A later than usual blog today as I was playing some late-night tennis of my own! Today was a better day than we have had in Roland Garros. I am particularly satisfied with the Guido Pella pick over Ivan Dodig and the Federico Delbonis pick, neither of whom were fancied but who both won @ better than 2.58. I actually went for Pella in a five sets so for him to win 12-10 in the fifth was huge. Elsewhere, Denis Istomin sprung a big surprise taking out Florian Mayer, while Pablo Andujar lost the coin-flip that was his match against Mikhail Youzhny. I love The General, and quite dislike Andujar's game, but I still had a feeling that the Spaniard might have the advantage on the clay. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. Hopefully Youzhny will have a good run now. Finally, Horacio Zeballos is two sets to one up on Vasek Pospisil but will resume a break down in the fourth tomorrow after they were rained off for the night.
We now move onto second round action at the year's French Open, and, as I said all along, sometimes matches can be easier to pick once you get past the first round and have a good feeling of how each player is playing. So, with this in mind, let's have a look at tomorrow's matches of interest:
Troicki v Gimeno-Traver: I think the 1.80 which is available for Viktor Troicki here is just too big. He is a classier operator than Daniel Gimeno-Traver, who, it could be argued, is somewhere at the lower levels of Spanish tennis. DGT knocked out Juan Monaco from two sets down in the first round, but Monaco was less than 48 hours recovered from his title win in Dusseldorf, and he also blew a head gasket to compound matters. Those five sets will still be in DGT's legs and I think Troicki, who had a facile three set win over James Blake, will take full advantage. Take Troicki @ 1.80 to progress, probably in 4 sets.
Zeballos v Pospisil: Horacio Zeballos was a pick in yesterday's blog, but the match was rained off with the South American up 2 sets to 1 but down a break 1-4 in the fourth. Even allowing for Pospisil to take the fourth set, I still like the 1.80 available on Zeballos to progress. I would like my bottom dollar on him to hold his nerve when the bums get squeaky rather than Vasek Pospisil so he is a recommeded bet again @ 1.80 on Betfair.
Raonic v Llodra: Raonic is an absolute cert to beat Llodra and the only reason I am putting it up is because I think the 1.30 available is much more generous than I was expecting. I think his odds will shorten before the match begins so if you are a fan of very short prices, then this is a good one. Employing Ivan Ljubicic in his corner might well prove to be a great move for Milos!
Seppi v Kavcic: Again, Andreas Seppi is just too big here @ 1.50 on Betfair and I thought he would be more like 1/3 so he is a recommended bet to win a match that he definitely should.
They are the only pre-match recommendations for tomorrow. I would also say keep an eye out for Jan Hajek, who could cause an upset against Sam Querry. Certainly, if you are into trading tennis, he could give you some chances tomorrow as his price of nearly 3.00 is appealing. Also tomorrow, I am pretty certain that my man Ernie Gulbis will end the run of Gael Monfils third up on Chatrier. I won't be recommending it because 1.66 is no value but if he can get past Le Monf, the draw looks good for Gulbis. Gulbis needs to continue to be aggressive, to go for his returns, and not to get drawn into long, meaningless exchanges from the baseline. Dictate play and let Monfils tire himself out chasing balls corner to corner. More than anything, Gulbis needs to starve the crowd of any drama because that would play right into the hands of Monfils.
Other players I expect to win tomorrow are: Tsonga, Paire, Federer, Tipsarevic, Benneteau, Ferrer, Simon, Almagro, Robredo, Cilic, Lopez, and Anderson.
Enjoy the tennis and hopefully the rain will stay away! Over and out :)
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