Tennis: 31st December -8th January

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Thought I would create a tennis thread, what with it being the start of a brand new spanking tennis season and all. Atko usually does the honours but maybe he's keeping his powder dry for the Aussie Open in two weeks? So, onto the tennis this week. We've got the lads and lassies playing in Brisbane, while the rest of the girls and boys compete in Auckland and Chennai and Doha respectively. Hard courts are the surface of choice at all events. Tips away! :ok

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Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January Iveta Benesova - Lucie Safarova OVER 20.5 games @4/5 BET 365 Strength (6/10) Quite surprised at the line here. Three of their five matches have covered the line and two of those three matches have been their last two meetings. The more routine Safarova victories occured more than four years ago(she leads the head to head 5-0), so all indications are that Benesova is warming to the task of facing the erratic but talented fellow Czech. Both are left handers and can go hot and cold at different times, so there should be chances for both to claw back potential deficits - even in the same sets - so this line could easily be covered in a two set match. :ok

[fishy25]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January I'll get involved with the tennis for the first time this season and take 3 over in Brisbane. Nothing too heavy as it's the first matches for the players so plenty of caution in these bets. Iveta Benesova vs Lucie Safarova- Over 20.5 games- 4/5 Bet365- (4/10) Agree with Slider on this one and this line could easily be covered if only 2 sets are played. Neither girl would have been delighted with how they finished last season; Benesova only winning one of her last 5, excluding a bye in Luxembourg and Safarova lost both matches in the Fed Cup. Safarova is traditionally involved in some pretty lengthy matches, with constant shifts in momentum. She is extremely talented when playing well, but consistency in matches is a problem with the Czech as she can go missing at times. In the past this line has been covered in 3 matches out of the 5 played, including over in Austria at the end of last season. First match of the season and expect both to cancel eachother out a bit and if they play out a tight first set, that should see this line through I'd imagine. Even if it isn't that tight, either play is capable of fighting back and I expect at least 21 games to be played in this match. Bojana Jovanovski to beat Casey Dellacqua- 10/11 Coral- (3/10) I really rate Jovanovski as a player and I fully expect her to break into the top 32 in the next year or so if she can play to her potential. The only reason she is the slight underdog in this match is due to her poor form since the US open last year where she won just two matches since the slam, and losing to players she should be beating in the process. We did however see what a talented player she is last season in some of her earlier matches in the season. She reached the semis in Sydney early on last season, beating the likes of Rezai, Pennetta and Kanepi in the process and then took a set off Zvonareva at the Australian Open. She was also competitive against Wozniacki, Wickmayer and Peer at points during the season and if she can repeat those performances this season, she could really climb the rankings this year. Dellacqua actually won 30 matches in a row last season and although that may sound incredibly impressive, it's really not. She didn't play anyone in the top 100 in that time and very few of the players she beat were even in the top 200 which just puts that winning streak into context. All of these events were also in Australia so she would have had home advantage in all of them which would have benefited her. When she did face a couple of better players in Cornet and Kerber though, she won just 8 games in total which shows the difference between her and the players in the top 100. She has had problems with injuries in the past and has required surgery for the last 2 years which has really affected her. When these two players met in their only previous meeting, the Serb won 6-1 6-0 at Wimbledon, and even if the youngster plays decently, I'd expect her to win this one regardless of the Aussie having home advantage. Dominika Cibulkova to beat Daniela Hantuchova- 5/6 Blue Square- (3/10) Initially I was leaning more towards Hantuchova given the head to head between these two girls but after looking into it, I fancy Cibulkova to record her first win over her compatriot here. She ended last season on a massive high after winning the tournament in Moscow, and make the final in Linz the week before. She was one of the most consistent players on the tour last year and made the quarters at Wimbledon and was perhaps unlucky in a lot of tournament with her draws. Hantuchova usually plays her best tennis once the season gets going and is often quite rusty at the start and at the end of the season which. Last season really shows that as she lost her opening 4 matches of the season and her last 4 of the season and I'm not entirely sure why that is, other than a loss of concentration but there could well be a slight laziness factor in there somewhere. Hantuchova has won all 3 meetings between these two girls, but given the way both girls finished last season, Cibulkova was playing much the better tennis of the two girls and I'll back her to pick up from where she left on at the end of last season.

[danytz186]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January

Sport	Tennis
Event	Casey Dell'Acqua - Bojana Jovanovski
Selection	2
Strength	10/10
Date	01/01/2012
Bookmaker/Price	Pinnacle Sports @ 2.08
Reasoning	Tennis is back. In the first round of the WTA Brisbane (hard, Australia) the "local" lefthanded Casey Dell'Acqua will take on right-handed player Bojana Jovanovski from Serbia. This actually won`t be their first meeting, the first one was in 2010 on the grass at Wimbledon, in the first round when Jovanovski won it very clearly in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0. Dell'Acqua is ranked 134th in the world reaching a career high in 2008 when she was 39, but, more importantly she had more success in doubles where at one time was 9th in the world. Looking at last season, not much to say about the aussie because she played mostly ITF tournaments and won 7 of them but, of course with no real challenge because most of the opponents being ranked over 200. On the other side we have Jovanovski, 73rd in the world at the moment, best position she got was last year when she reached the top50 (exactly 50th). She is taller, younger then Dell'Acqua and looking like prefering hardcourt. Last year ment a big leap in experience at the big level, she even started the season with a semifinal at Sydney where she lost to Na Li in straight sets, but gone through better positioned players in the WTA rankings like Carstea, Kanepi and Pennetta (all in straight sets), coming from qualifiers. My pick will be on the Bojana Jovanovski who looks like a more serious competitor in this meeting even though Casey will most definitely have the cround on her side.

[Psycho]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January Addicts :rollin

[Atko]

Good luck chaps for the season :ok I'll be kicking around as always but won't be tipping - just not enough time these days. Loads of good tennis punters in here so expecting a high standards as always!

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January Good luck everyone :ok One for me with small stakes to kick off. (2/10) Pironkova Total Games (vs. Kvitova) - Over 7 @ 2.06 with Pinnacle I fully expect Kvitova to take this in the end, but the line is too low. Pironkova covered this line in all 3 games between the two and Kvitova will be under a lot of pressure to perform in this season. Watched her in the off-season and she was not playing well, so she can find it tough at the start of this tournament. At this price, this is a must for me.

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January Found one more that I like actually. (1/10) Gael Monfils to win ATP Doha (1,2 1/2) (E-W) @ 13.00 with Paddy Power This looks like value to me. Federer could not live with Djokovic, Ferrer could not live with Djokovic - Monfils could. Great effort in off-season and that can easily pay off this week. Nice draw early on (Machado, Kunitsyn, Troicki) and Nadal might even lose before the semi. Should be somewhere around the 7.50 mark probably.

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Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January

Iveta Benesova - Lucie Safarova OVER 20.5 games @4/5 BET 365 Strength (6/10) Quite surprised at the line here. Three of their five matches have covered the line and two of those three matches have been their last two meetings. The more routine Safarova victories occured more than four years ago(she leads the head to head 5-0), so all indications are that Benesova is warming to the task of facing the erratic but talented fellow Czech. Both are left handers and can go hot and cold at different times, so there should be chances for both to claw back potential deficits - even in the same sets - so this line could easily be covered in a two set match. :ok

Win. Loads of matches tonight/tomorrow but I just can't find anything, so I'll leave it.

[totse]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January

Sport	Tennis
Event	Berdych, T/Kvitova, P - Dimitrov, G/Pironkova, T
Selection	Dimitrov, G/Pironkova, T
Strength	10/10
Date	02/01/2012
Bookmaker/Price	Unibet @ 3.40
Reasoning	This should be second game for the same day to all players after they will play earlier for the same Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia. At the moment Berdych is playing against Dimitrov while Kvitova face Pironkova. Berdych and Kvitova has no big experience playing on doubles, mixed doubles is not their strong side and this may be used by the Bulgarian players. Dimitrov and Pironkova has few games playing on mixed doubles, they sure will want to take this match more than the Czechians. I think Bulgarian side will have bigger motivation because if they trails 2-0 the match is over and Czech Republic win. This is first appearance to Bulgaria at Hopman Cup, while Czechians regularly are playing there. Pironkova and Dimitrov knows each other very well they played few matches between in past few years I think they really have good chance here.

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January Terribly unlucky with Pironkova, she had so many opportunities and probably should have won the first set. Anyway, onto today. May come back with more in the WTA. (2/10) Mannarino to beat Andreev @ 1.90 with Pinnacle First match for the Frenchman, so stakes should probably be rather conservative. Andreev had some tough matches in the qualifiers and struggled against worse opponents, so he might easily fail here, as Mannarino is no pushover. And he must have good memories of Australia from last year, which can only help him. (2/10) Kunitsyn to beat Becker @ 1.76 with Pinnacle Kunitsyn is simply the better player and they had contrasting seasons in 2011. Can Becker turn this around right from the start? I do not think so and I will go for the more talented guy with solid groundstrokes and pretty rational approach to the game. Becker is way too much hit or miss imo.

[Atko]

Worth mentioning, for anyone interested in the Kunitsyn-Becker match, that the German missed more than half the year through injury. He played a few Challengers in November but his match fitness has to be questioned here.

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January Meh, I keep picking these rotten matches, Kunitsyn going from 5-2* to 5-7.

[Atko]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January

Meh' date=' I keep picking these rotten matches, Kunitsyn going from 5-2* to 5-7.[/quote'] Watched the whole match mate. Kunitsyn was garbage. No weapons on a slower court. Becker just stayed in the rallies, served well and took his chances when they came. Motivated man now as he looks to get back into the top 100. If Kunitsyn plays like that this year he'll drop out the top 100.

[Psycho]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January Perhaps I am getting over-excited but this is what it is. Have picked 6 matches for the Tuesday. ATP Brisbane Adrian Mannarino > Igor Andreev. 1.96 @ Pinnacle (6/10) Igor Andreev is in a huge mess and it's been a good part of two years since he played good tennis. He had to play qualies in this one, that's three tough matches, every single of those had three sets, so he will be spent. Besides he needed three sets to beat average players like Delic, Reid and Zopp. The thing about Andreev is that he has got sick forehand but it tends to go down when he's tired which is the case in latter parts of tournaments. After three matches he will be tired whilst Mannarino will be fresh and one more advantage for the Frenchman is his serve. Philipp Petzschner > Jurgen Melzer. 2.50 @ Pinnacle (5/10) These two are very good friends and doubles parthers but when it comes to playing against each others in singles Melzer traditionally has struggled. They have played couple times and the Austrian has not even managed to take a set. 2.50 surely is overpriced offer for the German. ATP Doha Rafael Nadal vs Philipp Kohlschreiber. Over 20 games. 1.85 @ Pinnacle (5/10) Nadal is 8-0 against Kohlschreiber but has lost a set in all of their 4 meetings on hard courts. Kohlschreiber not the most talented tennis player on planet but has some skills. He can serve when he's in the mood and has got decent backhand. Bare in mind that Nadal is not 100% with shoulder injury this match might be a very good chances for Kohly for an upset. WTA Auckland Rebecca Marino vs Roberta Vinci. Under 21.5 games. 1.80 @ Bet365 (6/10) Not a fan of Marino. She's all about serve and occasional forehand. Not more than that. If the first serve is not working she has huge problems. Besides I can see Vinci moving her around the court with her slices and dropshots and all sorts of other things she does with a tennis ball. I reckon this will be straight forward win for the Italian and taking unders. Would have taken handicap but -4.5 games is half a game over my desired line. Shuai Peng -4 vs Aravane Rezai. 1.80 @ Nordicbet (6/10) Peng is mixed bag but I am counting on Rezai being her normal which is average tennis player with very limited motivation. Peng reached semifinals in Auckland last year, so is used to conditions. She destroyed Rezai 6-0, 6-4 in their only meeting last year and is my favorite to advance this time as well. Taking -4 games on the Chinese number two. WTA Brisbane Francesca Schiavone > Galina Voskoboeva. 1.75 @ Pinnacle (7/10) I'd take this one anytime of the year so no problems jumping on this early in the season. Voskoboeva is really pahtetic tennis player. Dushevina had a shocker against on Monday registering the first double bagel of the year in WTA. Voskoboeva is nowhere near to crush someone 6-0, 6-0. Schiavone with more quality and variety to her game and is a clear favorite for a win. Odds are suggesting otherwise but I wouldn't price her higher than 1.40 to be honest. She did beat Voskoboeva over three sets in US Open last year. No need to look for handicaps here as the the outright price is good enough. :hope

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January Yeah, saw it too. It looked grim from the beginning and Kunitsyn was indeed crap, but he should have taken it into the decider. Not too sure about Becker though, he seemed horrible when taken a bit out of the comfort zone.

[Atko]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January

Yeah' date=' saw it too. It looked grim from the beginning and Kunitsyn was indeed crap, but he should have taken it into the decider. Not too sure about [b']Becker though, he seemed horrible when taken a bit out of the comfort zone.

He's very likely to play Monfils next. One would expect that'll be the end of him in Qatar.

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January I meant in general. I do not like him as a player, he seems to fit into the "your average ball-basher" category way too often. And that is not going to get you far in this tennis era, especially if you consider his age. There are older players in the top 30, of course, but they have something special - take Radek Stepanek for example.

[Atko]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January

I meant in general. I do not like him as a player' date=' he seems to fit into the "your average ball-basher" category way too often. And that is not going to get you far in this tennis era, especially if you consider his age. There are older players in the top 30, of course, but they have something special - take Radek Stepanek for example.[/quote'] We'll probably see him put in a big push this year and then fade away. He'll win matches on the tour through sheer power alone. I think this match though gave us more clues on Kunitsyn - definitely an opposable opponent in the future.

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Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January

Perhaps I am getting over-excited but this is what it is. Have picked 6 matches for the Tuesday. ATP Brisbane Adrian Mannarino > Igor Andreev. 1.96 @ Pinnacle (6/10) Igor Andreev is in a huge mess and it's been a good part of two years since he played good tennis. He had to play qualies in this one, that's three tough matches, every single of those had three sets, so he will be spent. Besides he needed three sets to beat average players like Delic, Reid and Zopp. The thing about Andreev is that he has got sick forehand but it tends to go down when he's tired which is the case in latter parts of tournaments. After three matches he will be tired whilst Mannarino will be fresh and one more advantage for the Frenchman is his serve. Philipp Petzschner > Jurgen Melzer. 2.50 @ Pinnacle (5/10) These two are very good friends and doubles parthers but when it comes to playing against each others in singles Melzer traditionally has struggled. They have played couple times and the Austrian has not even managed to take a set. 2.50 surely is overpriced offer for the German. ATP Doha Rafael Nadal vs Philipp Kohlschreiber. Over 20 games. 1.85 @ Pinnacle (5/10) Nadal is 8-0 against Kohlschreiber but has lost a set in all of their 4 meetings on hard courts. Kohlschreiber not the most talented tennis player on planet but has some skills. He can serve when he's in the mood and has got decent backhand. Bare in mind that Nadal is not 100% with shoulder injury this match might be a very good chances for Kohly for an upset. WTA Auckland Rebecca Marino vs Roberta Vinci. Under 21.5 games. 1.80 @ Bet365 (6/10) Not a fan of Marino. She's all about serve and occasional forehand. Not more than that. If the first serve is not working she has huge problems. Besides I can see Vinci moving her around the court with her slices and dropshots and all sorts of other things she does with a tennis ball. I reckon this will be straight forward win for the Italian and taking unders. Would have taken handicap but -4.5 games is half a game over my desired line. Shuai Peng -4 vs Aravane Rezai. 1.80 @ Nordicbet (6/10) Peng is mixed bag but I am counting on Rezai being her normal which is average tennis player with very limited motivation. Peng reached semifinals in Auckland last year, so is used to conditions. She destroyed Rezai 6-0, 6-4 in their only meeting last year and is my favorite to advance this time as well. Taking -4 games on the Chinese number two. WTA Brisbane Francesca Schiavone > Galina Voskoboeva. 1.75 @ Pinnacle (7/10) I'd take this one anytime of the year so no problems jumping on this early in the season. Voskoboeva is really pahtetic tennis player. Dushevina had a shocker against on Monday registering the first double bagel of the year in WTA. Voskoboeva is nowhere near to crush someone 6-0, 6-0. Schiavone with more quality and variety to her game and is a clear favorite for a win. Odds are suggesting otherwise but I wouldn't price her higher than 1.40 to be honest. She did beat Voskoboeva over three sets in US Open last year. No need to look for handicaps here as the the outright price is good enough. :hope

Addict ;) I also think Kolhly will test Nadal. Every hard court match between the two has been competitive, and no reason to think this will any different. BET 365 really are a joke in how long they take to expand on markets so I'm waiting for them to put them up. I thought the line might of have a game lower though.

[danytz186]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January

Sport	Tennis
Event	Blaz Kavcic - Steve Darcis
Selection	2
Strength	10/10
Date	03/01/2012
Bookmaker/Price	Betclic @ 1.80
Reasoning	In the first round of the ATP Chennai (India, hard) lefty Blaz Kavcic from Slovenia will take on righty Steve Darcis from Belgium. Kavcic is currently ranked 92nd and after taking a quick look at his career he looks like a claycourt player but that didn`t stop him to finishe the 2011 season with a 15-7 record on hardcourt. He won a challenger last season, but it was on clay. Darcis, one promicing player with a very decent serve and few weapons at his disposal, ranking 88th right now (career high 44th in 2008) and ending the 2011 season with a some important wins against players like Davydenko, Llodra and Petzschner. Counting the fact that this will be the first meeting between the two, I will pick Darcis in this one who looks as the better competitor on hardcourt, mainly because he played more then Kavcic so far in his career and of course his playing style.

[WinningTipster]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January Hi guys, starting the 2012 season with 1 new pick for the ATP DOHA: BUBKA-ZEMLJA OVER 22 GAMES @ 1.95 on pinnaclesports Two players with big serve, similar level, should be a close match - should expect a tie-break in one of the sets or a long 3-sets match. [url=http://www.winningtipster.com/]

[Fader]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January Gajdosova vs Bartoli - 2pts Bartoli -3.5 Eves Bet365 Last 2 meetings against these two ended 2-0 to Bartoli, and I expect the same here, but never the less I've kept it safe with the handicap bet. Can win 6-4.6-4 or even drop a set if she wins the first conviningly like she has done the previous two meetings.

[Fader]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January

Gajdosova vs Bartoli - 2pts Bartoli -3.5 Eves Bet365 Last 2 meetings against these two ended 2-0 to Bartoli, and I expect the same here, but never the less I've kept it safe with the handicap bet. Can win 6-4.6-4 or even drop a set if she wins the first conviningly like she has done the previous two meetings.

Easy peasy

[Fader]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January Hewitt Vs Gasquet - Gasquet -1.5 1.72 Bet365 Another game I wouldn't be surprised if it ended 2-0 to Gas, but I'll go safe again with this one. The frenchman I feel will be far too strong for a has-been in my opinion that is Hewitt.

[Fader]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January sorry that's another 2pts

[Fader]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January that's 2/2 with a 2-1 set win for Gasquet.

[fishy25]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January I'll take one quickly, and maybe a couple more later. This match starts in a minute though so I'll have to be quick. Ernests Gulbis to beat Mikhail Youzhny- Evens Sportingbet- (3/10) I'm inclined to back the Latvian as the underdog here given the head to head record of these two guys. Gulbis has won the last 3, including a straight sets win in the US open last year. He undoubtedly has talent, but his mental strength isn't the greatest in the world and sometimes you feel he hasn't really come to win. I think he will try in this tournament though. He had a poor end to last season and comes into this week defending some points, as he made the quarter finals here last year. Youzhny didn't have a particularly good 2011 either and failed to make a final of any event which is a poor stat for the Russian, who on his day can give any guy in the world a match. He was incredibly poor at the end of last season, losing to Lammer, who is outside the top 250 in the world so the Russian will have needed to have a good off season to get his head back into shape. I just wouldn't have had Gulbis as the underdog here given the history if these two, and he will have a mental edge over the Russian before they start. If he can get off to a good start and get his forehand going, I'll back him to come get past Youzhny here.

[Fader]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January Daveydenko vs Federer - 2pts Daveydenko +4.5 eves SkyBet I fancy a close game here. Only worry for me is that davey sneaks the first set on a tie break and then gets pummeled 6-2/6-2 but I'm prepared to take a risk here as I don't think Federer will be "that" up for this game, and the fact davey tend to raise his game to the big players. Federer has a great record h2h but that was in the days of the fedex. Now it's more a slow-rolling bus :D

[CzechPunter]

Re: Tennis: 31st December -8th January Does anyone think that Jovanovski has a chance against Williams? Williams was utter crap in the first match, not even interested, just standing in one place and forcing issues. We all know how disinterested she is when it comes to these tournaments. Scheepers not good enough, but Jovanovski is. I am definitely going to play the +7 handicap, that is way too high.