Yesterday was a frustrating day with the fifty-fifty games seemingly going against me through the three losing picks.
Richard Gasquet was twice a break up in the first set and served for it before falling apart against John Millman... Petra Kvitova won the first set 6-3 against Ekaterina Makarova but almost every game in the first set when to deuce and that gave her the confidence to breeze through the second set... While the most frustrating by far was Fernando Verdasco who had a break advantage twice in the final set but was broken at 40-15 in one consolidation game and 40-30 in the other before handing the match away with SEVEN Double Faults in his last two service games.
Frustrating to say the least, but things could always be worse.
Friday is the Semi Final day in New Haven and Winston Salem but I will admit I have not been overly keen on the matches aside from wanting to back against Victor Troicki again who looked out on his feet on Thursday before being handed a way back.
Friday is also important for the US Open draw and I will begin making picks from the First Round matches on Saturday when the full markets are released. The Qualifiers will all be entered into the draw by Saturday morning for us in the United Kingdom and all the markets for the First Round should be released with the Schedule of Play for Monday likely to be out by Sunday.
I am actually out at a wedding this Sunday so the picks might not be posted until Monday morning, but I will be working on them this weekend.
Roberto Bautista Agut - 3.5 games v Victor Troicki: I bet Victor Troicki got into the locker room on Thursday and wondered how on earth he was handed a way back into his Quarter Final match with Fernando Verdasco? Let's face some facts, Troicki didn't win that match, Verdasco lost it and I don't think the Serb will be given too many gifts from the second Spaniard he faces in a row in Roberto Bautista Agut.
Of course there is a different match up in play for Troicki who was being put under tremendous pressure by the firepower that Verdasco clearly still has. However the consistency wasn't there and he can't rely on a host of unforced errors again, while Bautista Agut will look to make as many balls back as possible to start putting Troicki into difficult situations.
The Quarter Final was the best performance of the week from Bautista Agut, although he is going to have to work hard to protect his serve and that does give Troicki his chance. However the Spaniard has an underrated first serve and the consistency on the ground makes him a slightly weaker version of David Ferrer in his prime.
I don't think Bautista Agut will reach the levels Ferrer did, but he can frustrate Troicki who looked to be on the ropes on Thursday. It is tough playing the last match one day to the first the next and the differing conditions can take time to get used to, but Bautista Agut will be a little more familiar having gone on court second on Thursday.
They met in the Sofia Final earlier in the season and it was a fairly standard win for Bautista Agut and I am looking for him to make it two in a row against Troicki. As long as Bautista Agut can protect the serve as he has managed to do for much of the week, I think he will get his chances on the Troicki serve and can win this one 64, 64.
MY PICKS: Roberto Bautista Agut - 3.5 Games @ 2.00 Bet365 (2 Units)
Weekly Update: 5-6, - 3.64 Units (22 Units Staked, - 16.55% Yield)
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