Davis Cup Final 30th Nov - 2nd Dec

[Mr Intensity]

Final (Country): Winner Thursday 20 December 2007 Related events...Winner

Best odds/All odds USA 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.28 1.3 1.25 1.24 1.28 1.25 1.2 1.28 1.28 1.25 1.31 1.3 1.28 Russia 3.75 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.4 3.9 4 3.5 3.5 4 3.5 3.25 3.8 3.9 4.1 4

Roddick v Tursunov: Match Result Friday 30 November 2007 - 21:00 GMT Related events...Match ResultHandicap BettingSet Betting- - -1st Set Correct ScoreLose 1st Set and Win MatchTotal Games 1st SetWin 1st Set

Best odds/All odds Roddick, A 1.2 1.2 1.25 1.25 1.22 1.2 1.17 1.25 1.22 1.2 1.25 1.25 1.12 Tursunov, D 4.33 3.95 3.75 3.85 4.25 4.33 4.67 3.75 3.75 4.33 4 3.75 3

Blake v Youzhny: Match Result Friday 30 November 2007 - 22:15 GMT Related events...Match ResultHandicap BettingSet Betting- - -1st Set Correct ScoreLose 1st Set and Win MatchTotal Games 1st SetWin 1st Set

Best odds/All odds Blake, J 1.61 1.58 1.7 1.66 1.57 1.53 1.72 1.66 1.66 1.66 1.66 Youzhny, M 2.2 2.2 2.12 2.2 2.25 2.4 2 2.1 2.1 2.2 2.1

[Mr Intensity]

Re: Davis Cup Final 30th Nov - 2nd Dec YOUZHNY v Blake @ 2.4 Expekt 2.5pts Very nice price on what I consider to be a 50/50 match. H2H is 1-0 to Youzhny in the semis of the Davis Cup last yearbut that was in Russia on clay so decent advantage for Youzhny that time. Since then, Youzhny has had an excellent 2007. He peaked at 10 in the world in August actually at a time where he was starting to slump - he had a very average run from Cincinatti to Madrid. After that he seemed to find his form again in St Petersburg and Paris, gaining good wins over Gonzalez and Haas and running Murray extremely close. I see him coming into this match in good form and he has a good chance on this surface. Blake has had a pretty average year after what he achieved in 2006. He looked to be finding his form as usual in the US hardcourt swing reaching the final of Cincinatti, winning New Haven and 4th round of the US Open. But after losing that final set tie-break to Haas he has been pretty poor. He's lost to T Johansson twice, Ancic, Karlovic and Gasquet and has struggled against guys he should have put away easily (Bkorkman, Mahut). He also really struggles when going to a 5th set - the one I remember is against Mirnyi at Wimbledon 06 where he was pathetic. Technically, I like the way this match up works for Youzhny. e should be able to control most of the backhand to backhand exchanges and it will probably be up to Blake to go for the winner in these which isn't in Blakes favour. On the forehand, Blake is more explosive and should have a decent advantage, it will be up to Youzhny to keep to Blakes backhand until he can really rip a forehand. On serve, slight edge to Blake, but both guys can attack a second serve, and I think that puts more pressure on Blake as Youzhny has the better defensive skills. Who has more pressure in this game? Blake at home could struggle, especially if he gets behind early. However, you'd expect USA to be 1-0 after Rodthingy and the crowd to be "pumped" so a lot of pressure on Youzhny. He has shown a lot of nerves before and that is a concern, but Tarpischev has come out and named him No. 1 for Russia which I think will be a big boost for him and he should come into this will a lot of confidence. Overall, expect a close match, with Blake having a better tie break record this year, but Youzhny having the edge if it goes to 5.

[Mr Intensity]

Re: Davis Cup Final 30th Nov - 2nd Dec TURSUNOV +5.5 games v A-Rod @ 1.83 William Hill 3.25pts I don't think Tursunov can get over the line in this one, but I think he can keep it close. H2H is very interesting, reading 2-1 to Roddick. First meeting was in Indy in 2005 when Tursunov was outside the top 100 and it was incredibly close 8-6 7-9 7-5 to Roddick in the three tie breaks!! Then they met in the Davis Cup semi last year on clay in Russia where Tursunov came through an epic 17-15 in the fifth set. This year they met at Queens, Roddick coming through 6-4 7-5 and I remember watching that, and Tursunov matched Roddick apart from two ridiculously bad service games. That is the concern here, as mentally Tursunov can go AWOL at times, but when he's on I really don't see Roddick breaking him. Roddick has been struggling with injury in the past few months, and it's pretty hard to say how fit and importantly match fit he is at the moment. In Shanghai he was OK, but it could easily be argued the guys he beat (Davydenko and Gonzalez) were in bad situations when facing him. I don't think his expectations were high at all in Shanghai - seeing it as a stepping stone to this final. Roddick is an imposing 13-2 in live rubbers in the USA, but a lot of those were weak opponents and/or big surface advantages for him. i think he's going to perform well today, but will still struggle to break the Tursunov serve and may have to take the tie breaks. Tursunov is interesting, looking at his year has been very up and down - but I think he's done well in the second part of the year after struggling with wrist problems (and clay problems:lol). During the indoor season he's played OK, but no better, and that is a slight concern. However, I'm thinking beyond that, I think he's a guy for the big occasion and a guy for the Davis Cup. He's an excellent 3-0 in live singles rubbers with wins over Sluiter, Rodthingy on clay, and Gasquet indoors in France. I also like the "memories" of the meeting in last years Semi against Roddick, as that was really awesome. I expect him to step up today, and if he serves well Roddick will have major problems breaking him. My prediction would be Roddick in 4 sets, 2 of them tiebreaks.