Tennis: 13th February to 19th February

[CzechPunter]

Last week was pretty slow, but this week should bring some exciting events in both ATP and WTA. Fire away guys :ok

[sportxtipster]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February will be here :)!

[Dylan]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Having seen Hantuchova retain her title in Pattaya this morning, I'm going to take another current champion to retain her crown in Bogata. Hopefully this should keep things interesting throughout the week. Lourdez Dominguez Lino to win WTA Bogata Int 51.0 E/W at Bet Fred (1 / 10 units) Lino loves this tournament having made the final 3 times, and winning it twice so should be confident of going well here and we all know how important the regaining of ranking points is in terms of motivating tennis players. Her form is ok going into this tournament, having had a few matches on clay at the Cali ITF tournament this week, reaching the semi's before losing admirably in three sets to Dulgheru. Looking at the draw, she is the same qtr as the top seed Erakovic and Dokic could be a likely semi final opponent but neither of these have great clay court records and on her day Lino would be confident of taking on both of these. I expect her to meet Dulgheru again in the final who for me is the strongest player here and with a 2-0 H2H record over Lino that could be tough ask so each way seems more sensible. :hope

[sportxtipster]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Scheepers vs McHale Scheepers played badly in Paris where she defeated Hercoq which was not playing at all good and lost against Sharapova quickly. MacHale played brilliant in the second set with Wickmayer and I really think she can out play Scheepers here. McHale @1.84 with PinnacleSports

[sportxtipster]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Rochus vs Harrison Do not understand these odds at all and I take them asap. Rochus is very experienced and not so weak as the odds suggested. Despite having a little bad form as he lost with Kohlschreiber and Berdych he surely can handle guys like Harrisson. I Rochus to win @ 2.43 with Pinnalce Sports

[sportxtipster]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Dimitrov vs Anderson Dimitrov destroyed in the summer Anderson on Eastbourne and now he gets the first chance from me. He played well in Melbourne, managed to win 2 sets against Almagro and has beaten Chardy. He has a decent serve and can deal with the good serve of Anderson having a better return. Dimitrov @ 2.50 with betVictor

[Dylan]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Want to take an early one as prices are already falling Jie Zheng vs Maria Kirilenko Zheng to win 1.83 at Stan James (4 / 10 units) The main thing to note is the H2H record in which Zheng leads 5-1, wining the last 4 in a row and in particularly the last two have been pretty convincing 6-1 6-3 and 6-4 6-4. Although Kirilenko is the higher ranked lady, its clear that Zheng has the attributes to really trouble Kirilenko. I also think that Maria will have her own mental and physical fatigue issues having played 5 matches, 4 of them being three setters in Pattaya last week. Although she did well to reach the final, losing it in the way she did having won the first set would have been a huge dissapointment and I think the last thing she would want in her first game after that is to face someone who has such a good record against her. :hope

[Atko]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Should be a nice week this in terms of tennis. I'll open with this one ... - Albert Montanes -3.5 games (v Filippo Volandri in Sao Paulo) @ 1.90 with bet365 I think we have a generous offer here on Montanes against the Italian. Both are clay court players, so conditions will suit both, and I'd even go as far to say that they have similar styles of play. They both display court craft rather than hitting through the ball, and both are scurriers round the court. I expect them to play a fair number of good-looking rallies and throw in slice and try to bring each other to the net. Even with those similarities, I think Montanes is good enough to win this and cover the handicap. One of the key areas here could be serve. Volandri's delivery is poor. It lacks pace and I'd say 85% of the time, his opponent has a chance to get into the rally. Montanes' isn't a whole lot better but for me, it's got more power, angle and will get him more cheap points. Montanes put in a good performance in Vina del Mar, swatting aside his opponents comfortably before bumping into Juan Monaco in the quarters, who was in fine form that week. The fact that Montanes took a set off him suggests he'd been playing well and is in good nick. Montanes won't hit the heights of, say, two years ago, but he's still a top 40 clay player for me and will look to hoover up points and cash as his career winds down on this surface. The same argument could be made for Volandri, but the Italian hasn't been the same since his ban back in 2009. He's not a player I have a lot of trust in and I think he's easily opposable away from Italy, where he tends to do well in Rome and the challenger tour there. The H2H is actually in Volandri's favour - 3-2 in Tour events and 2-1 in Challengers. Importantly however, all Volandri's wins came before 2009, when he was a lot more competitive, while Montanes didn't really break through until then. I find the meeting last year in Casablanca on clay, where Montanes won 6-1 6-4, far more useful as a gauge for this encounter. Montanes can make his quality tell, and I'd back him all the way down to 1.80 on the -3.5 handicap that's being offered up. :hope

[homunculus]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Huta Galung to bt Ljubicic @3.36 Pinnacle 0.5 u Huta Galung + 3.5 games > Ljubicic @2.32 Pinnacle Ljubicic was barely able to place the ball into court two weeks ago, and that was a tournament in Zagreb - his home country. Huta Galung is ranked #237, but he's got a wildcard here and will try to do his best. He is big serving guy, took Malisse to 1st set tie-break last year in s'Hertogenbosh, and played 4-6 4-6 with in form Melzer last year in Rotterdam, so I expect he will not melt down against poor Ljubicic.

[sportxtipster]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Cipolla vs Gasquet Gasquet will be looking to regain his confidence and snatch a quick win against Cipolla which made the bookies to thrill after eliminating Davydenko in Melbourne. The Italian has a weaks ervice ands spreads to many balls when serving so this will be a huge advantage for Gasquet. Expect the French guy to not lose his service and make an early break in each one of the 2 sets! under 19.5 games @ 1.80 with bet365

[sportxtipster]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February ABN AMRO Rotterdam No Djokovici, no Nadal and this means that federer is alone whith a strong opposition although from Berdych, Del Potro, Feliciano Lopez, Kohlschreiber. I do not think that any of these guys can stand in front of him, maybe except Berdych. Although, I think that Federer will be very concentrated as he needs couple of wins before heading to the next Grand Slam tournament and this is one circuit that he loves playing in it. Federer to win in Rotterdam @ 2.30 with betsson

[Alovenac]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Lopez - Mathieu Mathieu is busy on his comeback. But, they odds are unbelievable for Lopez. But i think this odds are basic on the history. Mathieu had a very good history on head to head matches against Lopez. From the 7 matches he won er 5. But i think he is not good enough to beat Lopez with his great serve here in Rotterdam. 5/10 Lopez tb. Mathieu @ 1.53 ​5Dimes

[homunculus]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February One future for Rotterdamm Berdych to win Rotterdam @6.520 Pinnacle Berdych was stopped by a flu last year, so Tsonga had a w/o in Rotterdam 2011 quarterfinals. This year Berdy already won a title and it seems that he is in good shape. Top seeded Fedex, after having lost with Isner, is not unplayable opponent. One Doha today Lalami vs Peer over 16 games @1.813 Pinnacle Lalami is a Marrocan 21 yr old player, not very known. She caused a big upset last year in Marrocco WTA Fez, where she did beat top seeded Arvane Rezai in three sets. Other than this Fez tournament, she played only challengers. Now she has got a wild card from the Doha organizers, and she is all very excited about it and ready to put her life for a victory over Shahar Peer :-) Now Shahar plays really bad last couple of weeks, lost to Baltacha and De Brito in Fed cup, and was totally destroyed by Goerges in Paris. I really think that this Marrocan player can make 4 games against Sharah in her current form.

[slider24]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Paul Henri-Mathieu to beat Feliciano Lopez @ 11/8 BET 365 Strength (5/10) Lopez has a horrendous record at Rotterdam, losing six of his last seven there, and in general struggles to motivate himself it seems at this stage of the season, even in indoor events such as these which you would think he would prosper in. His loss to Rufin last week suggests not much has changed on that score. Mathieu has just come back from injury and I think it's his renewed motivation and vigour to make the most of his remaining time in tennis that gives him a shot here. He's been in pretty decent form and has also faced left-handers in his last four matches which should serve him well against Lopez. Judging by their head to head he seems to able to get decent read on the Spaniard's much fabled serve and has a better ground game. All in all worth a go IMO. :hope

[sportxtipster]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Hercog vs Pironkova "Enough is always enough" and this should be the right moment for Polona to win a match after 6 consecutive defeats. You cannot bet against a player that has already a huge series of defeats. Pironkova holds a bad serve, while Polona's problem is just the losing of many break points that offered to the opponents: 8-9 by match and she lost from those like 4-5. I think Polona is going to win today! Hercog @ 2.60 with Unibet

[homunculus]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February and Lalami doublebageled - LOL. Bet lost, OK, but why did this lame Marroccan got WC at all?

[WinningTipster]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Hi guys, 1 pick for ATP Rotterdam later today: LJUBICIC-HUTA-GALUNG OVER 21.5 GAMES @1.8 on betfair Huta-Galung with big serve and good game at the net, playing at home, should be able to keep it a close match. Veteran Ljubicic is close to retirement and he is unable to win any matches easily lately.

[homunculus]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Vesnina vs Niculescu over 20.5 games @1.943 Pinnacle Niculescu is hard to play against and she is a fav in this match, but she rarely wins easy (3 of her last 4 wins this year were three setters), and Vesnina won their only encounter so far in Tashkent 2010 - in three sets. I'd guess this match has over written all over. a LOSS again. Seems that in WTA I invariably pick in support of utter superchokers (Lalami, Vesnina). Perhaps these two girls should consider to quit tennis and go sell hamburgers in a local McDonald.

[slider24]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February

Paul Henri-Mathieu to beat Feliciano Lopez @ 11/8 BET 365 Strength (5/10) Lopez has a horrendous record at Rotterdam, losing six of his last seven there, and in general struggles to motivate himself it seems at this stage of the season, even in indoor events such as these which you would think he would prosper in. His loss to Rufin last week suggests not much has changed on that score. Mathieu has just come back from injury and I think it's his renewed motivation and vigour to make the most of his remaining time in tennis that gives him a shot here. He's been in pretty decent form and has also faced left-handers in his last four matches which should serve him well against Lopez. Judging by their head to head he seems to able to get decent read on the Spaniard's much fabled serve and has a better ground game. All in all worth a go IMO. :hope

:ok Mathieu showed some uncharacteristic cajones and fire to win this, no doubt something that would've been unlikely to happen before his career threatening injury.

[Dylan]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Have quickly jumped on this one, worried that the line might change before tomorrow Yanina Wickmayer vs Ayumi Morita Over 18.5 games 1.85 at Bwin (1.5 / 10 units) A very enticing game line for this one, would have been happy to take a game or two higher. Wickmayer has been in good form this season, she reached the semi in Auckland and the semi’s again last week in Paris. However the nature of Wickmayers game is that she rarely beats average opponents at a canter, and I can’t see her doing any different here. In her 13 completed matches so far this season, 10 of them have gone over this games line, with 2 of those not doing so being against essentially weaker opponents who were both ranked below 140 in the world. Looking back over the last year this seems to be a general trend of Wickmayers matches on hard courts. She is up against Morita who can be a handy player and I believe she should be able to keep Wickmayer on her toes. Whilst she hasn’t been in good form this season, losing all 4 matches this season she hasn’t been too far of the pace, going 3 sets in 3 of these matches. The one previous H2H ended 7-5 6-4. :hope

[IAmGooner]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February ATP Rotterdam - Youzhny to bt Kunitsyn @ 1.50 (Boylesports:5pts) Not a fan of short price faves but I expected Youzhny to be shorter here, still can play quality stuff on indoor hard, he just won Zagreb before this, not the strongest field but he still looked in fine form for the most part. He's also comfortable in Rotterdam courts, reaching final here twice, winning once in 07.Kunitsyn is a decent player, doest really beat the top players that often, but played a 5 setter losing to Melzer in Davis Cup a few days ago and beat Haider-Maurer. His form has generally been bad recently, losses to the likes of GGL, Andujar, Becker this year alone. Youzhny is a class above here, unless he's clowning he should come through this. Would expect no more than 1.40 in this match-up.

[InfectedBoy]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February

Huta Galung to bt Ljubicic @3.36 Pinnacle 0.5 u Huta Galung + 3.5 games > Ljubicic @2.32 Pinnacle Ljubicic was barely able to place the ball into court two weeks ago, and that was a tournament in Zagreb - his home country. Huta Galung is ranked #237, but he's got a wildcard here and will try to do his best. He is big serving guy, took Malisse to 1st set tie-break last year in s'Hertogenbosh, and played 4-6 4-6 with in form Melzer last year in Rotterdam, so I expect he will not melt down against poor Ljubicic.

:clap:clap Super pick, followed and made some dough.:ok

[homunculus]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Day 1 summary

Huta Galung to bt Ljubicic @3.36 Pinnacle 0.5 u WIN Huta Galung + 3.5 games > Ljubicic @2.32 Pinnacle WIN Lalami vs Peer over 16 games @1.813 Pinnacle LOSS Vesnina vs Niculescu over 20.5 games @1.943 Pinnacle LOSS

+0.5 FLAT unit today. Frankly, Ljubicic was MUCH MUCH better today than he was two weks ago in Zagreb. However, Huta Galung was doing oh so wellll :clap But WTA really spoiling my record. Especially Vesnina - can't remember I last time saw a joke of Vesnina's magnitude.

[Dylan]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Still waiting for full sets of odds to be released but have taken another one for Doha tomorrow Jarmilla Gajdosova vs Sorana Cirstea Over 20.5 games 2.0 at Unibet (1.5 /10 units) Two players here who often struggle to see matches out and I think this one could go to the wire, as did their only previous head to head did in Dallas last year, which was a 3 setter with 27 games. Gajdosova is a competitive if slightly up and down player in form, and this season she hasn’t quite got going just yet. She’ll never trouble the top players but can give a good account of herself against similar ranked opponents like Cirstea. So far this season she’s taken Niculescu, Bartel, Rodinova and Garringues to three sets as well as having those two long matches in the Fed Cup vs Switzerland. Cirstea is much improving in recent months and has started the season well reaching the 3^rd round in Melbourne and having some good results against opponents a little higher ranked than she is, and indeed I would have her as the bookies do as a good favourite for this match. However despite this good form and the confidence that comes with it still is still lacking that killer instinct and the ability to take hold of games and that shows in the fact that 8 of her 11 matches this season have gone into 3 sets or over this games line. :hope

[Iwoo]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February I didn't see anyone mentioned here that ATP Sao Paulo in Brasil is played on INDOOR clay. Quite important thing that puts me off a bit of from betting on that venue. Monday matches showed that, two hot favorites, Gil & Montanes, loosing quite heavily... About Youznhy - Kunitsyn match, only thing that makes my bet on Youznhy a bit doubtful is that there were some question marks about his fitness during Davis Cup weekend, something about his sore shoulder and he was actually dropped from first rubber vs Melzer although he allegedy said he was fine & ready. He was picked for doubles match insted, which he won in a 5 setter partnered by Davydenko, so I guess the situation with his shoulder ain't that bad. Every other thing points to his victory here, the form, the quality and his past results here in Rotterdam which are already mentioned.

[linkoln]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Hello to everyone. I had been reading this forum for quite a while and now I decided to register and share my thoughts with you. My english isn't perfect but I think you will understand me. :) M.Youzhny (-3) tb I.Kunitsyn @ 1.90 Bet365 After a disappointing loss in the first round of the Australian Open, Youzhny came back at the best possible way. He won the tournament in Zagreb, where he dropped just one set against Karlovic, while other matches won in straight sets without major problems. He had a small problem with shoulder and on the weekend, in Davis Cup, has played only doubles with Davydenko. “This is a decision by the captain and has nothing to do with my shoulder,” said Youzhny. This tournament suits him: in 2007 he won the title, in 2010 played in the final, in 2009 and 2011 he reached quarterfinals. Igor Kunitsyn started this season very bad. He competed in 4 tournaments and in no one didn't pass the first round. His opponents weren't the top players: Andujar-Alba, Garcia-Lopez, Becker, Lopez. Lopez may only differs from the other three. He indicated better game in the Davis Cup. He took Melzer to five sets and in irrelevant match won against Haider-Maurer. The only thing that worries me is that both of them are Russians and sometimes when two Russians play there are weird results. S.Cirstea tb J.Gajdosova @ 1.5 Ladbrokes In general I skip to bet on Gajdosova's matches, except when she is playing against top ranked players, because I always expect her to finally return to the form and to start making good results. As I see it's still not happening and I will tomorrow bet against her. Cirstea is in excellent shape: reached round three at the Australian Open, quarter-finals of Hobart, the semifinals in Pattaya. She has problems against defensive players who returns every ball and she starts to make mistakes. Gajdosova is not that type of players. She has strong serve and tries to go for a winner but when it doesn't go she is capable to make mistake after mistake. It's windy in Doha and we'll see how it will affect her during the service. They met only once and that match won Cirstea. J.Zheng tb M.Kirilenko @ 1.51 Pinnacle Zheng has a great start of the season. She won the tournament in Auckland, reached the R16 at Australian Open. I don't know what happened to her in Pattaya where she lost in first round against Hsieh, girl she beat few days ago 6:2, 6:3. Kirilenko reached last week the finals in Pattaya. She played four of five matches in three sets. How much she will be ready for this tournament we'll see. I think that fatigue will overcome. Zheng does not suit her. The best evidence are H2H where Zheng is leading 5:1. I was expecting a smaller odds and I'll gladly back Zheng at this price. :hope

[Dylan]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Two final picks for me for todays action, both in WTA Doha event. Simona Halep vs Daniella Hantuchova Simona Halep +3.5 games 2.10 at Pinnacle (2 / 10 units) This is an excellent oppourtinity for Halep to get a win and progress at one of the more important WTA tournaments in Doha. For me I think Hantuchova’s work is done for a few weeks having gone all the way and regained her trophy in Pattaya last week and she may have very little motivation for this event especially as she did so poorly here last yer. She may also be a little tired having played 5 matches including a 3 setter final. Following her win in Pattaya last year she came to Doha and lost in the first round quite heavily to Chetvadze so Halep should have plenty of hope here. Steered away from taking Halep on the outright because she doesn’t really have to much of an impressive record on the hard courts over the last year or so, but I think she will def be able to keep it tight considering the circumstance and I see her taking a set which should help this bet to be a winner. Flavia Pennetta vs Dominika Cibulkova Flavia Pennetta -2.5 games 1.80 at bet365 (1.5 / 10 units) Looking at the H2H I think has a great chance of coming in as Pennetta is so dominant against her opponent of the hard courts winning 4 out of 4 matches, with 3 of those atleast by this margin and the other being one game short. Having such an impressive record you would fully expect Pennetta to get the win again here so the question is whether she can do it reasonably convincingly to pass this handicap and looking at current for the answer could be yes. The Italian ended her hard court season last year in a final at Beijing and started the new season by reaching a final in Auckland, so baring a poor Grand Slam display should be quite confident. The same cant be said for Cibulkova who lost heavily to Keothavong in Pattaya last week having lost to Greta Arn in the second round of the Aussie Open. :hope

[caligulaxx]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February I see Dimitrov lost like a shmuck again , he and Dolgopolov should start wearing skirts

[caligulaxx]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February Pick of the day for me: Lipsky/Ram to beat Monfils/Benneteau, 1,66 at 365 Really good odd for me, the american pair are the champions here at San Jose and will be very motivated to retain their points as although they are a solid doubles team they are not part of the elit 10-15 players. They seem in a reasonable form and as doubles are clearly the more experienced team. Meanwhile the french come from that Davis cup tie against Canada and Monfils at least i don't think will be too motivated here this being a ATP250 tournament, don't see him doing too well in singles and i don't think he will be in the mood for doubles. And besides, he is one of the most shittiest doubles players i have seen on court, 0 intelligence in his game and when you are as stupid as he is it's really hard to do well in doubles

[homunculus]

Re: Tennis: 13th February to 19th February

[...snip...] M.Youzhny (-3) tb I.Kunitsyn @ 1.90 Bet365 S.Cirstea tb J.Gajdosova @ 1.5 Ladbrokes J.Zheng tb M.Kirilenko @ 1.51 Pinnacle [...snip...]

While I would agree with Youzhnyi (though he used to be quite erratic last season, but hopefully he is OK again), I would better not go into this WTA chalk - Cirstea in good form and Jarmila is horrible, but at 1.5? No thanks :-) This Zheng vs Kirilenko is IMO very very dangerous and it can easily come out the other way round. As you metioned, Zheng lost to Hsieh and Kirilenko had really good run in Pattaya, so why should Zheng beat Kirilenko? If anything at all, I would suggest to parlay these two bets for lower stake.