Friday at Roma

Just a very quick blog tonight. Thursday proved to be a very profitable day for the blog at the Fora Italico in Rome. The profit was all thanks to Ernests Gulbis' display against Nadal, in a tight three-set loss, just as we predicted. The odds were 5.50 for this winning bet and the profit easily covered Gilles Simon's tame loss to Federer, who looked pretty good in their encounter.

Gulbis was a man possessed today - he showed people why I am so obsessed with him! His talents are phenomenal, and in my book, he plays the game the way it should be played. Indeed, Nadal didn't take too kindly to Gulbis' "attitude" and, if you have 4 minutes to spare, then this interview from Nadal post-match is well worth a watch! Gulbis took the game to Nadal like I said he would. He 100% believed in himself, and still believes he is as good a player as Nadal. Gulbis' interview can be seen here. There is probably only one other guy in the world who can do what Gulbis did to Rafa on slow clay today, and that is Novak Djokovic. Keep an eye on Gulbis' odds for the French. If I was a bookie, I wouldn't be taking too many risks on the Latvian!

Federer looked good, but was also made to look good by an average Gilles Simon display, and so I wouldn't read too much into the scoreline, as I thought Federer made plenty of errors, and, in my opinion, his performance today wasn't a patch on Gulbis' level against Rafa.

Anyway, looking at tomorrow's matches, I won't be having a pre-match bet on any of them. Federer, one of the best of all-time at neutralising a big serve will have far too much class for Double J and that will be a facile win. Nole will beat Berdych, Rafa will beat Ferrer - nothing to see in either of those matches. Last, and by ALL means least, Paire will beat Granollers, but is not worth a bet as his odds are too prohibitive for me @ 1.58 on the exchanges. Keep an eye in-running as ever, but I won't be making any pre-match recommendations this time around!

Another good day today, enjoy the profits, and even more importantly, enjoy the tennis! Over and out :)