Tennis Picks April 18th (Monte Carlo)

With the tournament missing some of the bigger names on Tour, it does mean that there are a few more mismatches in the early Rounds, giving the layers the clear edge.

Yesterday the picks went 1-1, but the staking plan continues to pay dividends and that is all we can do at the moment. With Novak Djokovic running in the outright market, hopefully it will be a good week.


Gilles Simon - 4 games v Frederico Gil: These two players play a very similar game, except Gilles Simon does almost everything to a level higher than Frederico Gi.

It is no surprise that Simon has won both previous meetings between the players, both coming in straight sets last season, and I expect something similar to occur now that the Frenchman has a match under his belt here.

The clay courts are generally Gil's favourite surface, while he has won 3 matches here already, but he has only reached 4 games in one of the four sets they have competed and I think Simon will be too strong for him in a 6-3, 6-3 win.

Tomas Berdych - 3.5 games v Marin Cilic: Tomas Berdych has just come off the boil in recent tournaments, but I expect he will pick up the tempo in his play again, with the clay courts favouring his big hitting game as much as the faster surfaces.

He has the big serve that will still provide cheap points, while getting more time on his heavy groundstrokes.

I think the Czech Number 1 remains too strong for Marin Cilic who is getting back to the form that had him as a certainty to reach the top 10, but who is still not quite there yet. Cilic will likely have a tougher time when it comes to holding serve, and I still think he is trying to find the consistency in his game, although that will not be easy against an opponent that will let his shots go.

Berdych has a 3-1 head to head record, including one on a clay court, and I think he is just too good right now for Cilic... I expect this ends 7-5, 6-3 to Berdych.


MY PICKS: Gilles Simon - 4 games @ 1.90 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Tomas Berdych - 3.5 games @ 1.92 Pinnacle (2 Units)


Weekly Update: 1-1, + 0.80 Units (3 Units Staked)