It was a tough week all round when looking back, but I have come out the other side in a much better position than I feared I might be after some horrendous results.
I was a little unlucky to miss out on Juan Carlos Ferrero reaching the Final in Umag when he ran into Alexandr Dolgopolov playing some of the best tennis he can. Dolgopolov has a game where the everything is on his racquet and he was just not making any mistakes yesterday while hitting winners from all over the place.
Victoria Azarenka and Dmitry Tursunov were early losers in their respective tournaments while Juan Martin Del Potro was shocked in the Quarter Final by Ernests Gulbis, with the latter taking his place in the Final later.
The overall profit for the season is still in a very healthy position as we come closer to the 2 big Masters tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati. And then, at the end of the month, the final Grand Slam of the season will begin at Flushing Meadows.
DAILY PICKS: + 1.06 Units
OUTRIGHT PICKS: - 10 Units
OVERALL WEEK JULY 26th-31st: - 8.94 Units
OVERALL SEASON UPDATE: + 54.12 Units
Featured post
NBA Playoffs 2026- Conference Finals Game 1-4 (Monday 18th May-Monday 25th May)
We are going to be down to the final four teams in the NBA once Game 7 of the Second Round Series between the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland ...
Showing posts with label LA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LA. Show all posts
Sunday, 31 July 2011
Saturday, 30 July 2011
Tennis Picks July 30th
I am going to put all my picks from the tournaments running in this one thread today but I will update the weekly totals separately as I have been doing all week.
It was a disappointing evening as both Maria Sharapova and Juan Martin Del Potro exited the tournaments. The latter is more disappointing as my biggest outright back of the week and it sounds like he was just not at the races.
Players like Ernests Gulbis can be very dangerous when they get hot, the problem for him is consistency to play like that against the lesser players.
Juan Carlos Ferrero is now the last man standing in terms of outright picks, but he would cover the entire outlay of the week if he can go on and retain his title in Umag- I just hope he can do it without the breakdown he had yesterday against Carlos Berlocq when losing 5 games in a row in the 2nd set and seeing his 5-1 lead disappear. The Spaniard did come through in straight sets, but it would have been nice if he had got off court a little earlier as he should have done.
Now on to the Picks:
Nicolas Almagro - 3.5 games vs Fernando Verdasco: This is a repeat of the Semi Final from last week in Hamburg and I would not be surprised if we get a similar result (last week Almagro won 6-1, 6-4).
Almagro has been solid all week behind his serve and even doing double duty yesterday did not slow him down when beating Jarkko Nieminen and Feliciano Lopez. If he continues to serve like that, he will put a lot of pressure on his compatriot today.
Fernando Verdasco did not play that well for 2 sets yesterday against Julien Benneteau and I just feel he is not quite at the races mentally this season. He seems to get through against the lesser players but struggles when faced against someone who is playing well.
The court has played fairly quickly all week and I feel that will give Almagro the edge too so I will back him to come through with a bit to spare.
Juan Carlos Ferrero - 2 games vs Alexandr Dolgopolov: If anyone followed the outright picks at the start of the week, we have already got Juan Carlos Ferrero at 4.00 to win this match and get through to the Final so they may not want to put a bit more on him here.
However, I do want to back him again as I feel the match up is more in Ferrero's favour than the layers think it is. He is fairly consistent from the back of the court and could grind down Dolgopolov here, although I would like to see the Spaniard take care of his serve a little more.
Dolgopolov has not been getting enough first serves in and that could give him more problems here against a player like Ferrero who has the big groundstrokes. A lot of second serves will allow Ferrero to dictate more points and that could be the edge to this match.
They also met here last year in the Quarter Final and Dolgopolov was beaten heavily and won just 3 games in the 2 sets they competed.
I dont think it will be a blowout like that, but I do think Ferrero will come through and reach his 3rd consecutive Final here.
Mardy Fish - 4.5 games vs Ryan Harrison: This is a repeat of the Semi Final from Atlanta last week and I dont see any reason to change my mind but to predict Mardy Fish to come through in 2 sets again.
Harrison has had the 2 most productive weeks of his short career so far and has showed the heart and belief to come through some tight spots, particularly in the 2nd set against Yen-Hsun Lu yesterday, but this is a huge step up from the quality of opponents he has played so far this week and I struggle to see how he can do enough to affect the Fish game.
The one thing in Harrison's favour is the amount of tennis Mardy Fish has played recently and whether that catches up with him here. However, Fish has been taking his fitness as seriously as he ever has and I am not sure if his losing energy is just clutching at straws.
I just think the Fish game is too big at this moment in time for the improving Harrison and I think a similar scoreline to last weeks 6-2, 6-4 could be in the offing.
Ernests Gulbis - 3 games vs Alex Bogomolov: This could be the case of 'after the Lord Mayor's show' for Ernests Gulbis following his impressive straight sets win over Juan Martin Del Potro, but I am of the feeling that the Latvian is a momentum player that could be tough to stop this week.
He has played some decent tennis this week to get this far and was more than a little unfortunate to lose to James Blake in the 1st Round in Atlanta last week and Gulbis' better performances have generally come on the hard courts in recent seasons.
Gulbis has all the attributes in his game to be a good hard court player, but sometimes it is the thing between his ears that lets him down. The confidence from the win over Del Potro should give him the boost to reach the Final this week.
Alex Bogomolov is a journeyman player having his best year on the main tour so will not be easy pickings. He has reached the Quarter Finals in 3 of the last 5 tournaments he has played and also made it through to the 3rd Round at Wimbledon in that time so is in decent form.
However, I think it could be telling that he has had a few problems with the bigger hitters on the tour and Gulbis will fit into that category. Bogomolov has lost to John Isner, Gilles Muller and Tomas Berdych in recent weeks and I think the pressure of trying to hold serve could be too much for him today.
Gulbis is not the best person to trust, but I think he should be too strong for the American tonight.
MY PICKS: Nicolas Almagro - 3.5 games @ 1.85 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Juan Carlos Ferrero - 2 games @ 1.91 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Mardy Fish - 4.5 games @ 1.91 Sporting Bet (2 Units)
Ernests Gulbis - 3 games @ 1.83 10Bet (2 Units)
WEEKLY UPDATE GSTAAD/UMAG: + 5.96 Units
WEEKLY UPDATE STANFORD/LA: - 4.38 Units
Friday, 29 July 2011
Tennis Picks July 29th Stanford and LA
Please dont ask me what went wrong with Alejandro Falla last night because I was left scratching my head at his performance and am not sure whether it was down to Falla being terrible or Thomaz Bellucci playing well.
That means I will be taking a watching brief when Bellucci takes on Alex Bogomolov tonight to see where the Brazilian, who has struggled on the hard courts over the last 18 months, is with his game.
It was more doom and gloom for me when Victoria Azarenka lost from a set up in her 2nd Round match with Marina Erakovic- Azarenka took to her twitter page to say that she doesn't know what went wrong with her game.
Now on to the Picks:
Maria Sharapova vs Serena Williams: I have picked the form player here as she is the underdog and I am not quite sure if Serena Williams is back to her best after being taken to 3 sets yesterday by Maria Kirilenko.
Serena has played in Stanford twice before and it is telling that she is yet to go beyond the Semi Final so the tournament is clearly used to perhaps fine tune her game a little before the US Open at the end of next month.
On the other hand, Maria Sharapova was the Runner Up here last year and has played plenty more tennis than Williams in the last 12 months while reaching the Semi Final at the French Open and finishing as Runner Up at Wimbledon in the last 3 months.
The head to head is clearly in favour of Serena Williams, but I just think the lack of tennis and the fact Sharapova has been playing well makes it hard for me to see the Russian as the underdog here.
Ryan Harrison vs Yen-Hsun Lu: I am going to take the American youngster who is playing the best tennis of his career so far to come through and reach another Semi Final on the ATP tour following his efforts in Atlanta last week.
I think the prices are a little closer than they may have been because of Yen-Hsun Lu's impressive win over Marcos Baghdatis, but you could excuse Baghdatis for a lack of tennis and already having a tough time on the hard courts this season. The fact Lu had played in Atlanta last week was also an advantage.
Harrison has looked good this week, and showed glimpses of some real talent last week while I havent quite shaken the belief that Lu is on the other side of the hill and coming down the rankings.
MY PICKS: Maria Sharapova @ 2.35 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Ryan Harrison @ 1.90 Pinnacle (2 Units)
WEEKLY UPDATE STANFORD/LA: - 4.18 Units
That means I will be taking a watching brief when Bellucci takes on Alex Bogomolov tonight to see where the Brazilian, who has struggled on the hard courts over the last 18 months, is with his game.
It was more doom and gloom for me when Victoria Azarenka lost from a set up in her 2nd Round match with Marina Erakovic- Azarenka took to her twitter page to say that she doesn't know what went wrong with her game.
Now on to the Picks:
Maria Sharapova vs Serena Williams: I have picked the form player here as she is the underdog and I am not quite sure if Serena Williams is back to her best after being taken to 3 sets yesterday by Maria Kirilenko.
Serena has played in Stanford twice before and it is telling that she is yet to go beyond the Semi Final so the tournament is clearly used to perhaps fine tune her game a little before the US Open at the end of next month.
On the other hand, Maria Sharapova was the Runner Up here last year and has played plenty more tennis than Williams in the last 12 months while reaching the Semi Final at the French Open and finishing as Runner Up at Wimbledon in the last 3 months.
The head to head is clearly in favour of Serena Williams, but I just think the lack of tennis and the fact Sharapova has been playing well makes it hard for me to see the Russian as the underdog here.
Ryan Harrison vs Yen-Hsun Lu: I am going to take the American youngster who is playing the best tennis of his career so far to come through and reach another Semi Final on the ATP tour following his efforts in Atlanta last week.
I think the prices are a little closer than they may have been because of Yen-Hsun Lu's impressive win over Marcos Baghdatis, but you could excuse Baghdatis for a lack of tennis and already having a tough time on the hard courts this season. The fact Lu had played in Atlanta last week was also an advantage.
Harrison has looked good this week, and showed glimpses of some real talent last week while I havent quite shaken the belief that Lu is on the other side of the hill and coming down the rankings.
MY PICKS: Maria Sharapova @ 2.35 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Ryan Harrison @ 1.90 Pinnacle (2 Units)
WEEKLY UPDATE STANFORD/LA: - 4.18 Units
Thursday, 28 July 2011
Tennis Picks July 28th Stanford and LA
It was a much better day yesterday all round from the West Coast of America as the picks went 3-1 and Juan Martin Del Potro moved through to the Quarter Finals without too many problems.
Del Potro will face Ernests Gulbis in the next Round and holds a 3-0 head to head record against him and looks good to reach the Final and keep the outright pick from this tournament intact.
It looks like a much tougher day to predict today and I will only go with the one pick:
Alejandro Falla vs Thomaz Bellucci: It seems strange to pick a player who is just ranked in the top 100 to beat another who is just outside the top 30, but that is the one and only pick from these two tournaments today.
Alejandro Falla has not been in great form recently but already has one hard court match under his belt this week and that could stand him in good stead. The Colombian also reached the Quarter Final at Delray Beach earlier this season before running into Mardy Fish and did start the hard court Summer swing in good fashion last year when reaching the Quarter Final of this tournament.
That achievement also came after a bad run of form when he had lost 4 matches in a row and included a decent win over Ernests Gulbis.
Thomaz Bellucci's success comes on the clay courts and his game has not transferred to the faster courts as well as it perhaps should have. He has a decent serve and being left handed should have given him an edge, but he seems to struggle for consistency and judging the speed of the ball.
He lost early in Miami and Indian Wells this season and has a 4-4 record on the hard courts.
The Brazilian Number 1 was just 2-4 during the hard court Summer swing last season and I just think he could have a tough time again tonight in his first match since winning his Davis Cup tie the week after Wimbledon.
The players have a 1-1 head to head record, with Falla's victory coming in Indianapolis in 2008 during the US Open Series.
MY PICKS: Alejandro Falla @ 2.20 Pinnacle (2 Units)
WEEKLY UPDATE STANFORD/LA: - 2.18 Units
Del Potro will face Ernests Gulbis in the next Round and holds a 3-0 head to head record against him and looks good to reach the Final and keep the outright pick from this tournament intact.
It looks like a much tougher day to predict today and I will only go with the one pick:
Alejandro Falla vs Thomaz Bellucci: It seems strange to pick a player who is just ranked in the top 100 to beat another who is just outside the top 30, but that is the one and only pick from these two tournaments today.
Alejandro Falla has not been in great form recently but already has one hard court match under his belt this week and that could stand him in good stead. The Colombian also reached the Quarter Final at Delray Beach earlier this season before running into Mardy Fish and did start the hard court Summer swing in good fashion last year when reaching the Quarter Final of this tournament.
That achievement also came after a bad run of form when he had lost 4 matches in a row and included a decent win over Ernests Gulbis.
Thomaz Bellucci's success comes on the clay courts and his game has not transferred to the faster courts as well as it perhaps should have. He has a decent serve and being left handed should have given him an edge, but he seems to struggle for consistency and judging the speed of the ball.
He lost early in Miami and Indian Wells this season and has a 4-4 record on the hard courts.
The Brazilian Number 1 was just 2-4 during the hard court Summer swing last season and I just think he could have a tough time again tonight in his first match since winning his Davis Cup tie the week after Wimbledon.
The players have a 1-1 head to head record, with Falla's victory coming in Indianapolis in 2008 during the US Open Series.
MY PICKS: Alejandro Falla @ 2.20 Pinnacle (2 Units)
WEEKLY UPDATE STANFORD/LA: - 2.18 Units
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
Tennis Picks July 27th Stanford and LA
Not a good start to the week in all honesty, with picks falling by the wayside and some results being disappointingly close to going my way and then falling apart.
I took the morning in Europe off as I didn't have any strong feelings from the matches at Gstaad, while I left Juan Carlos Ferrero alone in Umag in the hope my outright pick can win his match with Ivan Ljubicic and really open up the draw for a run to the Final for a 3rd consecutive year.
Hopefully the extra time to compose myself will make the next couple of picks from Stanford and LA end in a much more positive manner than they have been so far:
Double; Dominika Cibulkova vs Christina McHale and Maria Sharapova vs Daniela Hantuchova: Dominika Cibulkova is having a good season and could see herself making a real move up the rankings after a very disappointing Summer last season. She had a solid win over Kimiko Date-Krumm in the 1st Round and has the powerful game that should be well suited to the American hard courts.
Christina McHale is a tough proposition as she begins to improve her game but she has only won consecutive matches on the main tour on 2 occasions this season and was a 2nd Round loser here in Stanford last season.
Maria Sharapova has won 7 matches in a row against Daniela Hantuchova and has been one of the form players on the WTA Tour for around 3 months now. Hantuchova is no easy pass for the top players this season, but I expect Sharapova will eventually have too much for her counterpart and come through.
Double; Ryan Harrison vs Michael Russell and Ernests Gulbis vs Daniel Kosakowski: Ryan Harrison has been in fine form over the last 10 days, reaching the Final in Atlanta and coming from a set behind to beat Richard Berankis in the 1st Round here and is now becoming more comfortable in main tour matches.
Michael Russell is perhaps on the other side of the hill to Harrison now and has lost the last meeting with his young compratiot, a 3 set defeat on the hard courts in Hawaii. The match tonight may also go the distance but I will expect the younger man to get through.
Ernests Gulbis should have too much experience and talent for Daniel Kosakowski, a young UCLA attendee, although it can be risky backing the talented Latvian at a short price.
However, he should have the consistency to get through, most likely in straight sets.
Marcos Baghdatis - 2.5 games vs Yen-Hsun Lu: Marcos Baghdatis has not had the best time on the American hard courts so far this season with two 1st Round losses at Miami and Indian Wells, but last Summer was a different story as he got through to the Final in Washington and the Semi Final in Cincinnati.
He has the game very suited to the faster surfaces and he has played well in recent weeks. He should have too much for Yen-Hsun Lu, a player that has struggled a little bit this season.
Lu was destroyed by John Isner last week in Atlanta and, although having a good win over Robby Ginepri in the last Round, he has struggled for most of the season.
Baghdatis has won their only previous meeting in 2009, but I think Lu has slipped a little since then and the Cypriot should be good enough to come through.
James Blake-Juan Martin Del Potro Over 20.5 games: Juan Martin Del Potro is my outright pick of the week from this tournament but he wont have it easy against a rejuvenated James Blake that performed solidly in Atlanta last week following on from a Challenger tour win.
Blake and Del Potro also took part in a 5 set match in Australia last year and this is a pick that can be brought in with a straight sets win as long as the sets are tight.
They key to the pick may well be how James Blake serves- if he can perform as he has been, it is possible that we can see at least 1 tie break here and that may be just enough to ensure the over comes in.
MY PICKS: Dominika Cibulkova and Maria Sharapova @ 1.96 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Ryan Harrison and Ernests Gulbis @ 2.15 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Marcos Baghdatis - 2.5 games @ 2.00 Pinnacle (2 Units)
James Blake-Juan Martin Del Potro Over 20.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (2 Units)
WEEKLY UPDATE UMAG/GSTAAD: - 1.94 Units
WEEKLY UPDATE STANFORD/LA: - 6 Units
I took the morning in Europe off as I didn't have any strong feelings from the matches at Gstaad, while I left Juan Carlos Ferrero alone in Umag in the hope my outright pick can win his match with Ivan Ljubicic and really open up the draw for a run to the Final for a 3rd consecutive year.
Hopefully the extra time to compose myself will make the next couple of picks from Stanford and LA end in a much more positive manner than they have been so far:
Double; Dominika Cibulkova vs Christina McHale and Maria Sharapova vs Daniela Hantuchova: Dominika Cibulkova is having a good season and could see herself making a real move up the rankings after a very disappointing Summer last season. She had a solid win over Kimiko Date-Krumm in the 1st Round and has the powerful game that should be well suited to the American hard courts.
Christina McHale is a tough proposition as she begins to improve her game but she has only won consecutive matches on the main tour on 2 occasions this season and was a 2nd Round loser here in Stanford last season.
Maria Sharapova has won 7 matches in a row against Daniela Hantuchova and has been one of the form players on the WTA Tour for around 3 months now. Hantuchova is no easy pass for the top players this season, but I expect Sharapova will eventually have too much for her counterpart and come through.
Double; Ryan Harrison vs Michael Russell and Ernests Gulbis vs Daniel Kosakowski: Ryan Harrison has been in fine form over the last 10 days, reaching the Final in Atlanta and coming from a set behind to beat Richard Berankis in the 1st Round here and is now becoming more comfortable in main tour matches.
Michael Russell is perhaps on the other side of the hill to Harrison now and has lost the last meeting with his young compratiot, a 3 set defeat on the hard courts in Hawaii. The match tonight may also go the distance but I will expect the younger man to get through.
Ernests Gulbis should have too much experience and talent for Daniel Kosakowski, a young UCLA attendee, although it can be risky backing the talented Latvian at a short price.
However, he should have the consistency to get through, most likely in straight sets.
Marcos Baghdatis - 2.5 games vs Yen-Hsun Lu: Marcos Baghdatis has not had the best time on the American hard courts so far this season with two 1st Round losses at Miami and Indian Wells, but last Summer was a different story as he got through to the Final in Washington and the Semi Final in Cincinnati.
He has the game very suited to the faster surfaces and he has played well in recent weeks. He should have too much for Yen-Hsun Lu, a player that has struggled a little bit this season.
Lu was destroyed by John Isner last week in Atlanta and, although having a good win over Robby Ginepri in the last Round, he has struggled for most of the season.
Baghdatis has won their only previous meeting in 2009, but I think Lu has slipped a little since then and the Cypriot should be good enough to come through.
James Blake-Juan Martin Del Potro Over 20.5 games: Juan Martin Del Potro is my outright pick of the week from this tournament but he wont have it easy against a rejuvenated James Blake that performed solidly in Atlanta last week following on from a Challenger tour win.
Blake and Del Potro also took part in a 5 set match in Australia last year and this is a pick that can be brought in with a straight sets win as long as the sets are tight.
They key to the pick may well be how James Blake serves- if he can perform as he has been, it is possible that we can see at least 1 tie break here and that may be just enough to ensure the over comes in.
MY PICKS: Dominika Cibulkova and Maria Sharapova @ 1.96 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Ryan Harrison and Ernests Gulbis @ 2.15 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Marcos Baghdatis - 2.5 games @ 2.00 Pinnacle (2 Units)
James Blake-Juan Martin Del Potro Over 20.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet365 (2 Units)
WEEKLY UPDATE UMAG/GSTAAD: - 1.94 Units
WEEKLY UPDATE STANFORD/LA: - 6 Units
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)