Tennis Picks February 23rd

Some of the tournaments this week have reached the Quarter Final stage and it seems the layers are taking their time getting all the markets in play.

I will have to wait a few hours until the layers have got the full markets available and then I will post up my plays for this day.

At that time, I will also update the results for this week, although it has looked like another good day yesterday with the picks going 3-1 and Andy Roddick still to play.

As always, I will update my Twitter page when the picks are made.

Daniela Hantuchova v Julia Goerges: This is the final match on court today in Dubai and I am a little surprised that the layers have got this as a 'pick 'em' contest.

Daniela Hantuchova recently won a tournament on the hard courts of Thailand and has been in decent form over the last 12 months, even though she has had some poor performances in the last couple of weeks, including in the First Round here where Hantuchova could easily have been knocked out of the tournament already.

With Hantuchova, you know generally what you are going to get, but Julia Goerges is one of the most hit and miss characters on the tour. I have been very critical of the way she goes about her business and have described her as a 'mindless ball-basher' who tries to hit through the ball no matter where she is on the court and she doesn't construct points as well as she should.

There will be points in the match that Goerges is unplayable as she hits winners, but I also think she is capable of going through long stretches where she cannot make a ball, and that should give the edge to the Slovakian player to move through to the Semi Finals.

Richard Gasquet - 5.5 games v Igor Kunitsyn: I backed Richard Gasquet successfully in the last Round as I think he is too strong for players he THINKS he is better than and he seems to reserve his best tennis for them at this moment in his career.

Gasquet will need to protect his own serve a little better than he did against Go Soeda, but he should get some chances to break serve when Kunitsyn is serving.

Kunitsyn had lost in the First Round of every tournament he had played this season until winning in the last Round here and he was bageled twice by Mikhail Youzhny last week in Rotterdam. The Russian player generally struggles against players in the top 32 and he was also have to remove the memories of his crushing at the hands of Gasquet at Wimbledon last year.

I think this is a tough match up for Kunitsyn, and I think Gasquet will grab a couple of breaks in a set to get away from him and cover the spread.

Juan Martin Del Potro - 3.5 games v Nikolay Davydenko: Nikolay Davydenko has been back to something like his best in the last couple of weeks, but I am going to oppose the former Top 5 player here.

Even though he holds a 3-1 head to head record against Juan Martin Del Potro, he is playing the Argentine in as good as form as he has been in over the last 12 months, with only Roger Federer managing to get the better of him.

It won't be easy for Del Potro, but I think his game is getting better all the time and I am not sure Davydenko will be able to keep tabs on him as his consistency is no longer at the same level as it was a couple of seasons ago.

The Russian's serve has always been susceptible to being broken, even at the height of his powers, and I am going to back Del Potro to cover with a break in each set to win in straights.

Radek Stepanek - 3.5 games v Ryan Sweeting: Radek Stepanek beat one American player last night, and gets his chance with another tonight and I think he is capable of coming through with another straight sets win and a cover of the spread.

Ryan Sweeting is 24 years old now and he has not really progressed on the Tour as much as he would have liked. He has a big first serve, but his second is not really up to scratch, although confidence should be high after beating James Blake in the First Round for the loss of just 2 games.

However, Stepanek is still more of a challenge than Blake these days and his awkward style can frustrate opponents, particularly if they do not have the consistency to hurt him. The Czech player has a rich history on the North American hard courts, including a straight sets win over Sweeting in New Haven 18 months ago.

If Stepanek can serve well, I think he will put a lot of pressure on Sweeting and I think he should be able to come through with a break in each set to win in straights too.


MY PICKS: Daniela Hantuchova @ 1.83 Paddy Power (2 Units)
Richard Gasquet - 5.5 games @ 1.92 Bet365 (2 Units)
Juan Martin Del Potro - 3.5 games @ 2.00 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Radek Stepanek - 3.5 games @ 2.00 Bet365 (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 6-3, + 5.2 Units (20 Units Staked)