The draw for the Montreal Masters was made on Friday and all of the top players are going to be in Canada, except the notable absence of Roger Federer. He has been complaining about a back issue following his couple of tournaments in Europe in July, but it is probably a decision made with the knowledge that he has a lot more points to defend in Cincinnati having missed the Canadian Masters last year due to his participation at the Olympics.
I'll have a full preview of the coming tournaments either on Saturday evening, or more likely on Sunday, as the Tour gets set for the run towards the US Open.
The Final at Kitzbuhel will be taking place on Saturday this week while the rest of the tournaments this week will have reached the Semi Final stage.
Marcel Granollers + 2.5 games v Juan Monaco: Anyone who followed the outright picks earlier this week would have Juan Monaco in the bag to win this tournament at a decent price and the Argentine is favoured to win this Final, although I certainly don't think it will be easy.
When you look at how these two players match up against one another, you certainly notice that Marcel Granollers has the more effective serve and can certainly pick up the cheaper points while Monaco has to work that much harder to hold on to serve.
We have also seen more lapses in form from Monaco of the two players this week although 2.5 games has proven not to be a terrible burden to cover for players, especially when one players loses heart in a match.
However, even with that in mind, I just have a feeling that this is going to be decided in three close sets and there is also a slight chance that Monaco gives up his set with a 62/63 score that will make this spread look a lot healthier during the course of the match. Granollers is certainly capable of pushing Monaco in this match and he can find a way to make this a real match and I believe the Spaniard does have a real chance of even causing the shock and winning the title here.
John Isner - 2.5 games v Dmitry Tursunov: Dmitry Tursunov really struggled with his second serve in his Quarter Final win yesterday and there were also signs that this long week is beginning to take a toll on him physically. He won't be able to be so generous with his double faults, which totalled at 13 yesterday, if he is to beat John Isner in this Semi Final.
After winning in Atlanta last week, Isner has shown little sign that he is feeling all the tennis he has played in the last couple of weeks and he was serving huge stuff in his win over Marcos Baghdatis yesterday. It was probably the best performance the big man has put in in the last couple of weeks as he found a way to create chances on the Cypriot's serve, although he was helped by a poor first serve percentage Baghdatis had.
The scoreboard pressure could be the biggest thing for Tursunov to overcome if Isner serves as well as he did yesterday. I don't really think Tursunov is the best return of serve and his own first serve percentage can be a little too low and will give Isner the chance to attack the ball.
If Tursunov is also gift wrapping points with double faults, it will only take a couple of unforced errors for Isner to take control of the match and I think the American reaches his second Final on the hard courts in succession with a 76, 64 win.
Juan Martin Del Potro - 4.5 games v Tommy Haas: When I wrote my outright preview of the tournaments this week, I picked Tommy Haas to come through the top half of the draw with the feeling that Juan Martin Del Potro could possibly be caught cold early in the draw.
However, the big man, and favourite to win Washington for a third time, has come through the draw and he has totally dominated Haas in the past and is playing to a level which makes it tough to see any other kind of result in this one.
Del Potro has won all four matches they have played in the past, winning all eight sets they have played and only two of those sets has seen Haas win at least 4 games. It is understandable that Del Potro has been dominant in the match up as he does almost everything, bar volleying, better than Haas and has the consistency and power to overwhelm him.
Tommy Haas hasn't been in great form this week but has shown some heart in coming through tough battles to reach this Semi Final, but this looks a level too much, especially with the way Del Potro has played. I wouldn't be surprised if there is yet another set where the World Number 7 grabs a double break of serve before winning it and thus helping himself to a cover en route to the Final.
Sam Stosur - 4.5 games v Virginie Razzano: Virginie Razzano beat Petra Kvitova in a long three set match yesterday and it will be interesting to see how she responds physically to the battle she went through to reach the Semi Final. It doesn't help that she is playing Sam Stosur, a player very comfortable on the hard courts of North America and one that can put pressure on her opponent with a strong serve.
Stosur is having a good week so far and her surprise win over Agnieszka Radwanska yesterday makes her the favourite to reach the Final. I do think she will be the one pushing all the tennis in this one as her serve can be very effective on these courts, while Razzano is a little hit and miss behind her own.
The biggest issue could be whether Razzano has recovered from her win over Kvitova with this match starting a little under 24 hours after she came through to the Semi Final- physically, Razzano has struggled for some time and that could be an issue against a player she has never beaten. I can see this being close for a set, but losing that could see Razzano lose some heart and belief and lead to a Stosur 75, 62 win.
MY PICKS: Marcel Granollers + 2.5 Games @ 2.00 Pinnacle (2 Units)
John Isner - 2.5 Games @ 1.80 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Juan Martin Del Potro - 4.5 Games @ 2.10 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Sam Stosur - 4.5 Games @ 1.85 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Weekly Update: 12-15, - 6.24 Units (52 Units Staked, - 12% Yield)
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