Tennis: W/C 26th October

[pure_echoes]

Season ending championship will start on Tuesday, October 27th. Azarenka v Jankovic - the odds were initially in favor of Jankovic but they were dropping down and are now roughly equal. This is a tough call since Azarenka played only on one tournament since the US Open and who knows what is her current form. Jankovic is better in head to head encouters (3:1), but she was having recent injury problems. Better to stay away from this match, or bet on under (12Bet 1.88) and hope that one of them does not feel like competing in Doha at all. Venus v Dementieva - Venus leads 9:1 in head to head encounters, and she also killed Dementieva 6-0 6-1 in their latest meeting. Both of them were in poor form recently, but the odds on Dementieva's win are too low (around 2.15) to risk it. Serena v Kuznetsova - This is Kuznetsova's time to shine. Serena's play was nothing special recently, while Kuznetsova won a big title at Beijing two weeks ago. The safest pick would be Kuznetsova with +1.5 set handicap (1.45 Bet at Home), while the highest odds are on her win in straight sets (4.50 Paddy power).

[WinningTipster]

Tennis ATP tournaments commencing 26 Oct Hi guys, 1 late pick for the ATP tournament in St. Petersburg today: ZEBALLOS TO D SCHUKIN @ 1.8 on expekt Late picks but the odds on this match came up just a couple of hours ago since Schukin came into the mail draw by winning qualifying match last evening. Anyhow, Zeballos have played some great tennis on clay reaching a career high of 55 and winning some smaller ranked tournaments. He had some success on hard as well. Schukin is a veteran player who will probably make too much unforced errors in this one.

[IAmGooner]

Re: Tennis ATP tournaments commencing 26 Oct Should probably merge the two threads lads. Will do some tennis over the next couple of weeks. Only usually bet small at this time of year as results are unpredictable and alot of talk of match-fixing. Firstly agree with Winning Tipster above, Zeballos over Schukin @ 8/11 (William Hill) Have made cash on Zeballos before.Pretty much a dirtballer but is consistent enough to play on hard. Backed him at the US Open a couple of times and while he has little indoor experience, he should be in better condition than Schukin. Came through some tough qualies here but Zeballos is another step up from who he played.Should be more consistent from the baseline and hopefully takes this one. Melzer x Kiefer Double @ Evens (William Hill) Melzer faces Chuidinelli in his home tournament in Vienna. Played some good stuff in Shanghai beating Chardy and Del Potro before losing a tight one with Lopez.Usually progresses a few rounds in this tournament and he should have too much for Chuidinelli.He is a solid baseliner but Melzer has too much game for him and can mix it up well. Should take it. Kiefer plays Grosjean in Lyon.Retired last week in Moscow but it's virtually impossible to back Grosjean considering his injury problems.Many problems with the shoulder and lost a challenger match to Ascione last week.Kiefer should not be losing this. Gasquet over Safin @ 8/11 (William Hill) Safin will be eager to do well as his career winds down but he's still losing to guys he shouldnt lose to.Beat a tired Davydenko last week before falling to Korolev in straights.Gasquet has been doing okay since his return - losing to higher ranked guys mostly like Monfils and Verdasco. But he took a set off Tsonga in Tokyo and can have no complaints about losing to Ferrer in Shanghai as he was far too consistent. Not sure Safin will be though.Will likely go to 3 but will side with Gasquet here. Jankovic over Azarenka @ 5/6 (William Hill) Fancy Jankovic here.She leads 3-1 head-to-head on hardcourt. She has done some good things over recent months in fairness despite losing to Kleybanova last week(which I think she tanked).Azarenka has not been nearly as good second half of the year as she was earlier. Lot of early defeats and maybe some nerves today. Really liking Jankovic to take this one. Also go with a small bet on: Jankovic -1.5 games over Azarenka @ 11/10 (Ladbrokes) GL!

[IAmGooner]

Re: Tennis ATP tournaments commencing 26 Oct Azarenka is taking JJ to town in this one. Not see that coming. Zeballos won however.

[EdJohanson]

Re: Tennis ATP tournaments commencing 26 Oct ATP Vienna: Isner vs Tipsarevic This will be one of the most interesting matches in the first round in Vienna. Isner is the eighth seed here; a player who has improved a lot and from college level and American Challenger's tournaments broke into top 50. His serve will be the biggest danger for his rival, Janko Tipsarevic, who arrives from Moscow, where he played his first finals. Youzhny beat him to the titles after tree sets. Perhaps less pressure is on him now, but on the other hand Tipsarevic didn’t climb up on the ranking, he is still world's number 46, because he had many ranking points to defend in Sankt Petersburg The Serb is in form, but he says that the fatigue is taking its toll. Tipsarevic is known as a player who lacks continuity. Isner is still on career ranking He is 39th, which is his best ranking so far and he has been there for four weeks now. The American has progressed a lot, which he proved on American Tour when he played the semifinals in Washington and Indianapolis and made it to the round of 16 in US Open. He can beat most of the top-class player on hardcourt. The variety of shots with a much better forehand but this player is very impatient and uses every chance to go out on the net. His tennis is very attractive but when the serve doesn't work, problems occur. He dropped out of the first round in the last two tournaments in Asia, but he didn’t have luck with the draw, as he came across Hewitt and Wawrinka, objectively better players. His record this year is 25-15 but in the first part of the season he played on few ATP tournaments outside of America. This is his first time in Vienna. At one point Tipsarevic dropped out of top 70 He seemed in for a big fall, but this player has the quality for the very top of the ATP ranking. Janko is dangerous against stronger players and they all fear playing against him; sometimes he has problems with the motivation and continuity. His new coach is Dirk Hordrof and according to Janko’s own words he has gained a lot from working with him. However, we saw the same problem in Moscow. Tipsarevic won the first set and stopped, lost eight games in a row which practically solved the match. Still, he saved the points and stayed in top 50 and hopes to stay there till the end of the season. Last year in May Janko was 33rd, which was his career ranking. This season was not so good, but if he improves his form, he might climb up on the ranking. The Serb played once in Vienna, five years ago and dropped out of the first round. But back then he was out of top 100. Betting verdict We don’t see Tipsarevic as a favourite, even though the odds say differently. He is tired and can't play several good games in a row.. Many times we have seen him lose in the first round after excellently played tournaments. After all, Isner is ranked higher for a reason and he was more successful this season. If he serves well, we believe that he will win easily. Source Freebetting.net (Link approved by Paul Ross)

[EdJohanson]

Re: WTA Doha WTA Doha: Dementieva vs Venus Williams Out of all potential match ups at the Season Ending Championship in Doha, Venus Williams has the biggest advantage over Elena Dementieva, as she defeated the Russian 9 times in their 10 career meetings. The two superstars have met twice in 2009, and Venus was victorious on both occasions, losing just 7 games in total. Venus Williams was in a sharp decline in recent months Business seemed to be as usual for Venus Williams during the most part of 2009, as the American veteran won championships at Dubai and Acapulco, and seemed to be in the top form at Wimbledon. However, Venus was defeated in the final of her most important tournament by Serena, and since then started to decline in form and results. Venus has reached the final of Stanford in August though, but got upset there by Marion Bartoli. In recent weeks, she was defeated by a number of lower ranked players, such as Pavlyuchenkova (twice) and Kateryna Bondarenko. Dementieva came very close to the top in 2009 Elena Dementieva could have been the player in the best form overall in 2009, but the Russian veteran failed to capitalize on that with a Grand Slam title. Dementieva has won three championships, at Auckland, Sydney and Toronto, and she also played in the semifinals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon, losing close matches to Serena Williams on both occasions. Her form also seems to be on decline in recent weeks, as she was upset by Oudin at the US Open, and then lost to Kateryna Bondarenko and Radwanska on Asian tournaments. Betting verdict Even though Venus has struggled in recent weeks, she still has such an overwhelming advantage in head to head meetings over Dementieva, that it would be really hard to bet against the American. Bet at Home currently offers the odds of 2.70 on Venus' win in straight sets. Source Freebetting.net (Link approved by Paul Ross)

[Cramer]

Re: Tennis: W/C 26th October

Sport	Tennis
Event	Victoria Azarenka v Caroline Wozniacki
Selection	Lay Caroline Wozniacki (Lay)
Strength	10/10
Date	28/10/2009
Bookmaker/Price	Betfair @ 3.10 (Lay)
Reasoning	Azarenka made debut today and looked in excellent form beating Jankovic with ease. Against a similar style player in Wozniacki expect the same result. Azarenka has already beaten Wozniacki twice this year. Wozniacki also has the hamstring injury concern that caused infamous retirement in Luxembourg. Overall, don't see much (if anything) in her favour.

Sport	Tennis
Event	Dominik Hrbaty v Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo
Selection	Lay Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo (Lay)
Strength	10/10
Date	28/10/2009
Bookmaker/Price	Betfair @ 3.75 (Lay)
Reasoning	Ramirez-Hidalgo is terrible player indoors and can't see many chances for him here. Hrbaty dropped down the rankings but actually seems to be on the way back up. With high ball toss and penetrating ground strokes he's always been very nice player indoors. He came through qualifying so will be much more used to the conditions which are very quick this year and should be easy win.

Sport	Tennis
Event	Olivier Rochus v Vincent Millot
Selection	Lay Vincent Millot (Lay)
Strength	10/10
Date	28/10/2009
Bookmaker/Price	Betfair @ 4.00 (Lay)
Reasoning	Don't see much chance for Millot, he is very average player and despite coming from qualifying this is a big step up. Rochus showed ezxcellent form last week in Stockholm. He is very good indoor player, and getting a Wednesday start he should have recovered and play good again.

Sport	Tennis
Event	Karol Beck v Bjorn Phau
Selection	Lay Bjorn Phau (Lay)
Strength	10/10
Date	28/10/2009
Bookmaker/Price	Betfair @ 2.44 (Lay)
Reasoning	Like Beck in this match up. He got a strong win over Troicki in round 1 and should continue that. He's the type of player some weeks is just bad but when he's playing well it's very good. He's always been good indoors and I expect good things this week. Phau I don't think is so good. Sometimes flashy game comes off but most of the time many errors. My choice is Beck.

Sport	Tennis
Event	Victor Hanescu v Illya Marchenko
Selection	Illya Marchenko
Strength	10/10
Date	28/10/2009
Bookmaker/Price	Blue Square @ 4.00 (Back)
Reasoning	This seems like strange big price. Marchenko is coming up in the rankings and is bringing it in past few weeks. He qualified for Mons then made smi final then qualified for Moscow and made semi final. He has excellent indoors game and this week got good win over Foginini easy. Hanescu has been in very poor form lately. He beat Gabashvili very comfortable in round 1 but that guy has been playing very poor. Hanescu has a higher level but he's not likely to play that well and gives Marchenko an excellent chance for upset.

[Cramer]

Re: Tennis: W/C 26th October

Sport	Tennis
Event	Vienna Outright
Selection	Radek Stepanek E/W (1/2, 1-2) (Each-Way)
Strength	5/10
Date	11/01/2009
Bookmaker/Price	Bet365 @ 6.00 (Back)
Reasoning	Stepanek looks a good price for this tournament. He's an excellent indoor player and looked good in his first round match. The other big name in his half is Monfils, but he could have some tricky matchs before getting to Stepanek in semi finals. Cilic fav from the top half but by then we would have each way money and I'll take my chances on Stepanek.

Sport	Tennis
Event	Lyon Outright
Selection	Ivan Ljubicic E/W (1/2, 1-2) (Each-Way)
Strength	5/10
Date	11/01/2009
Bookmaker/Price	Skybet @ 10.00 (Back)
Reasoning	Tsonga looks beatable in Lyon after struggle against Kim so look for an alternative. Ljubici c is playing very good tennis and indoors can be exceptional. He's mentally strong enough to stay with someone like Tsonga in a serving battle and I think he can have a very good week.

Sport	Tennis
Event	St Petersburg Outright
Selection	Sergiy Stakhovsky E/W (1/2, 1-2) (Each-Way)
Strength	2/10
Date	11/01/2009
Bookmaker/Price	Betfred @ 23.00 (Back)
Reasoning	Stakhovsky was pretty impressive beating Korolev. He's won ATP level tournament indoors before when nothing was expected and the same can happen here. He's got a nice part of the draw, and perhaps a semi final against Youzhny who could by that point be tired after win last week. Stakhovsky is definately one of the better players in the draw and looks a big price compared to the Russians.

[pure_echoes]

Re: Tennis: W/C 26th October Actually all matches at Doha tomorrow seem to be quite straightforward: Azarenka should beat injured Wozniacki, Serena should beat Venus who is really starting to show her age and poor stamina, Safina should beat Jankovic who was miserable in her first match. Of course, with so many "clear" outcomes, some upsets are almost bound to happen. Personally, I would stay away from betting on Williams sisters, but perhaps Jankovic could show some improvement against Safina...

[christiano]

Re: Tennis: W/C 26th October

Tip Detail

Sport	Tennis
Event	Hrbaty - Ramirez Hidalgo
Selection	Hrbaty
Strength	10/10
Date	28/10/2009
Bookmaker/Price	Blue Square @ 1.33 (Back)
Reasoning	Hidalgo is pure crap these days.He has negative record on ATP level for three years now and he mainly plays on clay.He usually don't play indoors at all.His last match on this surface was one year ago.Hrbaty is not shining either but he played much more indoors this year and he is more used to this surface for sure.H2H is 1:0 for Hrbaty and I believe that he will make it 2:0.

[Cramer]

Re: Tennis: W/C 26th October

Sport	Tennis
Event	Florent Serra v Albert Montanes
Selection	Albert Montanes
Strength	10/10
Date	28/10/2009
Bookmaker/Price	>William Hill @ 2.50 (Back)
Reasoning	I watched Montanes yesterday against Santoro and he was excellent. Santoro at home was really pushing hard, trying everything but Montanes was just hitting very nice groundstrokes. He doesn't have much of reputation indoors but I will back him on basis of that match. Serra can be very good or very bad, and I think this will match up well for Montanes.

Sport	Tennis
Event	Dinara Safina v Jelena Jankovic
Selection	Dinara Safina
Strength	10/10
Date	28/10/2009
Bookmaker/Price	>Betfair @ 1.94 (Back)
Reasoning	Jankovic looked pretty bad yesterday against Azarenka and could go out of the tournament today. Still not sure about her form and her wrist injury so a few things going against her. Safina has had a break of a few weeks and could come here and surprise everybody and play some great tennis. I know she took back number 1 but she also lost it recently so may feel like some of the pressure is off.

[WinningTipster]

Re: Tennis: W/C 26th October Hi guys, 1 more pick for the ATP tournament in St. Petersburg today: KUNITSYN TO D ELGIN @ 1.3 on betfair The odds could be higher but a good match-up for Kunitsyn here: Elgin is a Challengers level player with good serve but Kunitsyn excellent return of serve will oblige Elgin to play a lot of baseline rallies and Kunitsyn is definetely much better and much more consistent from the baseline. We should not read much into Elgin's first round comfortable win over Kukushkin since it was Kukushkin's 8th match in 10 days (coming through qualies to reach semifinals in Moscow last week).

[christiano]

Re: Tennis: W/C 26th October

Tip Detail

Sport	Tennis
Event	Ljubicic - Serra
Selection	Serra (Lay)
Strength	10/10
Date	30/10/2009
Bookmaker/Price	Betfair @ 3.90 (Lay)
Reasoning	Ljubicic seems to be in form and his serve is working really well.Serra beat two guys here but let's be honest.Rochus and Montanes are not something amazing.Especially indoors.This surface seems to suit Ljubo better and he already won this tournament few years back so he is feeling good here for sure.He also leads h2h 3:0.Serra is nothing special really and Ivan should take care of him imo.

[Cramer]

Re: Tennis: W/C 26th October

Sport	Tennis
Event	Marin Cilic v Feliciano Lopez
Selection	Feliciano Lopez
Strength	10/10
Date	30/10/2009
Bookmaker/Price	>Betfair @ 2.96 (Back)
Reasoning	Lopez seems a very big price here. He loves this tournament with excellent record. He also has the game to disrupt Cilic and take him out of rythem. Cilic didn't seem too good yesterday and in smaller event is worth opposing.

Sport	Tennis
Event	Marat Safin v Denis Istomin
Selection	Lay Denis Istomin (Lay)
Strength	10/10
Date	30/10/2009
Bookmaker/Price	>Betfair @ 3.50 (Lay)
Reasoning	Istomin benefitted from the retirement of Youzhny but can't see him being so lucky against Safin. Safin in farewell tournament and after getting a couple of wins I can't see Istomin stopping him.

Sport	Tennis
Event	Radek Stepanek v Jurgen Melzer
Selection	Radek Stepanek -1.5 sets
Strength	10/10
Date	10/30/2009
Bookmaker/Price	>Betfair @ 2.75 (Back)
Reasoning	Stepanek should take care of this. He's played good this tournament and excellent player indoors. He has exceptional record against lefties indoors. Melzer in home tournament but record not too good suggesting pressure gets to him. Also mentioned niggling injury problem in interview earlier this week.

Sport	Tennis
Event	Gael Monfils v Janko Tipsarevic
Selection	Janko Tipsarevic -1.5 sets
Strength	10/10
Date	10/30/2009
Bookmaker/Price	>William Hill @ 5.00 (Back)
Reasoning	Tipsarevic still bringing great form and when this guy is up he is very dangerous. Monfils has struggled a bit so far and with Paris soon maybe his eye isn't on the ball here. Monfils got a retirement win over Tipsarevic a few weeks ago but since then Tipsarevic has been excellent.

Sport	Tennis
Event	Gilles Simon v Julien Benneteau
Selection	Julien Benneteau
Strength	10/10
Date	10/30/2009
Bookmaker/Price	>Betfair @ 3.85 (Back)
Reasoning	Benneteau can definately win this match. He's playing great this week and has an excellent record in this tournament. Simon bigger name of the french players so maybe this week doesn't mean so much to him. Game style this should be close and I think Benneteau can take the win.

Sport	Tennis
Event	Ernests Gulbis v Horacio Zeballos
Selection	Lay Horacio Zeballos (Lay)
Strength	10/10
Date	10/30/2009
Bookmaker/Price	>Betfair @ 3.75 (Lay)
Reasoning	Zaballos doing OK this week but definately is not an indoor player. Gulbis is showing some form and after getting a few wins indoors he is very dangerous. Can't see Zeballos causing too many problems.

[nkdz]

ATP Lyon 2009, Finals Ivan Ljubičić - Michael Llodra 1.71 2.30 Pinnacle

[nkdz]

Re: ATP Lyon 2009, Finals Ljubičić - Llodra 1 @ 1.80 Boylesports Ljubo is set as a slight favourite in this match and i agree with that, i even think that we have nice value here on Ljubo. He stated, after the match vs Clement that he has the same feeling like at the time he was top 10 player and he looks like that. Service is working almost perfectly, his movement is impressive as well(for Ljubo) and the way he is playing in general is on a very high level. Llodra also was impressive so far in Lyon. I watched him against Monaco and partially Gicquel and todays win against Simon is not a surprise for me at all. Still, that match(vs Simon) was long and exhausting and it will most likely leave some marks in the finals. I dont expect an easy job for Ljubo to be honest, it might go in 3 sets very easily but Ljubo didn't looked so confident and impressive for a very long time, and i believe that he'll win Llodra. It should be a very nice match to watch.

[Cramer]

Re: Tennis: W/C 26th October

Sport	Tennis
Event	Vienna Outright
Selection	Radek Stepanek E/W (1/2' date=' 1-2) (Each-Way)
Strength	5/10
Date	11/01/2009
Bookmaker/Price	Bet365 @ 6.00 (Back)
Reasoning	Stepanek looks a good price for this tournament. He's an excellent indoor player and looked good in his first round match. The other big name in his half is Monfils, but he could have some tricky matchs before getting to Stepanek in semi finals. Cilic fav from the top half but by then we would have each way money and I'll take my chances on Stepanek.

Sport	Tennis
Event	Lyon Outright
Selection	Ivan Ljubicic E/W (1/2, 1-2) (Each-Way)
Strength	5/10
Date	11/01/2009
Bookmaker/Price	Skybet @ 10.00 (Back)
Reasoning	Tsonga looks beatable in Lyon after struggle against Kim so look for an alternative. Ljubici c is playing very good tennis and indoors can be exceptional. He's mentally strong enough to stay with someone like Tsonga in a serving battle and I think he can have a very good week.

Sport	Tennis
Event	St Petersburg Outright
Selection	Sergiy Stakhovsky E/W (1/2, 1-2) (Each-Way)
Strength	2/10
Date	11/01/2009
Bookmaker/Price	Betfred @ 23.00 (Back)
Reasoning	Stakhovsky was pretty impressive beating Korolev. He's won ATP level tournament indoors before when nothing was expected and the same can happen here. He's got a nice part of the draw, and perhaps a semi final against Youzhny who could by that point be tired after win last week. Stakhovsky is definately one of the better players in the draw and looks a big price compared to the Russians.

Ljubicic and Stakhovsky in finals tomorrow, and both slight favourites:hope

[Cramer]

Re: Tennis: W/C 26th October

Sport	Tennis
Event	Marin Cilic v Jurgen Melzer
Selection	Lay Jurgen Melzer (Lay)
Strength	10/10
Date	01/11/2009
Bookmaker/Price	>Betfair @ 3.25 (Lay)
Reasoning	Main thing for me is that this is a final, Cilic has excellent record in finals and Melzer horrible record. This shows difference mentally between the players and I can't see Cilic messing this up. He's looked better as the week has gone on and should become champion. Melzer done very well in home event but in this final close moments I have to favour Cilic.

Sport	Tennis
Event	Serena Williams v Venus Williams
Selection	Lay Venus Williams (Lay)
Strength	10/10
Date	01/11/2009
Bookmaker/Price	>Betfair @ 2.52 (Lay)
Reasoning	This final should go to Serena. At the moment favour her on form and under pressure in big matches. Serean beat Venus in group stages in very close match but expect this to be easier. Venus has now had 4 very tough 3 set matches and Serena should be fresher. Serena displaying better form this week and finishing off showing she is the number 1.

[BTW]

Re: Tennis: W/C 26th October Cilic - Melzer 1 (1.37) Head-to-Head 3-0.

2008	New Haven CT, U.S.A.	Hard	R16	Cilic, Marin 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 Stats
2008	London / Queen's Club Great Britain	Grass	R64	Cilic, Marin 7-6(2), 7-6(5) Stats
2008	Australian Open Australia	Hard	R64	Cilic, Marin 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 Stats

[Cramer]

Re: Tennis: W/C 26th October

Ljubicic and Stakhovsky in finals tomorrow' date=' and both slight favourites:hope[/quote'] Champions:D Shame Cilic brought the mug game today:sad

[Spooner]

Re: Tennis: W/C 26th October

Sport	Tennis
Event	Lyon Outright
Selection	Ivan Ljubicic E/W (1/2, 1-2) (Each-Way)
Strength	5/10
Date	11/01/2009
Bookmaker/Price	Skybet @ 10.00 (Back)
Reasoning	Tsonga looks beatable in Lyon after struggle against Kim so look for an alternative. Ljubici c is playing very good tennis and indoors can be exceptional. He's mentally strong enough to stay with someone like Tsonga in a serving battle and I think he can have a very good week.

Sport	Tennis
Event	St Petersburg Outright
Selection	Sergiy Stakhovsky E/W (1/2, 1-2) (Each-Way)
Strength	2/10
Date	11/01/2009
Bookmaker/Price	Betfred @ 23.00 (Back)
Reasoning	Stakhovsky was pretty impressive beating Korolev. He's won ATP level tournament indoors before when nothing was expected and the same can happen here. He's got a nice part of the draw, and perhaps a semi final against Youzhny who could by that point be tired after win last week. Stakhovsky is definately one of the better players in the draw and looks a big price compared to the Russians.

:notworthy:notworthy:notworthy