So Indian Wells is upon us this coming week and I am looking forward to it with anticipation. I took a bit of an enforced break from the blog last week as I was moving house and had no internet/computer for the week! But Gulbis was absolutely class all week in Delray Beach and got me a nice outright win at 20/1 with Ladbrokes at the start of the week. My only regret was that I only had €10 on it! Anyway... moving onto this week:
I think this is a very open and interesting tournament taking place pretty much in the middle of the desert in southern California. Probably the most interesting thing about it is the fact that Nadal is making an appearance which I am very surprised by. I was 100% sure he would skip it and hide away until the clay comes around again in Europe. But he is here, and whether or not he goes far in the tournament, he will take a nice slice of the financial pie which is on offer as always here in Indian Wells. I think I am correct in saying that this tournament has the biggest prize pool outside of the 4 slams. The owner of the tournament is a very wealthy American gentleman called Larry Ellison, and you can bet he will be on show all week too with a different girl on his arm every night! That is my tip of the week!
Anyway, I think this tournament will be won by one of Djokovic or Murray to be honest. The surface is pretty slow for a HC which will play into the hands of Rafa, Ferrer etc but it will suit the Serb & the Scot duo as well. I think Nadal will meet his match very early on here and is likely to lose to my man Gulbis in his third match. Going through the different quarters, I think the first QF will be Djokovic v Tsonga, the second will be Murray v Del Potro, the third will be Berdych v Ferrer, and the most interesting one, the bottom QF will be Gulbis v Federer. (It is interesting to note however, that the great Swiss will have to come through Istomin, Benneteau, and Wawrinka in that order just to reach the QF, so it is very concieveable that he will lose before the QF stage.) Of course every neutral will want to see Rafa v Roger in the bottom QF, but I think one of them will lose, and I think it is likely to be Rafa against the giant-killind Ernie Gulbs, one of the tour's in-form players this year. To be honest, I am pretty sure Nadal doesn't want a Federer match-up at the moment anyway and will happily wait until Monte Carlo or Rome or a tournament like that to meet his long-time nemesis!
I am not going to recommend anything in the outright betting. I do think Murray will have a great chance because he has put in a three-week long training stint in Florida and has been working very well according to all accounts, but Djokovic has not lost all season and starts as the justified favourite. The winner of their semi final will win the tournament. I will be recommending individual matches each day so here's to a good tournament! Enjoy the tennis :)
Recommended bets:
Round one Thursday
Ernests Gulbis to beat Felicianop Lopez @ 1.80
Malisse to be Leonardo Mayer @ 1.60
Bautista-Agut to beat Odesnik @ 1.60
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