Tennis - 9-15 May

[homunculus]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Greta Arn went over Kuznetsova. Injured and 32 of age :rollin. Svetlana really heading into retirement :-) I guess this was the biggest WTA upset today.

[captaincool]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Davydenko has missed every break point that he's played. He's totally dominated Troicki yet is about to lose. It has been a horribly suspicious match. Think the Russians unforced error count is up to over 40. As I post he's just put two in a row long. Such a shame to see a player do this and so disappointing because it's so predictable. :eyes

[martinhattrick]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Monaco to beat Berdych (2/10) @pinnacle at 4.05 As an argentinian, i have followed Monaco all year and have been quiet dissapointed. He has not shown anything at all this season and this tournament i think is a good opportunity to do so. Monaco´s favourite tournament is Roland Garros and he will want to get a couple of matches here before the big date. I know he lost to Berdych last week but i think 2 things have to be considered here. 1) this surface is much slowlier than Madrid´s so and this obviously plays in Monaco´s favour. The czech´s serve will do less damage, and he is not the kind of player that moves smoothly around the court. 2) at this odds, i´m happy to back Monaco, who plays in his best surface, against Berdich´s worst surface. IMO the argentinian hast at least 30% chance of winning so i see value here. GL to everyone! :hope

[Bizjak]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May

Davydenko has missed every break point that he's played. He's totally dominated Troicki yet is about to lose. It has been a horribly suspicious match. Think the Russians unforced error count is up to over 40. As I post he's just put two in a row long. Such a shame to see a player do this and so disappointing because it's so predictable. :eyes

Flashbacks of Barcelona vs. Almagro then, the Russian bashing everything into the net/out, signaling to someone in the crowd... I would not be caught dead betting on a suspicious player, and Davydenko is the top of the crop...

[captaincool]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May

Flashbacks of Barcelona vs. Almagro then' date=' the Russian bashing everything into the net/out, signaling to someone in the crowd... I would not be caught dead betting on a suspicious player, and Davydenko is the top of the crop...[/quote'] Yes, lesson learned today. My criteria of filtering out players just got a lot stricter. I guess I'm just going to have to work extra hard to find good winners for the rest of the week!

[thorbes66111]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Are you guys suggesting he's thrown this match? If, in your opinion, it was so blatant and obvious why do you think nothing has been done about it?

[red_impact]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May

Igor Andreev v Pere Riba Nobet I wont be opposing Riba this week. Andreev is a qualifier this week and warmed up and ready but he lost to Riba in qualies to Madrid last week in straight sets. This is to hard to call. Viktor Troicki v Nikolay Davydenko Davydenko 2-0 2.25 bet365 Not mutch to think about. Troicki has no form and his ranking is lying and this sure can't be another bad match from Davy. Against Troicki on clay he should get it done in 2 sets.

Andreev took revenge ofcourse. Riba plays more or less his best in spain so I'm not too surprised Andreev beat him in Rome. And again a really bad match from Ddenko :puke

[red_impact]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May

Monaco to beat Berdych (2/10) @pinnacle at 4.05 As an argentinian, i have followed Monaco all year and have been quiet dissapointed. He has not shown anything at all this season and this tournament i think is a good opportunity to do so. Monaco´s favourite tournament is Roland Garros and he will want to get a couple of matches here before the big date. I know he lost to Berdych last week but i think 2 things have to be considered here. 1) this surface is much slowlier than Madrid´s so and this obviously plays in Monaco´s favour. The czech´s serve will do less damage, and he is not the kind of player that moves smoothly around the court. 2) at this odds, i´m happy to back Monaco, who plays in his best surface, against Berdich´s worst surface. IMO the argentinian hast at least 30% chance of winning so i see value here. GL to everyone! :hope

Well Berdych dismantled Granollers pretty well last week but he got outplayed by Bellucci but after he easily took care of Monaco, 7-5 6-3. Going for Monaco here looks pretty stupid. He still has'nt got any form and I would save my money for something better. Did'nt Berdych get to the semifinal in RG last year? Monaco of all players to upset Berdych? I'm very surprised if it happens.

[red_impact]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Ivan Ljubicic v Flavio Cipolla Cipolla +3.5 1.943 Pinnacle I'm gonna have a high stake on this one. I count on Cipolla to play some good tennis again. Will be very dissapointed if he gets crushed by Ljubo.

[red_impact]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Robin Söderling v Fernando Verdasco Robin Söderling -3.5 1.90 bet365 Verdasco had good form last year at this time of year but since then he's been decent at best and his ranking have just been waiting to drop. No more top 10 and I think his days as top 10 player is over. He can only blame himself for being unseeded in Rome and forced to play Soda in first round. Verdasco played with finesse before but now he's like gone. I know Soderling is serving very good and also playing at high level even if he lost as usual to Roger. Juan Monaco v Tomas Berdych Berdych -4.0 2.00 Pinnacle Even if Madrid courts were faster the level of play between Berdych and Monaco is to big and Berdych can cover the handicap again.

[red_impact]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Jurgen Melzer v Florian Mayer Mayer +2 2.01 Pinnacle Feels like Melzer only loaned his top 10 ranking for awhile and will soon go back to his normal ranking between 20-30. Comparing these two is difficult since they've never met but it's obvious that if Mayer lose he can keep it tight enough to cover the handicap.

[ImperatorGK44]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Hi guys! I've been following you picks and thoughts for a while now and finally decided to post some of my own as well. :D Kevin Anderson-Sam Querrey 2:0 @2,35 (188bet) Expecting an easy victory here. Querrey is completely out of form and I would be very surprised if he would have find it on clay. He was destroyed by Llodra last week in Madrid and considering the fact that in Rome, clay is slower then in Madrid, I think he will struggle even harder. On the other side, Anderson is similiar type of player as Querrey, but he has no big problems with clay. I watched him against Djokovic i Madrid and he seemed pretty solid. GL

[macdribble]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Not much standing out again today, sticking with two on the handicap:- Lucie Safarova -5.5 v K Date-Krumm (10/11 Bet365) Two players going in opposite directions, neither players favourite surface but Safarova showing more recent aptitude on it than Date-Krumm. Looking at a 6-3, 6-2 type match here imo. Ivo Karlovic +3.5 v Marin Cilic (4/5 Bet 365) I think Cilic will have just enough to beat Karlovic on a surface neither enjoys but I expect it to be tight with at least one tie break. I'll take the +3.5. Good luck to all.

[homunculus]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Safarova vs Date-Krumm: UNDER 18.5 games @2.260 Pinnacle Safarova in good form and will certainly defeat the elderly Date-Krumm, who usually plays her best only on Asia hard courts. This will be Kimiko's 5th match on clay this year, and only 3rd in the main draw against player from top 100 - she lost both in two sets, and was able to go over 18.5 in one of them - Dulko in Barcelona - but this was due to the exceptionally poor serve of Dulko. Safarova is not going to provide Kimiko the luxury of loads of doublefaults, and the match will be over quickly. Pavlyuschenkova vs Scheepers: Sheepers + 5.5 games @1.990 Pinnacle Well, Pavlyuschenkova had good run in Madrid last week, but nonetheless Scheepers made 6 games against Madrid winner Kvitova, and usually performs well on clay - she made it to round 4 last year at French Open. I would say that she is able to make 36 46 against Pavly. GL :hope

[Atko]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May I shall get involved for the first time this week. Juan Ignacio Chela v John Isner - John Isner +1.5 games @ 1.963 with Pinnacle 5pts I think this is a good time to play Chela. The Argentine has not been at the races recently with a couple of poor defeats on the clay to Olivier Rochus and Adrian Mannarino. I think the years are starting to catch up on him, he struggles on serve and doesn't hit through players these days. Isner is no clay expert but in the same ilk as Mardy Fish, he hangs tough and could make this match very close. Obviously he's got the huge serve as his main weapon and I can see him dominating in that front. A better, more in-form player could take out Isner but Chela's not that man for me. They met at Roland Garros two years ago and Chela won in five sets. I can see this one being really close, and that's why I've taken the handicap. A tie-break isn't out of the question and if this goes three tight sets, the line could be covered. Sergiy Stakhovsky v Jarkko Nieminen - Sergiy Stakhovsky @ 1.80 with Stan James 4pts Stakhovsky has hit a lovely bit of form. He's a streaky player, a man who goes on massive runs of wins and then disappears for months on end. I reckon he could get the better of Nieminen here. He beat him on clay last year in Nice and has more weapons with his serve and forehand. I feel he's also got more variation - he can come to the net, he can spar from the back. He made the quarters in Madrid last week and put in some epic performances. Yesterday's win over Victor Hanescu was no different. He saved a few match points in the breaker and seems invincible against weaker foes. Nieminen isn't at his past level and doesn't play that well on clay. Happy to take the Ukrainian here. :ok

[ImperatorGK44]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Peer-Jovanovski over 21 games @2,05 (Pinnacle) Israeli girl is a slight favourite in this match, but a also like chances of young Jovanovski. She played very well against the Nr.1, Caroline Wozniacki in Madrid, while Peer lost in 1st round already against Kleybanova in straight sets. Still I think that both players lacks consistency to end this match in straight sets. GL

[sardokan]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Hello everyone, today I would write something about my tennis game as we are at home in rome.... the match in question is to foligno today I hope that in front of the audience find the right input to fight to the death so I would like opt for the payout of his set ... and then go beyond the 20.5 games ... what could happen ... Wawrinka, Stanislas Fognini, Fabio GoldBet stake to over 2.10 20.5 5/10

[captaincool]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May

I shall get involved for the first time this week. Juan Ignacio Chela v John Isner - John Isner +1.5 games @ 1.963 with Pinnacle 5pts I think this is a good time to play Chela. The Argentine has not been at the races recently with a couple of poor defeats on the clay to Olivier Rochus and Adrian Mannarino. I think the years are starting to catch up on him, he struggles on serve and doesn't hit through players these days. Isner is no clay expert but in the same ilk as Mardy Fish, he hangs tough and could make this match very close. Obviously he's got the huge serve as his main weapon and I can see him dominating in that front. A better, more in-form player could take out Isner but Chela's not that man for me. They met at Roland Garros two years ago and Chela won in five sets. I can see this one being really close, and that's why I've taken the handicap. A tie-break isn't out of the question and if this goes three tight sets, the line could be covered. Sergiy Stakhovsky v Jarkko Nieminen - Sergiy Stakhovsky @ 1.80 with Stan James 4pts Stakhovsky has hit a lovely bit of form. He's a streaky player, a man who goes on massive runs of wins and then disappears for months on end. I reckon he could get the better of Nieminen here. He beat him on clay last year in Nice and has more weapons with his serve and forehand. I feel he's also got more variation - he can come to the net, he can spar from the back. He made the quarters in Madrid last week and put in some epic performances. Yesterday's win over Victor Hanescu was no different. He saved a few match points in the breaker and seems invincible against weaker foes. Nieminen isn't at his past level and doesn't play that well on clay. Happy to take the Ukrainian here. :ok

Have followed you on both of these although I took Isner outright at 2.3. I don't have anything more to add to the write ups as they're pretty comprehensive. :ok

[red_impact]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May

Ivan Ljubicic v Flavio Cipolla Cipolla +3.5 1.943 Pinnacle I'm gonna have a high stake on this one. I count on Cipolla to play some good tennis again. Will be very dissapointed if he gets crushed by Ljubo.

Juan Monaco v Tomas Berdych Berdych -4.0 2.00 Pinnacle Even if Madrid courts were faster the level of play between Berdych and Monaco is to big and Berdych can cover the handicap again.

Juan-Ignacio Chela v John Isner Isner 2.00 bet365 He does'nt get any younger Chela and he probably feels pretty ok about himself with last season and has a lack of motivation this year maybe. He just don't play good enough to win as mutch as last year. No wrong about picking Isner here I think. Ivan Ljubicic v Flavio Cipolla Cipolla 3.00 bet365 Possible upset again from Cipolla. Ljubo can't be trusted.

No chance for Cipolla and not for Isner either but Berdych did his job. Monaco still without form.

[maruzzo]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May what bout Soderling? i think he can win against Verdasco..after I watched Verdasco against Lu..he was so week...

[Atko]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Sorry chaps, that was rubbish from me today. -9pts with Isner and Stakhovsky both going down in pretty meek fashion. Off on holiday for a week or so - our paths will cross again at the French Open. Good luck to all until then :ok

[flaskoncek]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Amazing Verdasco!!! :rollin He save my day! :loon

[fishy25]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Handed in my uni essays at last after an all nighter at the library making me feel like a pile of sh*t. But glad it's over and i'll do some write ups later probably when the odds are available.

[fishy25]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Right going to make these fairly quick write-ups as I'm literally falling asleep at the minute so apologies for any grammatical or spelling errors. I have been up for about 30 hours ;). 5 for me in total, all on the side of the women. Sam Stosur vs Iveta Benesova- Stosur -4.5 handicap- 8/11 Bet365- (5/10) Not the most attractive of prices but the Australian should be comfortable in this one. She's in pretty good form on the clay this year, beating the likes of Zvonareva, Hantuchova and Dulko and her only defeats have come against good quality opponents such as an in form Goerges, Vesnina and Pavlyuchenkova. Benesova simply isn't as good as those players. Really don't fancy her much at all on clay. Despite taking the title in Fes last year, she has been rolled over by some pretty average opponents since then and Stosur should be way too much for her. In the past few weeks, she's been easily beaten by Medina Garrigues, Hradecka and Li Na and Stosur is yet another class up from those players on the clay courts. She beat Dulko today easily but Gisela is in a bit of a rot at the minute so I wouldn't read too much into that and tomorrow Stosur will be a completely different match and should increase her 2-0 H2H to 3, covering the handicap in the process. Polona Hercog vs Andrea Petkovic- Petkovic -4.5 handicap- 8/11 Bet365- (5/10) Same handicap to the Stosur one and I feel it should be covered like Stosur. Been quietly impressed with the German in the past few weeks. Beaten Jankovic in Stuggart and creamed Wozniacki in the early stages of their match. She does seem to be playing freely and that is so important for a big hitter like Petkovic. Hercog has won 2 qualifiers here in Rome and made it 3 wins against Dulgheru. However her performances of late have been sketchy and with fatigue possibly creeping in, Petkovic should repeat her win over Hercog which she did earlier on in the year int he Fed Cup. She only lost 3 games that day, will be closer today but I'd still fancy her with the handicap. Victoria Azarenka vs Sara Errani- Under 18.5 games- Evens Bet365- (4/10) Didn't expect such a high price so I'll back Azarenka to get the jon done in fairly quickish time here. She hammered her for the expense of just 3 games a few weeks back in Marbella, and there is nothing to suggest to me why she can't win in similiar comfortable fashion. She's had a few days off since her defeat to Kvitova, so she should be well rested and if she plays how she has been doing in recent weeks, it shouldn't be a marathon this one. Lourdes Dominguez Lino vs Na Li -5.5 handicap- Evens Bet365- (4/10) A nice price again here on the handicap. Dominguez Lino is extremely lucky to have made it to round 2, after she trailed Strycova something like 4-1 in the final set, only for her to choke and Lino eventually won the tie break. Li won't let her off the hook and got some much needed wins under her belt last week before getting blown off the court by Kvitova, which is no shame is saying. Li is very much about confidence and last week should have given her that boost she needed after going on a horrible run after her AO final defeat. They met once before at the AO back in 2007 where Li only dropped 2 games. This is a completely different scenario this time, but I fancy Li, if playing with a new found confidence, to run away with this quite handsomly. Marion Bartoli vs Anabel Medina Garrigues- Under 21 games- 5/6 Bet365- (4/10) None of the 6 matches between these two have gone over 21 games and I don't see that trend fluctuating tomorrow. Bartoli has been seriously horrible of late, losing to players who she really shouldn't be losing to. Garrigues is a comfortable clay courter and has picked up good results on the surface this year, winning over in Estoril and making the semis over in Mexico earlier on in the season. She's in better form and should win here against a very out of sorts Bartoli. Taken the unders as a precautionary though as if indeed Bartoli shows up out of nowhere, she does have the quality to run riots in her matches and could even take this easily enough herself. Regardless, fancy it to be over in a couple of fairly routine sets.

[homunculus]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Let's summarize the bets in the 1st half of the week

Raonic to bt Verdaso @2.200 Pinnacle LOSS Bethanie Mattek-Sands to bt Flavia Pennetta @2.120 Pinnacle WIN Safarova vs Date-Krumm: UNDER 18.5 games @2.260 Pinnacle LOSS Pavlyuschenkova vs Scheepers: Sheepers + 5.5 games @1.990 Pinnacle WIN

Once again Verdasco rolled where he should have imploded. Safarova really poor start in the 1st set against Date-Krumm. Scheepers did the job and, of course, my favourite Bethanie gave Pennetta a lesson. The tiniest profit so far. Let's hope the rest of the week will bring some juicy winners.

[macdribble]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Safarova just about did the job for me yesterday. Agree with all of today's WTA picks by Fishy so will tail him on these. Also playing: Stan Wawrinka -2.5 v Filippo Volandri (4/5 Bet 365) Wawrinka beat fellow Italian Fognini yesterday comfortably who is a much better player and in better form than Volandri. Volandri cruised past De Bakker in the first round but it didn't take much at all to beat the Dutchman. Wawrinka leads h2h 2-1 (all on clay) although they haven't met since 06 with Wawrinka becoming a far better player in that time. Good luck all

[homunculus]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Brianti to bt Arn @1.633 Pinnacle (2u) Brianti to bt Arn 2:0 @2.66 Pinnacle (1u) the match starts in a couple of minutes. Brianti plays at home. Made it to QF in Barcelona (clay) two weeks ago and won Fes (clay) three weeks ago. In R1 in Rome she went over kinda out of form Zheng, but in two straight sets. On the other hand Arn was extremely lucky to get to R2. This was strange battle with Kuznetsova. In the tie-break of the 3rd set they had both couple of matchpoints, but Greta was the more lucky one. Very poor performance from Svetlana in that match. Alberta should have no problem to go to R16. IMO great odds. GL :hope

[homunculus]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May

Brianti to bt Arn @1.633 Pinnacle (2u) LOSS Brianti to bt Arn 2:0 @2.66 Pinnacle (1u) LOSS

Well, -3u. :unsure I did not watch it. Was Alberta playing in a wheelchair?

[LAMPS]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May Just a few thoughts so far today... Can't believe the Simon score, did anyone watch this? I often like to back BIG outsiders in slams and lay them off around the last 16. Simon of course draw pending was one i was looking at for the French, not a great serve but he just doesn't make errors and patience is key for clay but to lose to Chela who ONCE was a very good player but now a bit of a journeyman so easily it not impressive at all. Not sure which Simon is going to turn up next the one that really pushed Murray and disposed of Roddick so easily or the one that will lose to clowns like Chela??? Another shortlisted player is Stan, a player who is very underated for me. He's a bit rusty at the moment and not in particular great form but seems to be beating the local favourite Volandri pretty easily. One to keep an eye on if he progresses and faces a "tougher" opponent

[Hucky]

Re: Tennis - 9-15 May

Stan Wawrinka -2.5 v Filippo Volandri (4/5 Bet 365) Wawrinka beat fellow Italian Fognini yesterday comfortably who is a much better player and in better form than Volandri.

I think Wawrinka's win was anything but easy. Fognini made enough unforced errors to last two matches and was visibly distressed throughout, yet still took him to 3 sets. Volandri is coming off a cruisy game like you said and as a local will be more comfortable in the heat than Wawrinka. I'm a fan of Wawrinka but am staying away from this one.