in straight sets.

Keep in mind that the clay in Houston is not comparable to that in Europe. Houston is nearly a hart court which illustrates why Nishikori and Karlovic came that far there (especially Karlovic ofc). Riba is a clay player and it all depends on the type of clay, how slow, bouncing height etc. and he has already two qualification matches played here, winning to Marchenko and Andreev !!! in straight sets, which is a good performance I think. Ofc Nishikori is favorite here, but this is not Houston and I would rate it as highly probable that Nishikori needs some time to get familiar with the surface which can cost him the first set or something like that. Ofc you can also win, I only wanted to warn :hope

Did you really miss that Nishikori played in Barcelona and won first set 6-2 against Riba before the guy retired? Do I really have to write that? I thought people would understand how Nishikori is a level above Riba on european clay also. Madrid is a quicker clay court than most and with Nishikoris superior serve and more powerful game this also favours him against Riba.

[andu2k]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) My first post here ( I have a football topic in systems section ) Robert Lindstedt & Horia Tecau v Ruben R. Hidalgo & Santiago Ventura 2-0 2.10 Bet365 Lindstedt & Tecau won in Casablanca,are in good shapes and play together for almost 2 years now, Hidalgo & Ventura didn't played a double game since last October

[red_impact]

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

Keep in mind that the clay in Houston is not comparable to that in Europe. Houston is nearly a hart court which illustrates why Nishikori and Karlovic came that far there (especially Karlovic ofc). Riba is a clay player and it all depends on the type of clay, how slow, bouncing height etc. and he has1 already two qualification matches played here, winning to Marchenko and Andreev !!! in straight sets, which is a good performance I think. Ofc Nishikori is favorite here, but this is not Houston and I would rate it as highly probable that Nishikori needs some time to get familiar with the surface which can cost him the first set or something like that. Ofc you can also win, I only wanted to warn :hope

OMG he was right :eek I hate to be wrong especially about a guy like Riba :@

[red_impact]

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

Ivo Karlovic v Gael Monfils under 22.5 games 2.00 bet365 Karlovic movements are not the greatest and his serve works only on hard/grass where he's beaten Monfils last two meetings but they met on clay where Monfils won in two 7-6 6-1. No secret why I think it's a good bet. Karlovic just can't play on clay. Loses heavily if he faces a claycourt-specialist who moves a lot better. Kei Nishikori v Pere Riba 2-0 Nishikori 2.10 bet365 Nishi has everything that Riba don't. Last time I took Nishi 2-0 also but then Riba retired after losing first set 6-2 so hopefully he lose easily without retirement again. Riba retired in two of the last three matches. Lost to Cuevas in Estoril in two. Nishi defeated Cuevas in Houston as well as Fish, both in straight sets.

I got Nishikori so wrong but Karlovic did as expected moving slow, not able to chase a lob from Monfils. Really easy for Monfils in the end. Karlovic moving so slow on clay. The more athletic Monfils with two breaks in first set did the job.

[captaincool]

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

OMG he was right :eek I hate to be wrong especially about a guy like Riba :@

IMO, you deserved it for such a disparaging comment to someone who was trying to help you and others with their bets. Just so i'm adding something constructive. I'm on Fish to beat Isner at 8/11 with BetFred. Fish has never lost to Isner and is a much better all round player. Isner's movement is awful and I don't think he ever looks fit enough to win against decent players. He lost to Mello last week in straight sets and I don't give him much chance today, unless Fish is very rusty. Even then he should hopefully be too good for his fellow American.

[red_impact]

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

IMO, you deserved it for such a disparaging comment to someone who was trying to help you and others with their bets. Just so i'm adding something constructive. I'm on Fish to beat Isner at 8/11 with BetFred. Fish has never lost to Isner and is a much better all round player. Isner's movement is awful and I don't think he ever looks fit enough to win against decent players. He lost to Mello last week in straight sets and I don't give him much chance today, unless Fish is very rusty. Even then he should hopefully be too good for his fellow American.

I suck at posting and is a reason why I don't post many picks. I shall have a go at Fish to, can't agree more.

[IAmGooner]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) Hantuchova +4 games AH vs Stosur @ 1.893 (Pinnacle:6pts) Stosur has a comfortable 5-1 h2h lead over Hantuchova but she doesn't cover this line in many of those matches, usually loses a set like she did in Stuttgart last week when they met. Daniela really could have won that match, it was very close and she just failed to take enough break chances. I'm not a big fan of Stosur, think she is pretty one-dimensional.......Hantuchova can be competitive in this one. Both had 1st round wins, Hantuchova beating granny Krumm easily and Stosur beating Dulko in 3 sets. I'm happy to play the + handicap in this one. gl!

[crack]

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

Sport	Tennis
Event	Marion Bartoli - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Selection	Marion Bartoli -1.5 (Asian-handicap)
Strength	5/10
Date	03/05/2011
Bookmaker/Price	Bwin @ 5.25
Reasoning	Marion Bartoli leads 1-0 in head-to-head series. I think that she will win after two sets. For me odds are too high, Marion Bartoli will take win here without big problems. Marion Bartoli is better one class above Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in tennis skills, has better ranking, biggest experience! Marion is seeded No.11. Bartoli loves to come to Madrid. She feels very good here. Bartoli played against Simona Halep yesterday and won in two sets. The first set was lengthy and hard fought. The first set lasted 55 minutes. Second set Marion Bartoli won very easy. Simona Halep is playing very good lately so I think that was very nice win for Marion Bartoli. Simona Halep had 7 break points but Marion saved 6 so in my opinion Marion can't lost too many service games. I give her more chances in this match. She has patent for Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. I can't imagine Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the next round.

[Atko]

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

Sam Querrey v Michael Llodra - Michael Llodra @ 2.20 with Stan James 3pts WIN Marin Cilic v Potito Starace - Potito Starace + 3.5 games AH @ 1.953 with Pinnacle 4pts WIN Alejandro Falla v Marcos Baghdatis - Alejandro Falla +3 games AH @ 2.08 with Pinnacle 3pts WIN Andy Roddick v Flavio Cipolla - Flavio Cipolla +4.5 games AH @ 2.03 with Pinnacle 3pts WIN

+13.74 :ok Couldn't have asked for a better day. Roddick looks like he could be finished, very damaging loss to Cipolla, even if it was on clay. Well done to fishy and Czech too, some good winners today, and also Possman on the Nishikori-Riba advice.

[fishy25]

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

My first ones this week over in Madrid then. Mostly for the men but have taken one for the women as well. Ivo Karlovic vs Gael Monfils- Tie break to be played- 4/5 Bet365-(5/10)- WIN Marin Cilic vs Potito Starace- Starace +3.5 handicap- 5/6 Bet365- (5/10)- WIN Victor Hanescu vs Xavier Malisse- Hanescu -3 handicap- Evens Bet365- (4/10)- LOSS Elena Vesnina vs Vera Zvonareva- Over 19.5 games- 10/11 Bet365- (4/10)- WIN

Decent day in the end. Credit to Karlovic for saving a couple of match points to force the tie break. Weird match between Vesnina and Zvonareva, not sure what Vera was doing in the first set. But three wins and one loss leaves me with a start of +8.81 for the week. Hope some more profit is still to come. Great shouts by Atko btw, full house if I'm not mistaken :ok.

[Atko]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) One bet so far for me tomorrow ... usual waiting for markets to open on many matches. Kevin Anderson v Olivier Rochus - Kevin Anderson @ 1.55 with 188bet 9pts Regular readers will know that I tend not to dip much below the 1.80 threshold, but I've decided to change that stance a little when I feel players have been priced generously. In this case, I feel Anderson has been given a decent mark here. I was one of his sceptics on clay but he has improved his game immeasurably on this surface. Good wins over Pablo Cuevas, Victor Hanescu and Thiemo De Bakker suggest that he's no slouch on the red dirt. He had a good week in Estoril, making the quarter-finals, and this is a winnable match against Rochus. The small Belgian is a decent enough player but reserves his best work for quicker surfaces. He's a lucky loser, having dropped out to Flavio Cipolla in the last round, and I fear for him here because of his serve. He often offers presents on his delivery, and Anderson is a man who serves out of a tree. He's hard to break, even more so here because of the effects of altitude. I just don't think Rochus will be able to live with Anderson in his current form. I'd have this price lower, and as a result, I'm more than happy to pounce on it. I appreciate it is not everyone's idea of value, but that's a subjective quantification. For me, Anderson should be lower. Handicap's an option too, but I'll try to keep it simple and take him on the outright. :hope

[Bizjak]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) Thanks for all the great picks guys, amazing work. Followed you on Llodra, Vesnina (+5) and Monfils (-2.5). Funny how lately I'll be looking at a price, hesitating to take it or not, only to see it drop when i click refresh. Like today with Starace (+3.5) - after it fell from almost evens to 1.8, I no longer felt comfortable taking it... Great advice on Falla and Cipolla matches as well, unfortunately I didn't trust the players enough to take them... Guess I should have more faith next time :)

[fishy25]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) Taken one for now as most prices on the handicaps aren't up yet, but may take a few more tomorrow, just cba to stay up and wait around. Juan Monaco vs Gael Monfils- Monfils -2.5 handicap- 8/11 Bet365- (5/10) Not impressed with Monaco in recent weeks. Horror show against Vagnozzi a couple of weeks back in Barcelona, and a dodgy first set against Golubev in his first round match. He lost that set 6-2, and a player with more confidence than Golubev would have gone on and won it, but as it was Monaco managed the comeback. Monfils is of a much higher quality than him though and was extremely comfortable against Karlovic, dealing with the big serves well and getting a double break in the first set, and failed to offer any break points in the match. Just on recent form I think the handicap should be a game higher and I'm guessing it will be by tomorrow morning, so despite the price I'll back the Frenchman to cover the relatively small handicap. H2H is 2-2, but all the matches came a while back and both players have changed a fair bit since then. Monfils can win this fairly solidly if he wants, and watching him today, he didn't try any of his circus antics that let him down so often in matches, so if he doesn't try anything fancy here, he should cover the handicap and progress into the next round.

[red_impact]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) Nikolay Davydenko -4.5 2.10 bet365 I don't know if it's time to start trusting him again but coming from a title with good confidence and motivation should be enough to trust him to beat Granollers by 5 games.

[red_impact]

Re: Tennis - Madrid ATP Masters/WTA Premier Event (1-8 May) Alex Bogomolov v Adam Kellner Kellner 2.00 Bogomolov is coming from a final in Sarasota, Florida that he lost to James Blake and Kellner was in last weeks final of the challenger event in Czech Republic and this match is played in Prague so Kellner does'nt have any traveling like his opponent and Bogomolov usually don't do to good in europe.