It wasn't that long ago that I said I have placed Ivan Ljubicic on my blacklist as he was playing terribly- it seems the big Croatian figures his best days are past him as he has decided to call it a day and will retire in a little over a months time.
Ljubicic was a decent player in his day, although I still don't understand why he didn't have a bigger impact at Wimbledon where his game should really have stood up. He reached the World Number 3 Ranking, but he never really had an amazing impact at Grand Slam level and that will go against him when he is remembered by the fans.
He reached one Semi Final at the French Open and one Quarter Final at the Australian Open, but I think I wouldn't be out of line in thinking that his game should have given him more opportunities at Grand Slam level.
He has made a bigger impact in his role on the Players Council at that is why he will always have the respect of his peers. The kind words offered for him by Roger Federer shows the kind of respect Ljubicic will command and I hope he is happy with whatever he decides to do in the future.
Andreas Seppi - 2.5 games v Olivier Rochus: Neither one of these players have been pulling up trees in 2012 nor have they had a sustained success at Indian Wells, but I am backing Andreas Seppi to continue his dominance of the head to head between himself and diminutive Olivier Rochus tonight.
Seppi has won the last 3 meetings between the players, all over the last couple of seasons, and that could provide the edge for the Italian to move through to the Second Round.
He is a tall man, but his serve is not the biggest, while his second serve would generally be considered a weakness. However, Rochus doesn't seem to possess the tools to take advantage of the second serve and that makes life easier for Seppi.
On the other hand, Rochus finds it hard to continuously hold on to serve as he doesn't have the power to win the cheap points and that means Seppi should be involved in a lot of them and create chances to break serve.
Seppi would have covered the spread on offer in the last two meetings between the players and I will back him to do so again today.
Alberta Brianti - 2.5 games v Silvia Soler-Espinosa: I am backing the veteran Italian to oust her younger opponent today who has been struggling for form in the early part of 2012.
Silvia Soler-Espinosa has won just 1 of her 7 matches played this season and most of her success over the last three seasons has come on the clay courts so this could be a tough day in the office for her.
However, I don't think it is wise to underestimate her too much considering she did reach the Third Round of the US Open last Summer so just may enjoy playing on the North American continent.
Alberta Brianti has opened her season with a few wins and I think she may have a higher level of confidence coming into this contest. She has never pulled up any trees on the hard courts, but she has played a lot of tennis on this surface and maintains a winning record in all events on the hard courts over the last five seasons.
The Italian has also won both previous meetings with Soler-Espinosa, although the last of those was over two years ago, but I think her hard court nous may just see her through in a game that could feature a huge number of breaks of serve.
MY PICKS: Andreas Seppi - 2.5 games @ 1.90 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Alberta Brianti - 2.5 games @ 1.85 Bet Victor (2 Units)
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