Tennis Picks 22nd July ATP Atlanta Quarter Finals

It was not a good day for the picks in Atlanta last night with both Lleyton Hewitt and Xavier Malisse losing matches they should not be. I did take a silver lining from that disappointment though as both of those players were in Mardy Fish's section, my outright pick of the week.

Fish now faces Somdev Devvarman and then the winner of the Ryan Harrison-Rajeev Ram match to reach the Final and I very much expect that to happen.

We have reached the Quarter Finals and it is here that you can really tell a stellar field did not get together as the likes of Yen-Hsun Lu are also still in the tournament.

Thunderstorms are expected today so there could be a couple of rain delays. The other point to mention here is that the matches start at noon local time rather than the 4pm starts they have been having all week.

Now on to the Picks:

Gilles Muller-Kevin Anderson Over 22.5 total games: Both of these guys are reliant on a big serve on which they can build the rest of their game. The best thing about the total games market is this can be covered even if one of the players was to win in straight sets by a scoreline of 7-6, 6-4.

I do expect at least one tie break to be played, as happened in their only previous meeting, and it is also possible that the match could go the distance.

Neither is a great returner, but Anderson has an edge in that department, so Gilles Muller must serve better than he did when defeating Robby Ginepri.

I expect a lot of short points between the two players and I do favour Anderson to eventually come out on top- I just hope its a tough match no matter who wins.


Mardy Fish - 4.5 games vs Somdev Devvarman: I had a couple of concerns about how Mardy Fish would rebound from losing 2 Davis Cup ties in 5 sets last week, but all that was put to rest as he completely dominated Nicolas Mahut last night and it is no surprise to see the American is the favourite to retain his title from last season.

Somdev Devvarman had a real tussle in Round 1 with Ryan Sweeting, but then had a comfortable win over Tatsuma Ito last night. However, this test is a significant raise in level for the Indian player and I feel his serve is too prone to breaking down to have a real impact.

Fish will create a lot of pressure on Devvarman with his strength of shot while the serve is more consistent and has a 2-0 head to head record against his opponent, winning both matches on grass and losing just 6 games in 4 sets.

I would expect the Number 1 seed to come through with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-2 or something similar.


John Isner - 3.5 games vs Yen-Hsun Lu: John Isner looked a little tired in his match with James Blake, something that has to be considered unusual considering he had at least 10 days off since his last match. It may also have been down to the mental pressure of having to hold serve in what was a tough encounter.

This time Isner should be able to see more chances against Yen-Hsun Lu, a player that has taken advantage of a soft section of the draw although has had a bit of trouble in doing so.

Lu is a tough question on his day, but has struggled for form on the main tour all season. He is a decent hard court player but he will be under immense pressure to hold serve if Isner is playing to form.

That could lead to the pressure points and I can see a break in each set for the big American to see him through to the Semi Finals.


MY PICKS: Gilles Muller-Kevin Anderson Over 22.5 total games @ 1.90 Sporting Bet (2 Units)
Mardy Fish - 4.5 games @ 1.90 Bodog (2 Units)
John Isner - 3.5 games @ 1.95 Pinnacle (2 Units)


WEEKLY UPDATE: + 9.88 Units (All picks in from 21st July)

Tennis Picks 15th June 2011

It's been a tough couple of days to find potential winners in the world of tennis as the Grand Slam at Wimbledon fast approaches. Some players may already be looking ahead to that event which begins on Monday so I would not be surprised if there are some 'tanks' as people dont want to waste too much energy with such a big tournament coming up.

Therefore I only have had a couple of picks so far this week and am only playing a 1 unit treble for today.


Eastbourne
TREBLE: Kevin Anderson vs Gregor Dimitrov, Petra Kvitova vs Ekaterina Makarova and Sam Stosur vs Bojana Jovanovski: This is not the easiest treble in the world, but I really feel all 3 players are good enough to get through their individual matches.

Kevin Anderson proved at Queens that he has all the tools to be an effective grass court player and I think he will have the edge solely because his serve is a little more dependable than the talented Bulgarian's. Dimitrov is still learning his trade on the main ATP Tour and I think this is a tough match up for him.

Petra Kvitova is one of the up and coming stars on the WTA Tour and has shown she can play on the grass after making the Semi Finals of Wimbledon last year. Makarova is the defending Champion so this wont be easy, but I feel Kvitova has too much talent for her.

Sam Stosur has one of the best serves on the Women's tour and I expect that will give her the edge over the talented young player from Serbia. Jovanovski has pushed players in matches this year, but I think Stosur will be too strong as she looks to go better than her Semi Final here last season.


MY PICKS: Kevin Anderson, Petra Kvitova and Sam Stosur @ 3.13 Pinnacle (1 Unit)


WEEKLY UPDATE: + 5.16 Units (+ 0 Units yesterday)

Tennis Picks June 7th 2011

So it was a good day yesteday with all both picks coming in thanks to all the players winning in straight sets.

There was some good news for the Queens tournament with the confirmation that both Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray will take part, but Halle lost Roger Federer to the disappointment of the tournament director.

That once again shows the minefield in picking outright winners a week after a Grand Slam, especially with the short time between the French Open and Wimbledon.

Talking about Roger Federer, did anyone else find it amusing when he essentially said if he 'plays well', he beats Rafael Nadal. Now I am not downplaying what Federer has achieved in his career, but it is clear that he can be a little condescending to other players. Maybe someone will have the nerve to ask him if he has played badly in 6 of the 8 Grand Slam Finals where he has played Nadal, considering he has not beaten the Spaniard on such an occasion since 2007!

I will update my overall profit/loss at the end of the week rather than every day, but I will update weekly profit/losses when making new picks.


Queens
TREBLE: Andy Roddick vs Feliciano Lopez, Michael Llodra vs Julien Benneteau and Sam Querrey vs Rainer Schuettler: This is a pretty risky treble for the day at Queens club.

Andy Roddick has not played much competitive tennis in recent weeks, choosing to rest his shoulder during the clay court season so he could be right for the grass. He has been honing his grass court game in London for a few days now and also holds a 6-0 head to head over the dangerous Feliciano Lopez.

Michael Llodra's serve-volley game should fit perfectly with the grass courts and he did win Eastbourne last year and reached the Quarter Finals here in London. Julien Benneteau can certainly play on the surface, but has struggled for form in recent weeks.

Sam Querrey made a solid start to the defence of his title with an easy enough win over the talented Kei Nishikori, and I think he will have too much for the veteran Rainer Schuettler. Querrey leads the head to head 3-1 and also beat Schuettler here last year.


Kevin Anderson win vs Ivo Karlovic: Now I will say that Ivo Karlovic has the perfect game to be a danger on the grass courts, but I just feel Kevin Anderson is being underrated here.

Karlovic missed the grass court season last year, but has a 22-6 record in previous years. He has reached the last 8 in each of the last 3 times he has played at Queens so the question remains why am I picking Anderson?

The first reason is Karlovic has not been in the best of form this season since coming back from his injury and I am beginning to wonder if he has much left in the tank.

Add to this the fact Anderson is having his best season on the main tour and has the weapons to be effective on this surface and he has a live chance in a match that could be decided by 1 or 2 points in a tie break.


MY PICKS: Andy Roddick, Michael Llodra and Sam Querrey Treble @ 3.42 Pinnacle (1 Unit)
Kevin Anderson win @ 2.45 Canbet (1 Unit)


WEEK UPDATE JUNE 6-12: + 4.42 Units