ATP Lyon Outright

[Mr Intensity]

YOUZHNY outright @ 10.00 EW(1/2, 1,2) Bet365 0.86pts E/W stake = 1.72pts I was going to back him at 16.00 before the off but decided against it as he is really inconsistent. Feel like @#%$ I didn't take it. Still muchos value now, the draw has really opened up. The main dangers in his half; Hrbaty, Ancic and possibly Massu, are all out. He is definitely in the easier half of the draw. The bottom half is horrendous, with players including; Soderling, F Lopez, Nadal, J Johansson, Ljubicic, Llodra and defending champ Schuettler. I have no idea who will come out of that, and anyway they will surely be knackered by the final :lol . Coming into this tournament, Youzhny is in good form. He just had an easy win n the Davis Cup win for Russia, so should be well rested and in good spirits. Before that, he reached the final in Beijing, losing a very tight match to Safin. He beat some very good players in that tournament; Schuettler, Hrbaty and Srichaphan, all in straight sets. He beat Nalbandian at the US Open, which was another good win. He lost in 5 in the 3rd round against Berdych, which is no disgrace, as he will be top 20 next year, I am sure. Before that was the Olympics, where he beat Malisse, Novak and Kiefer before losing to Fish. I think he is in top form, and at las showing a bit more consistency. Youzhny has already disposed of Horna quite easily (6-4, 7-6(7-1)). Next up is Calleri, who knocked out Massu. I think this court is quick enough to be well against Calleri, and play into Youzhny hands. Youzhny has played Calleri twice, both on quick(ish) courts, and both times he has given the Argentine a beating (3 and 3 in Cincinatti last year, 3 and love in Holland on grass the year before). For me, Youzhny will have too much juice from the back and take him out in two single break sets. After that, he would play the winner of Stepanek, Malisse. Stepanek has been on a very poor run the last couple of months, basically he has no game on any kind of quick court. I would have to fancy Malisse to come through, provided he keeps his head. However, Malisse himself is not in the form he showed earlier in the year. He last won a match in Indianapolis where he beat Morisson, before losing to Grosjean. Since then he has suffered 5 1st match losses, including 6-2 6-2 in the Olympics to Youzhny. Fancy Youzhny to deliver a similar beating if they meet this week. Should he complete those victories, he would face one of Ferrero, Ferrer, Bjorkman or Mirnyi. None of those guys are playing well, and for me that is a hell of a draw! I'd fancy Ferrero over Ferrer, but can't call the other match. I think Youzhny has too much heat from the back for Ferrero to cope with on this court with his weirdo grips :p . Both Mirnyi and Bjorkman will serve and volley against Youzhny, but the way they both are playing, Youzhny's passing shots should be too good. If he can come through that, the E/W money is secure, and like I said earlier, I couldn't care less about the bottom half of the draw, it's awful.

[Mr Intensity]

Re: ATP Lyon Outright Youzhny just played an awful match, but I am pleased :\ . He managed to beat Calleri 6-3 6-7 7-6 after being 6-3 3-1 up. Hopefully this will help focus him for the rest of the tournament. He next faces Malisse, who also took 3 sets in beating Stepanek.