Sometimes you can feel the negative energy around yourself and that was the case yesterday as I can't believe the lack of finish any of the players I pick seem to have.
Tommy Haas became the latest in a long line over the last month that have got to the hill, but stumbled over at that point. Yesterday, he had set points at 5-2, 5-3 and 5-4 in the first set, but failed to take advantage and ended up missing the cover by half a game.
It was a real up and down performance, but I just seem to be falling on the wrong side of these things constantly at the moment.
To make matters worse, Ekaterina Makarova was leading 7-6, 3-1 before Nadia Petrova retired, something that doesn't pay off at the layer I used.
That is a disgusting bit of bad fortune to be honest- this has been the worst run of bad luck/form that I have experienced when it comes to tennis, and I would much rather see a player lose 6-1, 6-1 rather than coming so close and still failing to complete the job properly.
Julia Goerges v Anastasia Pavyluchenkova: I am going to pick Julia Goerges to be a little too good for Anastasia Pavyluchenkova in this Second Round match today as I think she has been in the more consistent in 2012 and that may just make the difference.
Goerges holds a 2-0 head to head record over the Russian and it has been a real down year so far for Pavyluchenkova as she has a 17-20 record on the season and is just 7-9 on the hard courts (she was 3-8 before a recent Semi Final run in Washington).
I think Goerges has the slightly more effective serve of the two players and that might be the real difference between the two when it is all said and done, while Pavyluchenkova has just not found her range during the year. The latter did reach the Quarter Final at the US Open last season, but she was also an early loser here in Cincinnati and I think Goerges will move through to the Third Round.
Denis Istomin - 2.5 games v Jeremy Chardy: Denis Istomin is a little up and down with his performances, but I like his chances against Jeremy Chardy considering the latter is coming off a big upset win over Andy Roddick yesterday.
Last week in Toronto, Chardy upset Jo-Wilfried Tsonga but was comfortably beaten in his next match against Marcel Granollers and he may have another let down performance in this one following the win over Roddick.
Istomin was a comfortable winner in his First Round match against Julien Benneteau and he has also crushed Chardy previously in a match at the Australian Open (back in 2010) when he lost just four games in a straight sets win.
I'll look for Istomin to be a little too strong off the ground for Chardy and enjoying more success against the Frenchman's serve and that should see him move through 6-4, 6-4.
Juan Monaco - 2.5 games v Radek Stepanek: Radek Stepanek had a big week in Toronto last week as he beat Alexandr Dolgopolov and Juan Martin Del Potro, and he started off this week with a big 6-2, 6-2 win over Albert Ramos.
Now he faces a tough match against Juan Monaco, a player he leads 3-2 in the head to head, but he has been beaten the last two times they have met one another.
Monaco has already recorded more wins in this season (33) than he has in the whole of 2010 (28) and 2011 (29) and he did crack the top 10 in the World Rankings as his consistency has improved. The Argentine also reached the Semi Final in the Miami Masters earlier this year and the Fourth Round at the US Open last season and I expect him to be a little too solid for Stepanek in this Second Round clash.
It should be tight for a while, but a 7-6, 6-3 win for Monaco is my prediction.
MY PICKS: Julia Goerges @ 1.80 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Denis Istomin - 2.5 games @ 1.90 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Juan Monaco - 2.5 games @ 2.00 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Weekly Update: 1-2, - 0.90 Units (5 Units Staked)
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