2007 ATP Tennis Posted Record: 0-2 (-$1500.00)
Record this Week: 0-2 (-$1500.00)
I have hedged right out of my Del Potro play over Kunitsyn because my own personal plays are now 0-2 on the year. I am reverting back to my old system that worked so nicely in 2006 and hopefully is can produce some winners. Here we go!
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ATP Adelaide
Vincent Spadea 3.00 over Joachim Johansson ($1000 to win $2000)
Here we go again. I am really not a big fan of betting on underdogs but I don't seem to have a choice in this match. Spadea already has the confidence that he can beat Pim Pim, having already won a match in straight sets against him on the clay courts back in 2005. It would have been easy for a veteran like Spadea to have a big letdown after his win over Stepanek but Spadea came out guns blazing against Korolev as well and cashed in big time in that match. This bet is a little bit scary but that's only because Pim Pim won the Adelaide Title back in 2005 but he is nowhere near what he used to be and it's time to start making cash against him until he finds his form again. He already has two wins in this tournament beating Dlouhy and Simon but his loss to Serra was cause for concern. Even with the win over Simon, Johansson did not look sharp at all. His return game was very weak and seeing that Spadea's serve has been good all tournament, I smell a big time upset here. Both players have actually served better than I thought this tournament but the big difference is going to the return game and I still give the advantage to Spadea. You guys really have a short memory because Johansson has only played in one full tournament without injury since Wimbledon 2005 and that was last year's appearance in Stockholm. Spadea is a fighter and I love his chances of beating Johansson at this price. The Pim Pim fever is pretty much dead for now.
ATP Doha
Andy Murray 2.10 over Ivan Ljubicic ($1000 to win $1100)
I don't know about you guys but did anyone else notice how badly Robin Soderling blew that match against Ljubicic in the Semi-Finals? Even the stats tell the entire story as Ljubicic was complete out-played but somehow lost the match because Soderling looked just terrible in the 2nd set and trying to close things out in the 3rd set. Well, Soderling is not Andy Murray and Soderling doesn't have the ticking time bomb Brad Gilbert in his corner so the advantage here is with Murray. The two players have met twice before, each winning once and each time going to 3 sets. I don't doubt this match could also go to three sets but in the end, if Andy is healthy, Murray should have no problems capitalizing on mistakes Soderling could not cash in on. Ljubicic has wins over Soderling, Youzhny, El Ayanoui and Gremelmayr. Youzhny and Soderling are the only two who gave baldy any kind of fight in their matches and both players probably should have beat Ljubicic. Andy Murray is quickly closing in on the TOP 10 in the world and beating a TOP 10 player to win his first ATP Title of the year would be huge. Murray has all the tools including a good coach to have him ready for this match. Not only did Murray serve much better than Ljubicic in his last match but surprisingly his first serve returns were better and his overall game was better. Ivan served only 54% on first serve againsr Soderling and seeing that Murray was returning very well against the supposed injured Davydenko, I don't know where Ivan is going to get his points in this match. It would take a huge choke job for Murray not to finish Ljubicic off. Ljubicic is in the FINAL of this tournament for the third straight year and he is 0-2 in Doha finals so you can quickly make that 0-3 after this match. Murray will win this.
ATP Chennai
Stefan Koubek 2.50 over Carlos Moya ($500 to win $750)
I don't know what happened with Benneteau last time out (I had cash on him) but I do know that Koubek seems to be playing some outstanding tennis these days and like someone said earlier, he seems to always step up to the plate in big time matches. These two veterans go way back to the 2000 season where they first met and now, four matches later, are meeting for the fifth time in their careers with Moya having the 3-1 advantage. Well those matches were all a while ago and it's time focus on who will do what in this match. Moya has wins over Karlovic, Kim and Waske in this tournament and although he has yet to drop a set, Moya did go to two tiebreakers in those matches which is not good considering the level of competition he played against. Moya's first serve has been lights out pretty much all week but that's only because Karlovic can't really return anything sent his way. Koubek has wins over Benneteau, Paradorn and Salve. Koubek does not have a good first serve but his return game has been very good most of the week while Moya's has been average. Koubek has been playing well the last half year on hardcourts, reaching the Semi-Finals of Mumbai before losing to Berdych in a hard fought match. This won't be easy for Koubek to pull off but Moya is not getting any younger and if Koubek can sustain and return Moya's serve, this match should go to the wire. Moya's semi-final was right here in Chennai and he almost lost to Stepanek. I think Moya has a very good chance of losing this match and my money is on the underdog regardless of Moya's dominance in Chennai. It has to end at one point.
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Record this Week: 0-2 (-$1500.00)
I have hedged right out of my Del Potro play over Kunitsyn because my own personal plays are now 0-2 on the year. I am reverting back to my old system that worked so nicely in 2006 and hopefully is can produce some winners. Here we go!
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ATP Adelaide
Vincent Spadea 3.00 over Joachim Johansson ($1000 to win $2000)
Here we go again. I am really not a big fan of betting on underdogs but I don't seem to have a choice in this match. Spadea already has the confidence that he can beat Pim Pim, having already won a match in straight sets against him on the clay courts back in 2005. It would have been easy for a veteran like Spadea to have a big letdown after his win over Stepanek but Spadea came out guns blazing against Korolev as well and cashed in big time in that match. This bet is a little bit scary but that's only because Pim Pim won the Adelaide Title back in 2005 but he is nowhere near what he used to be and it's time to start making cash against him until he finds his form again. He already has two wins in this tournament beating Dlouhy and Simon but his loss to Serra was cause for concern. Even with the win over Simon, Johansson did not look sharp at all. His return game was very weak and seeing that Spadea's serve has been good all tournament, I smell a big time upset here. Both players have actually served better than I thought this tournament but the big difference is going to the return game and I still give the advantage to Spadea. You guys really have a short memory because Johansson has only played in one full tournament without injury since Wimbledon 2005 and that was last year's appearance in Stockholm. Spadea is a fighter and I love his chances of beating Johansson at this price. The Pim Pim fever is pretty much dead for now.
ATP Doha
Andy Murray 2.10 over Ivan Ljubicic ($1000 to win $1100)
I don't know about you guys but did anyone else notice how badly Robin Soderling blew that match against Ljubicic in the Semi-Finals? Even the stats tell the entire story as Ljubicic was complete out-played but somehow lost the match because Soderling looked just terrible in the 2nd set and trying to close things out in the 3rd set. Well, Soderling is not Andy Murray and Soderling doesn't have the ticking time bomb Brad Gilbert in his corner so the advantage here is with Murray. The two players have met twice before, each winning once and each time going to 3 sets. I don't doubt this match could also go to three sets but in the end, if Andy is healthy, Murray should have no problems capitalizing on mistakes Soderling could not cash in on. Ljubicic has wins over Soderling, Youzhny, El Ayanoui and Gremelmayr. Youzhny and Soderling are the only two who gave baldy any kind of fight in their matches and both players probably should have beat Ljubicic. Andy Murray is quickly closing in on the TOP 10 in the world and beating a TOP 10 player to win his first ATP Title of the year would be huge. Murray has all the tools including a good coach to have him ready for this match. Not only did Murray serve much better than Ljubicic in his last match but surprisingly his first serve returns were better and his overall game was better. Ivan served only 54% on first serve againsr Soderling and seeing that Murray was returning very well against the supposed injured Davydenko, I don't know where Ivan is going to get his points in this match. It would take a huge choke job for Murray not to finish Ljubicic off. Ljubicic is in the FINAL of this tournament for the third straight year and he is 0-2 in Doha finals so you can quickly make that 0-3 after this match. Murray will win this.
ATP Chennai
Stefan Koubek 2.50 over Carlos Moya ($500 to win $750)
I don't know what happened with Benneteau last time out (I had cash on him) but I do know that Koubek seems to be playing some outstanding tennis these days and like someone said earlier, he seems to always step up to the plate in big time matches. These two veterans go way back to the 2000 season where they first met and now, four matches later, are meeting for the fifth time in their careers with Moya having the 3-1 advantage. Well those matches were all a while ago and it's time focus on who will do what in this match. Moya has wins over Karlovic, Kim and Waske in this tournament and although he has yet to drop a set, Moya did go to two tiebreakers in those matches which is not good considering the level of competition he played against. Moya's first serve has been lights out pretty much all week but that's only because Karlovic can't really return anything sent his way. Koubek has wins over Benneteau, Paradorn and Salve. Koubek does not have a good first serve but his return game has been very good most of the week while Moya's has been average. Koubek has been playing well the last half year on hardcourts, reaching the Semi-Finals of Mumbai before losing to Berdych in a hard fought match. This won't be easy for Koubek to pull off but Moya is not getting any younger and if Koubek can sustain and return Moya's serve, this match should go to the wire. Moya's semi-final was right here in Chennai and he almost lost to Stepanek. I think Moya has a very good chance of losing this match and my money is on the underdog regardless of Moya's dominance in Chennai. It has to end at one point.
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