Tennis Picks 12th June 2011

It was a good day yesterday as both picks came in as winners. Andy Murray put in his strongest performance of the season to crush Andy Roddick in 2 straightforward sets before Philipp Petzschner shocked Tomas Berdych in 3 sets at the tournament in Halle.

That means we are having another profitable week following the successes at the French Open and I will look to end the week on a good note.

The tournaments in Eastbourne and s-Hertogenbosch are due to start their main draws tomorrow with a couple of matches in each event, but I wont start backing anything until Monday as none of the games interest me tomorrow.


Queens
Andy Murray - 3.5 games vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: I thought long and hard about this match as I feel Murray will not play to the same level as he did against Andy Roddick, and will also be dealing with a player in the form of Tsonga that is playing some good tennis of late.

However, I do feel Murray is serving particularly well this week and I also believe he will earn more chances as he is the better returner.

Tsonga will make life difficult with his big groundstrokes and by attacking the net, but I feel he has too many lapses in sets that Murray can take advantage of.

Murray leads the head to head 4-2, including a win at Wimbledon last year in the Quarter Finals. Interestingly, they met on grass during a Nottingham Challenger in 2004- that was won by Tsonga.

It is possible the match goes the distance, but I just feel Murray is too consistent for Tsonga at this moment of time and will do enough to cover the spread.


Birmingham
Daniela Hantuchova - 2.5 games vs Sabine Lisicki: Daniela Hantuchova showed some real spirit in beating Ana Ivanovic in the Semi Final yesterday, overcoming a 1 set deficit and a rain delay to win in 3 sets. Hantuchova also served well when the big points came along, saving 12 bps in the final 2 sets and not losing her serve. The Slovakian also has a solid grass court pedigree.

Lisicki has seen her career hit a buffer thanks to bad form and recovering from an injury. She is a former Wimbledon Quarter Finalist, but has not had much success on the grass other than this tournament. She has also had a tough year so far and faces an opponent in form.

Hantuchova won their only other meeting on the fast indoor hard courts and must feel the title is here for the taking.


MY PICKS: Andy Murray - 3.5 games @ 1.83 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Daniela Hantuchova - 2.5 games @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)


WEEKLY UPDATE: + 10.03 Units (+ 4.08 Units yesterday)