Tennis Picks June 6th 2011

I am not making any outright picks from the tournaments at Queens, Halle, Birmingham and Copenhagen simply because it can be a bit of a minefield determining which players will pull out of events the week after a Grand Slam. There is also an additional problem of players trying not to peak too early with another Grand Slam due to start in 2 weeks time.

Therefore, I will mainly stick to making a few plays a day (where possible) as I try to keep the bank going before Wimbledon starts.

Queens, Halle and Birmingham are all grass court tournaments, Copenhagen will be played on an indoor hard court.


Queens
TREBLE: Feliciano Lopez vs Dmitry Tursunov, James Ward vs Daniel Cox, and Sam Querrey vs Kei Nishikori: All 3 of these Men picked should come through their individual tests tomorrow, although I am limiting this to a 1 unit pick as all of the players can have their off days.

Feliciano Lopez meets a good player on the grass courts, but one who has struggled with injury in recent seasons and also on the main tour this season.

James Ward has far more experience of playing in these types of matches than Daniel Cox and I expect him to show that.

Sam Querrey is the defending Champion here and has all the tools to make himself a tough grass court player. He has also picked up a little bit of form of late and has had plenty of time to get used to playing on the surface since being knocked out of the French Open.

Nishikori is a tough player, but has lost his way a little this season and is still trying to learn what Brad Gilbert is telling him.


Halle
Igor Andreev win 2-0 in sets vs Potito Starace: Neither one of these players has a strong grass court pedigree, but Starace's is far worse. In fact the Italian has lost 6 of his last 7 matches on the surface over the last few seasons, his only win coming courtesy of a retirement.

Igor Andreev can at least say he has reached the 4th Round at Wimbledon before, and he also holds a 6-1 head to head record over Starace.

Andreev has won the last 4 meetings between the two players, taking 9 sets and losing 1, while 5 of the wins have come on clay, Starace's favourite surface.

The first set could be tight, but I think Andreev has all the tools to beat Starace here. If he takes the first set, the Italian may just begin looking forward to ending this small part of the calender on the ATP Tour.


MY PICKS: Feliciano Lopez, James Ward and Sam Querrey Treble @ 3.02 BetFred (1 Unit)
Igor Andreev win 2-0 in sets @ 2.2 Paddy Power (2 Units)

Overall Season Profit/Loss: + 37.02 Units