Tennis Selections 09/07/2007

[andre gomes]

ATP Newport : V. Spadea vs J. Gimelstob

Head 2 Head: Spadea 2-1 Gimelstob Vince Spadea (rank 66) is one of the most experienced players in the circuit and just like almost all American players in the circuit, he gets his best results on his home country. He has a nice serve and his baseline game is good enough to break his opponent’s serve a couple of times in a match. He is 0-2 this season on grass, but those losses were against Richard Gasquet and Ivan Ljubicic, two Top 12 players. He uses to go well in here, having reached the final in 2005. Justin Gimelstob (rank 178) is really struggling on his comeback after his back injury. He is yet to win a match on a draw of a tournament (ATP or challenger) since he came back on March. That means he is 0-6 at ATP matches this season. Not even on grass (his favourite surface) he was able to win a match, having lost the three matches he played on the surface this season. His serve is really instable (because of his back?) and his return was never spectacular. His net game is still great, but he needs to be careful with those dives after having a back surgery. He reached the final in here last season. Spadea is having a regular year and he is the number two seed in here. He has a nice game for grass and such personality will have some fans in Newport for sure. Gimelstob is struggling with injuries and I don’t think he has enough game right now to beat someone experienced like Spadea.

Pick: V. Spadea to win

Pick on webblog:

http://andregomes.apostaganha.pt :ok

[andre gomes]

Re: Tennis Selections 09/07/2007

ATP Newport: T. Gabashvili vs R. Karanusic

Head 2 Head: Gabashvili 0-2 Karanusic Teimuraz Gabashvili (rank 86) is a good clay courter that can also play on faster surfaces. He is 1-3 on grass this season, but his three losses were at the hands of Roger Federer, Arnaud Clement and Benjamin Becker, all Top 50 players. When he faced Joshua Goodall, a player with a worse ranking than him, he easily beated the English player in straight sets. His serve is passable and his return is pretty good. He is 15-3 against players out of Top 100 this year, which shows how good he is in dominating players weaker than him. Roko Karanusic (rank 175) is a player that prefers faster surfaces, but he is yet to show consistent results at ATP level. He is yet to win a match this season at the main draw of a ATP tournament in three attempts. The Croatian player has a good record of 11-6 on grass, but only one of these wins were against a Top 100 player, a struggling and past his prime Rainer Schuettler. He comes from being spanked in Turin last week at the hands of Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo by 6:2 6:0, so his confidence shouldn’t be that high today. Gabashvili may not be the best grass courter out there, but he isn’t that bad on the surface. He has no problems in beating players out of Top 100 and now he faces Karanusic, who isn’t having an amazing year and comes from a hard beating. In normal circumstances, Gabashvili should win today.

Pick: T. Gabashvili to win

Pick in webblog:

http://andregomes.apostaganha.pt