Tennis

http://www.puntersparadise.com.au/

2008-08-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

I have encountered a site that is specialised on horse racing betting tips. The design is clouded, but the functionality does not have a lot to suffer because of this. But it's not the design that matters with this type of sites. Let's talk about what does matter, shall we ?

The tipsters seem like they know what they are doing, and if you are interested in horse racing, these guys can guide you (for the small amount of 10$) trough the betting options. The best of them have very good 90 days profits, but they do place 100$ bets. Anyway, you can still follow their bets by scaling up if you don't feel like betting that amount. It's a radder specialized blog, because they talk a lot about the MELBOURNE CUP, thus covering almost every aspect.

The site offers a lot of features : a daily report concerning the horse racing world, a forum and a refferal scheme, and is a go-to if you are interested in this type of betting.

Blog Update

2008-04-23T07:26:00.000-07:00

After 8 months of blogging here, at blogspot.com, i moved my blog on it's own domain, so that i can provide more flexibility and an overall better experience from reading my blog.

This is my new link : http://tennisgod.info

Miami Quarter Finals

2008-04-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

So we have reached the quarter finals. It should be an interesting day...

Federer - Roddick
Roddick has played very well this season, but had some moments when he lacked concentration, losing to mediocre players. He already won 2 tournaments this year and holds a 18-3 record so far.
On the other hand, Federer is... Federer. There is little to say about the Swiss except the fact that he is definitely not on top of his game at the moment. He dominates the head to head with 16-2. My guess is this one will go in 3 sets, but Federer will win it.

TIP :
Federer to win 2-1 : 4 units @ 4.33 - BET365

Davydenko - Tipsarevic
Davydenko is the player with the most consistency in the ATP circuit. Personally, i don't like him nor his tennis but i must admit he is an example of concentration and mental stability trough out his entire career. His record this year is 16-5 : not better not worse compared to his last 3 or maybe even 4 years.
Tipsarevic is a player i am considering to bet more on in the next few weeks if his odds don't drop too much after this tournament. He is a player that does not stand out but has decent skills. He is not exactly top 10 material yet, but his game is solid without impressing.
My guess is Davydenko's experience will make the Russian grab this one.

TIP :
Davydenko(-3) to win, 5 units @ 2 - BE365

Miami : Round 4

2008-04-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

TIP :
Davydenko, N - Ancic, M : Ancic to win 3 units @ 1.73 -NOXWIN LOST

Miami : Round 3

2008-03-31T05:33:00.000-07:00

Today the round 3 matches from the top of the main draw are to be played. I have to say that my guess is that whoever wins the upper side of the draw will be the winner of this tournament. Mainly because Federer is here, but also because players like Tsonga, Ancic and Roddick are not be overlooked.

Roger Federer - Robin Soderling
These guys have played 4 times before, Federer winning all of them, but 3 of them were very close, the last of them (in Halle 2006) being a double tie-breaker in favor of the Swiss. Soderling is playing really well this season, but Federer has lost a little too much, and has shown some commitment to his game in this tournament. Federer is most likely to get it, but my guess is that it will be close.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga v Julien Benneteau
This is a match i think Tsonga will dominate. He is playing well (not like he played in the Australian Open), but still, some good quality tennis throughout this season. On the other side, Benneteau is a mediocre player, losing this season to Querrery, Haas, Youzhny and Seppi while grabbing no major win this season. 13-5 for Tsonga this season while Benneteau is at 8-6. Tsonga is most likely to win this one.

Juan Monaco v Mario Ancic
I just have no clue why the odds on Ancic have been this high all season. I mean, he is a very good player, and he came back well from the injury he sustained last year. Ancic is 11-3 this season, and he defeated players like Tsonga, Baghdatis, Soderling and Murray this season, while losing only in front of top players : Murray, Ljubicic and Ferrero. Ok, maybe the loss against Ljubicic poses some questions, but Juan Monaco, a clay-player that lost to Calleri, Horna and Canas in the last 3 tournaments while grabbing only 2 victories, has few hopes against Ancic. How can anyone pass out on a 1.50 odd on this match ?

Ivo Minar v Andy Roddick
Nothing but the March-madness can make Roddick lose this match. I am hoping that this has passed. Roddick has a great season 16-3. The only time he actually slipped was in front of T. Haas 2 weeks ago. He won 2 tournaments so far this year, ranked fifth in the ATP race. Minar had a decent year so far, but i don't think this qualifier can upset Roddick on home ground. Small odds tough for Andy.

TIP :
Tsonga - Benneteau, Tsonga to win @ 1.26 -NOXWIN LOST
Monaco - Ancic, Ancic to win @ 1.47 -NOXWIN OK
Minar - Roddick, Roddick to win @ 1.08 -NOXWIN OK
TOTAL : 7 units @ 2.00 - NOXWIN - LOST

Ballance This Week: -7 UNITS
Ballance This Month : +10.01 units
Overall Ballance : +10.01 units

Miami : Third Round

2008-03-29T03:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, all things went well except Djokovic's loss against K. Andreson. I did not watch this match, but Djokovic did not play like he used to and of that i am sure. I usually don't play small odds, not even in a combo, because things like this might happen. But this was one of the safest match in tennis betting history. Oh well, let's hope things will go better today.
There are 2 matches that i find quite interesting today. The first of them is the match between R. Soderling and S. Wawrinka. Wawrinka played well lately, but not as convincing as Soderling. Maybe i'm a little subjective here, but i think Soderling will win this one.
The second match is where Ancic and Murray meet. Murray is a great player, but the odds on Ancic are just too high considering the way the Croatian is playing lately. Murray is also a player that might play well, but he might play awfull.
So... these are the bets for today :

Simone Bolelli v Ph. Kohlschreiber : Kohlschreiber to win @ 1.26 - NOXWIN LOST
Robin Soderling v Stanislas Wawrinka : Soderling to win @ 1.56 - NOXWIN OK
Total : 7 units @ 2.03 - NOXWIN lost

Mario Ancic v Andrew Murray : Ancic to win 5 units @ 2.75 -NOXWIN OK +8.75

Ballance This Week: -1.33 units
Ballance This Month : +17.01 units
Overall Ballance : +17.01 units

Miami : Third Round

2008-03-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday not a lot of things happened, maybe today. It's good that the bet i proposed was a winner, but still the odds are very low for the ones i think will win, and i found no interesting match that was close enough to bet on the underdog.
Today i am still hoping to accumulate odds from the favorites. Blake is just to good to be defeated by Seppi, even tough the italian plays a very odd tennis. It can be close, but the American is playing well enough to catch it in straight sets.

4 COMBO TIP :
Andreas Seppi v James Blake : Blake to win @ 1.25 OK
Juan Carlos Ferrero v Albert Montanes : Ferrero to win @ 1.12 OK
Kevin Anderson v Novak Djokovic : Djokovic to win @ 1.05 LOST
Benjamin Becker v Rafael Nadal : Nadal to win @ 1.05 OK
TOTAL : 7 units @ 1.55 -BET365 LOST

Ballance This Week: -3.08 units
Ballance This Month : +15.26 units
Overall Ballance : +15.26 units

Miami : Second Round

2008-03-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

Back in business ! Today we will have a few interesting matches, but i won't jump ahead and post predictions, since it's a long tournament and there's plenty of time for betting once i can analyze how these guys are playing under the Miami sun.

This is the combo bet i recommend for today :

COMBO BET TIP:
Mario Ancic v Gilles Simon : Ancic to win @ 1.30 - BET365 OK
These guys never played before, but there's a big difference concerning the way they got trough the start of the season : Ancic is 9-3 this season, playing very well and losing only in front of top players like : Murray, Ljubicic and Ferrero. Simon on the other hand is 10-7 and the fact that he defeated an injured Djokovic (in Marseille) does not count. He showed that he is just a mediocre player at the moment. He fully deserves his No. 34 ranking at the moment. Ancic will win this one without a doubt.

Robin Soderling v Stefan Koubek : Soderling @ 1.15 -BET365 OK
I wouldn't normally bet on such small odds, but Soderling has been displaying some quality tennis.

TOTAL : 8 UNITS @ 1.49 - BET365 OK +3.92 units

Ballance This Week: +3.92 units
Ballance This Month : +22.26 units
Overall Ballance : +22.26 units

Indian Wells Thoughts

2008-03-24T06:41:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry i was not able to cover the semifinals and the final of the Indian Wells tournament last week, but i was on a trip. I will try to post some thoughts about the players.

First of all, Mardy Fish had 2 weeks of top-class tennis. Not only because he defeated Federer (wow), but also Mayer, Andreev, Davydenko and Nalbandian before upsetting the Swiss Machine (not actually a machine anymore :P). If Djokovic wasn't the player he is at the moment (best player in the ATP), Fish would have been the winner of this tournament. It remains to be seen if he can continue to play at this level.

I also liked Wawrinka. Not as much as a surprise like Fish was, but still an improvement in a player i think will reach the top 10 by the end of 2009. Defeating Berdych, Baghdatis and H.T. Lee in a single tournament before losing to Djokovic in the quarterfinals is not that bad for this young player.

As far as the betting goes, it's not that great to have +18 units after 3 weeks, but it's still a positive balance in a crazy time for tennis betting, and i had some bad luck when the Bryan brothers lost their match in the decisive tie-break against Mirnyi and J. Murray. I hoping to do better next weeks.

Indian Wells Quarterfinals

2008-03-20T14:25:00.001-07:00

No time for analysis today (i'm leaving tomorrow on a trip and i need to pack some things :P ). The most interesting match should be the one between Rafael Nadal and James Blake.

TIP 1:
James Blake v Rafael Nadal : Nadal to win 5 units @ 1.80 - BET365 OK +4 units
TIP 2:
Roger Federer v Tommy Haas : Haas +6 to win 5 units @ 1.90 - BET365 - CANCELLED

Ballance This Week: +4.76 units
Ballance This Month : +18.34 units
Overall Ballance : +18.34 units

Indian Wells : Fourth Round

2008-03-19T10:31:00.000-07:00

The fourth round should be where surprises come up. Every match can go either way, and in my opinion it's just a matter of pure luck to bet on either one. If i would go on intuition, i would take Wawrinka against H.T. Lee, Ferrero against Nalbandian, Nadal against Tsonga, Murray against Haas, Hewitt agains Fish.
The first tip for today is the Combo tip. I don't think these favorites for both singles and doubles can stumble today.
The second tip is Blake against Gasquet. James Blake is not much of a better player than Gasquet at the moment, but i think he is. The odds are just to good not to play on Blake today a small amount. Blake has the crowd behind him, and once he gets going is difficult to stop.

COMBO TIP
Guillermo Canas v Novak Djokovic : Djokovic to win @ 1.16 OK
Roger Federer v Ivan Ljubicic : Federer to win 2-0 @ 1.22 OK
B. Bryan & M. Bryan v M. Mirnyi & J. Murray : Bryan & Bryan to win @1.28 LOST
Total : 6 units @ 1.81 - BET365 LOST

SINGLE TIP
Richard Gasquet v James Blake : Blake to win 6 units@ 2.25 - BET365 OK +7.5 units

Ballance This Week: +0.76 units
Ballance This Month : +14.34 units
Overall Ballance : +14.34 units

Indian Wells : Mario Ancic v J.C. Ferrero

2008-03-18T13:37:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately i have no time to make an analysis, due to an ilness, but i do want to share a tip on a match that will be played today.

TIP :
Mario Ancic v Juan Carlos Ferrero : Ancic to win @ 1.53 6 units - BET365 LOST

Ancic is playing really well, and if this match would of been played on clay, Ferrero had the first chance to grab this one, but on hard, i think Ancic is the better player at the moment.

Ballance This Week: -0.74 units
Ballance This Month : +12.84 units
Overall Ballance : +12.84 units

Indian Wells : Third Round

2008-03-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

This should be an interesting day at Indian Wells. A few clashes that i find very exciting will be under way.

The first of them is the "epic" battle between Carlos Moya and James Blake. These players have met 11 times before in the ATP circuit, so it's clear that they are very acquainted with each other's style of play. All tennis fans know that Moya is a great player in clay despite his age (32 years). And we can't say that he does bad on other surfaces, but the fact that he chooses to play on clay in the intermediate seasons is proof to that theory. Moya is 5-3 this season on both hard and clay, reaching a 10-6 record. Currently seating on the 19'th spot in the rankings, Moya did not impress anyone with his tennis, especially on hard, where he lost to Nadal, Koubek and Calleri. The only top player he defeated was Robbie Ginepri (in the second round here). On the other hand, Blake is 9-3 on hard, including a quarterfinal at the Australian Open where he was defeated by Federer. He had some slips, but in front of new players. Blake has a way of self-motivating when playing against a top player. He leads 6-5 against Moya (4-1 since 2006), and my guess is that he will take this.

Another match i advise you to watch is the clash between Serbian Novak Djokovic and Germany's Phillip Kohlschreiber. Kohlschreiber is a player who progressed a lot and he can pose some problems in this match.

Baghdatis matches up with Wawrinka for a place in the fourth round. Even tough Baghdatis can is probably the better player, Wawrinka is a player with a lot of potential, and he can win any match if he is in the right "zone".

TIP :
COMBO
Carlos Moya v James Blake : Blake to win @ 1.40 - BET365 OK
Donald Young v Rafael Nadal : Nadal to win @ 1.07 - BET365 OK
TOTAL 6 units @ 1.49 : BET365 OK +2.94 units

Ballance This Week: +5.28 units
Ballance This Month : +18.84 units
Overall Ballance : +18.84 units

Indian Wells : Second Round

2008-03-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

Very tight matches today, at least as far as the stats tell us. If you are a fan of online betting, i will recommend these 2 matches to be played as a combo :

Fernando Gonzalez v Mario Ancic
This is a match between 2 players with identical records this year : 8-2 in major tournaments.
Both players like to play on hard, but i think Ancic is in a better form then Gonzalez. Ancic defeated players like Tsonga, Soderling, Baghdatis and Monfils, while losing only to Davydenko and Murray (ranked fourth and eleventh in the ATP). Not bad for a player currently ranked 72. On the other hand, while Gonzales won and lost the exact same amount of matches, he defeated players like H.T. Lee, Berloq and so on, players that are not that great at the moment. Gonzalez lost at the Australian Open in front of Marin Cilic and last week he lost at Las Vegas, in the second round, against Korolev. So i will put it like an amateur would : If Gonzalez lost to mediocre players, defeated no top player and Ancic sliced and diced amongst good players... who is most likely to win this match. If i will also make an analysis of the way they play, Ancic has a great serve and forehand on Hard, while Gonzales lacks the explosiveness he once had.

Roger Federer v Guillermo Garcia Lopez
I really don't think it's any use for anyone if i make an analysis of this match.

TIP :
Fernando Gonzalez v Mario Ancic : Ancic to win @ 1.50 - BET365 OK
Roger Federer v Guillermo Garcia Lopez : Federer to win 2-0 @ 1.10 - BET365 OK
TOTAL : 6 units @ 1.65 - BET365 OK +3.9 units

Ballance This Week: +8.62 units
Ballance This Month : +13.56units
Overall Ballance : +13.56units

Indian Wells : Soderling Vs. Gasquet

2008-03-15T07:20:00.000-07:00

Today is not a huge day for betting in tennis, although a few interesting matches will be in play. The headline (at least from my point of view), is that match between Frenchman Richard Gasquet and Sweden's Robin Soderling. Both good players, but currently in different streaks.
Gasquet is one of the most explosive players in the ATP. With an incredible forehand and good mental play, he has all the makings to be No. 1 in the ATP. But he is NOT. Currently seating on the eight spot in the singles rankings, he is just at 7-4 this season, displaying little or no consistency in his game. Last week, the Frechman lost to Igor Andreev (No. 31 in the ATP rankings) in the second round.
Robin Soderling had his 2007 season compromised by an injury, and that is the main reason why he is ranked only on the 39 spot. The second reason why he is so low in the rankings (at leas compared to his actual level of play) is that even tough he had 4 great months, things just went down for the Swede after the Monte Carlo Tournament. He was 14-6 until that and 11-9 after it, finishing the season at 25-15 shortly after Wimbledon due to a wrist injury.
This year, the Swede is playing very well, reaching a 11-3 record after his victory yesterday against Grosjean. Soderling is 4-2 in the h2h, winning the last 2 matches (in Marseille 2007 and 2008).
All the stats tell me that Soderling should win this match.
It's matches like this that make online gambling and online betting exciting.

Tip:Richard Gasquet v Robin Soderling : Soderling to win @ 1.83 4 units - BET365 LOST

Here is another tip, without the analysis.
Combo :
Marc Gicquel v James Blake : Blake to win @ 1.25 OK
David Ferrer v Olivier Rochus : Ferrer to win @ 1.22OK
Total Odd : 1.52 - 8 units : BET365 OK +4.16 units

Ballance This Week: +4.72 units
Ballance This Month : +9.66units
Overall Ballance : +9.66units

Indian Wells : First Round

2008-03-13T12:19:00.000-07:00

These is my tip for tomorrow :

combo :

Sebastien Grosjean v Robin Soderling : Soderling to win @ 1.36 : BET365 : OK

Soderling played well in his recent tournaments and i believe he has quite a momentum building up. He is 10-3 this year and reached two consecutive finals in Rotterdam (lost to Llodra) and Memphis (lost to Darcis).
On the other side, Grosjean is 4-5 so far and did not impress with his level of play.
My guess is Soderling will grab this one

Mario Ancic v Gael Monfils : Ancic to win @ 1.28 : BET365 : OK

After a 2007 season that was compromised by his injury, Ancic showed some good tennis, defeating players like Tsonga, Soderling and Baghdatis. He is 7-2 this season.
On the other hand, Monfils played only 1 match this year, and lost it to Tomas Berdych, last week in Dubai. Soderling is the better player at the moment and i think he will grab this one

Total odd : 1.76 : 6 units @ BET365 : OK +4.56 units

Ballance This Week: +4.56 units
Ballance This Month : +9.5units
Overall Ballance : +9.5units

Weeks 11/12 : Indian Wells

2008-03-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow the matches on the main draw will begin at Indian Wells. This is a tournament I've been expecting, because all the good players are here. And a thing that backs up my affirmations is that seed No. 32 is ranked exactly 32 in the ATP. It has been a while since all the top 32 players were lining up at the start of a tournament (except the Grand Slams).

If it was difficult to predict the winner from the first round at the past tournament, this time i will not even try, but i will make a few notes concerning some players here.
Federer is definitely motivated enough for this tournament after losing in the first round in Dubai, and will try to capture his first title this year. Like always, it will be a surprise if he does not win this one, but i am guessing his ambition will also play a big part in this tournament.
Djokovic and Nadal will be also trying to get as many points as possible under their belt, but Nadal did not show impressive tennis these last few weeks. The Serbian is most likely not to trip against a mediocre player here, but i don't think he will go trough and actually win this one.
A player i like and i think had some bad luck here is Andy Roddick. I am impressed by the way Roddick played and his focus for the game in this season. But unfortunately for him, he is matched up to play against Federer in an eventual quarterfinal. If both players will get that far, Andy does not have great odds in defeating the Swiss Tennis Machine, but if Federer trips, Roddick becomes my favorite.
Of course, there are a lot of good players here, but my guess this one will go to a top 10 player. Just my personal feeling on this one.
I also like 3 unseeded players that may do some damage amongst the seeds :
Soderling is one of the player i like a lot for this season, and if he can defeat the Frenchman again (Grosjean and then maybe Gasquet), his path is clear for a potential quarterfinal.
Ancic received a wild card, but his first round match against Gael Monfils is one of the toughest. My guess is that the Croatian will win his first round match, but he was not very lucky and his matches will be quite difficult.
LLodra is also i think has done well this season. He is matched up against H.T. Lee in the first round and my guess is he can reach at least round 3.

There are a lot of matches, and i will post my predictions for some of them when the odds will become available.

Interesting Tennis Season

2008-03-11T15:00:00.000-07:00

This year, the upsets in tennis are coming more often than any other season so far. And even tough tennis was a tough sport to predict the results, this year that task may become even harder. Previous seasons, you could actually play combos on all the top 10 players and get a decent odd. But even If you are not gambling, and you go and buy a ticket for the whole tournament, expecting to see Federer play each day of the week, or even Nadal or Djokovic. This year, it’s a wise decision to buy a ticket for the whole tournament only if you like the sport, not the players. I will write a post about all the upsets of this season, but first of all I would like to talk about the cause, not the effect.

There are only 2 reasons to explain why the tournaments are won by players you wouldn’t expect : either all the players are playing great, either all of them are playing at a mediocre level. I think the second one is more appropriate to consider.

One year ago, they were saying that Federer is not actually the best player to ever play (also considering the natural advances of sports, and of the technology involved), but he might seem that way because of the weak competition. I did not know what to think about that because I could see Hewitt, Roddick, Safin and Nadal playing so well. But now I am sure that the level is not a great one. I followed a lot of matches this year, and I must confess that I was often tempted to change the channel or take a nap (I actually fell asleep at the Hewitt – Seppi match). I saw Murray against Haase and I could not believe that he won a few days earlier in Marseille. I also saw a player that is mediocre in all aspects of his game take out Hewitt and then even Raffael Nadal, the player currently sitting on the second position in the ATP. But the one person I tought is playing well has shown some weakness lately. Federer is not the robot he used to be, and the fact that he is 5-2 this season so far tells a lot about his level of play. But it should be an interesting season, if not the best one ever. I think that Djokovic and Nadal will continue to narrow the gap (Nadal is sitting at just -350 points), maybe even switching places before Shanghai, but my guess is Federer will win this season. But this is where the fun starts : I think we will have so many upsets and so many players will gain points, that we will have the most interesting season ending in a while. Why ? Only 1000 points separate place No. 8 and place No. 37. This is a small amount of points to win and lose throughout a season. We could also see Andy Roddick coming back to the top this year, after an impressive season start (15 – 2 so far and won 2 tournaments in 3 weeks). But I think we will see players like Ancic and Ljubicic back in the top 20 by November, and also new players like Soderling, Llodra, Tsonga and others. It should be an interesting season if not the best.

BuzzFuse

2008-03-11T14:52:00.000-07:00

Buzzfuse.com is a site I recommend all tennis fans out there that like taking photos of tennis. If you like capturing yourself, the court at a certain time, the way the net looks and so on, this is a site you could use for promoting your pictures. Of course, it works for all kinds of photos, and not only that, but also posts and even songs. You just have to register, upload and start sharing your content while making money out of it. If you have a blog, you add the posts you want to promote, and as its community is becoming larger by the day, you can actually drive some traffic to your site.

In conclusion, if you write, sing or take photos, this is a site you may want to visit.

Andy Roddick Wins His Second Title This Season

2008-03-09T17:02:00.000-07:00

Andy Roddick managed to win his match against Spaniard Feliciano Lopez and win the title in Dubai. In the first set, Roddick was unable to win any of the 3 break points he had and lost in the tie-break. In the second and third set, the American was in control, winning 36 out of his 44 point on both serves and 28 out of his 30 first serves. After the final point, the scoreboard was showing : 6-7 6-4 6-2 for Andy Roddick.
Overall, i think Roddick deserved to capture the title, since he was able to eliminate both No. 2 and No. 3 in the ATP rankings without losing a single set.

This was a good week of tennis, even tough it seems that the seeds are not making it to the finals, but things maybe will calm down. Regarding my tips section, it's good that i kept a positive ballance, but i could of been better.

Ballance This Week: +4.94 units
Ballance This Month : +4.94 units
Overall Ballance : +4.94 units
Overall Percentage : 60%

Dubai Final

2008-03-08T04:45:00.001-08:00

For final to be played today in Dubai, i don't have very much to say. It's pretty clear for me that Roddick is playing very very well an this moment, and has done that throughout the season. He defeated yesterday Novak Djokovic with a very convincing 7-6 6-3. Roddick has yet to lose a set in this tournament.
On the other side, it's a great thing for the Spaniard to reach the final. Ranked 41 in the ATP at the moment, he has proven that he can play well and that he can put up with pressure. He defeated some good players at this tournament, but not nearly as tough as the ones Roddick dismissed.
My guess is that Roddick will win this one.

TIP : Andy Roddick -3 @ 1.66 10units : BET365 : OK +6.6 units

Dubai Semifinals

2008-03-07T06:35:00.000-08:00

I was not able to get in time to a computer so i can write about the first semifinal of the day : F. Lopez - N. Davydenko. Lopez managed to get past the Russian 6-4 4-6 7-5 in a disputed match. I must admit that i did not have a clue about who was going to win this match, because both player played well, and made some upsets at this tournament. I was thinking about a 3 setter either way.

The other semifinal to be played today should be even more exciting that the first one : N. Djokovic against A. Roddick. Roddick played great yesterday against Nadal, and also throughout the season, but the thing is that Djokovic played that way all season (maybe even more). I think that at the moment, this is already a big achievement for the American to reach the semifinals, but Djokovic should be motivated by the fact that he can near it on Federer and Nadal if he wins this tournament. I think that Djokovic will win this one.

TIP : Djokovic Vs Roddick : Djokovic -3 to win @1.90 - 5/10 units - BET365 : lost
This means that Djokovic has to win at a total of 4+ games difference in order to win this bet.

Ballance This Week: +3.28 units
Ballance This Month : +3.28 units
Overall Ballance : +3.28 units
Best Won : 2
Bets Made : 3

Started Using PayPerPost

2008-03-07T06:29:00.003-08:00

I have also started using payperpost.com in order to earn the money I need to buy my own domain (for this blog, my personal blog and another 2 blogs I intend to start). The difference is a big one between smorty and payperpost, and I am not actually promoting either one. I whould recommend a lot of bloggers to drive traffic to this site, since it can only be good for them.

The difference comes in the money you will get for a post. The thing probably Is that payperpost is an older program, thus attracting more advertisers. More advertisers equals more money for theblogger: quite simple actually. The thing with payperpost was that they had tighter acceptance condition for your blogs. And not a lot of things have changed, my blog was able to squeeze trough the requirements.

The design is very good for this kind of site, and you should have no problems finding whatever it is that you need.

Just like other sites in this branch, you get paid more if you have more traffic, or a higher page rank, but the difference is that there is no administrator to email the available offers, you just select them from the list. You are able to see all the offers available or only the ones that you qualify for. This has its advantages and disadvantages: you can see more offers and select the one you need, but I guess that more general blogs have a lot of qualified opportunities, and it may be hard for them to select the ones that are more profitable for them. But this can be resolved by picking the offers with a higher rating (other bloggers rated the opportunity, so the community is quite good here).

I must repeat that the payments are very good, and there are some people that made a lot of money from blogging. In fact you can see the top 10 earners on the site. This motivates you to become a better blogger, and have confidence in this site.

One thing I found awkward is that all the opportunities that I qualified for were already full, so I had to wait until a new opportunity was available. You must check in often with the site so that you can take the opportunity while still available for you.

Another thing that I liked about this site is that they have a section called PPP Direct (you have to install a tool on your blog in order to use it, but the procedure is not complicated). This allows you to negotiate directly with the advertisers, and payperpost takes a small 10% commission out of the payment. The advertiser cannot back down once you agree on the conditions since the site already receives the money from him before you actually write the post. If you do you your job well, you will get paid.

This site is for every blogger, and with its help, you can make more than enough money to maintain your sites.

Dubai Quarterfinals [Part 2]

2008-03-06T06:43:00.000-08:00

The third quarterfinal of this tournament will be disputed between Novak Djokovic and Igor Andreev. It's a big performance for the Russian player (Andreev) to reach this stage of the tournament, especially considering his 6-6 record for the year. On the other side, Djokovic is my favorite to win this tournament. Djokovic is 10-2 this season (including a match he retired) and also 2-0 in the head to head meetings. I think it's most likely he will this one in 2 sets.

Andy Roddick will meet Raffael Nadal later today. I think Roddick is in a great form and has shown that here, defeating both J.C. Ferrero and P.H. Mathieu in 2 sets. He lost only 2 matches : one to Robin Soderling (the Swede is playing really well at the moment) and also lost that thriller to Ph. Kohlschreiber at the Australian Open. On the otherhand, Nadal lost a set to the same Kohlschreiber and had some problems with his game. Even tough the head to head is 2-1 for Nadal, i think Roddick has a chance of taking this one.

Tips :
Nadal - Roddick : Roddick to win 4/10@ 2.37 - BET365 OK +5.48 units
Andreev - Djokovic : Novak Djokovic to win 2 - 0 7/10@1.40 OK : +2.8 units

Ballance This Week: +3.28 units
Ballance This Month : +3.28 units
Overall Ballance : +3.28 units
Best Won : 2
Bets Made : 3

Dubai Quarterfinals [Part 1]

2008-03-05T13:13:00.000-08:00

The first quarterfinal on the main draw will be the match between Scotland's Andrew Murray and Russia's Nikolay Davydenko.
Murray defeated Federer in the first round and today managed to top Fernando Verdasco despite losing the second set (6-3 3-6 7-6). This is a problem that Murray faces quite often : he loses his focus and even tough sometimes he is still the better player he finds himself unable to add up the points to win the match. I don't think this will be the problem for Murray because the Scott should be aware of the danger that Davydenko poses. These 2 have played 5 times before, the score being currently set at 3-2 for Murray, but i should also add the fact that Murray won the last 3 meetings.
Another positive thing for Murray is that he did not play last week, fatigue not being a problem for him. On the other side, the Russian played 5 matches lost week (lost in the final in Zagreb against Stakhowsky). I am not counting this as a disadvantage for the Russian, because he is the top100 player with the most matches played last year, so he is used to this, i am just saying that Murray should not be tired.
Overall, i think Murray is the better player at the moment and that we is most likely to win this match

The second match to be disputed for a place in the semifinals is the one between third seed David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez. Even tough Lopez managed to eliminate the eight seed T. Berdych, i think that Ferrer has a lot of confidence building up and that can be seen in the matches he won : 6-3 6-0 against Tommy Haas and a three-setter against Rochus. I think it was just a slip for Ferrer to lose that set against the Belgian and i believe that he will grab this one.

TIP : Ferrer to win 5/10 @ 1.38 - BET365 : LOST

Today i am starting my tips column. Each day i will post some tips on the matches for the next day. I will not consider all the matches, not even all the matches to be played at the tournament(s) i am covering, just the ones that feel good to me.
I advice you to play at BET365 since the bonus you are getting at the moment is nice and they are the best bookie to bet on tennis, and not only.
BET365 is also offering other opportunities to gamble online such as Poker and Casino. You can register with them by following the banners at the end of all my posts.

Current ballance : -5 units
Bets Won : 0
Bets Made : 1

Murray Defeats Federer In Dubai

2008-03-04T05:16:00.000-08:00

This week the Dubai Tennis Tournament will be underway. At the "line-up" we found that the 8 seeds were all top 10 players. That was already the making of an interesting week of tennis. But the most interesting match of the first round was the one between Andy Murray (ranked 11'th in the ATP) and Roger Federer (No. 1 in the rankings, and obviously the first seed and also the favorite to win this tournament). It seems that things went well for the Scott, who managed to make a big upset against the player who dominated the circuit for years in a row. Murray won it 6-7 6-3 6-4, losing only 5 points on his first serve and not facing a single break point.
Federer is now 5-2 this season, and is facing the probability that Spaniard Raffael Nadal will near in at 100 points if he wins the tournament. It's Federer's first moment of weakness in years, and this is the making of a great season.
The head to head was 1-1 before this match, with Murray winning their last match-up, in 2006. As an interesting note, Murray won the tournament in Doha, then lost in the first round at the Australian Open, then won in Marseille and lost again in the first round in Rotterdam 2 weeks ago. If this becomes a pattern, the Scott is the favorite to win this tournament.

Santoro managed to perform the second upset of this tournament, defeating Youzhny in the first round 6-3 6-4.

Another interesting match of the first round is the match between Andy Roddick (sixth seed) and J.C. Ferrero. Roddick is 3-0 in the h2h meetings and i think will win this one to make it 4-0.

Spaniard's Raffael Nadal has become now the favorite if we consider the seeds remaining. He will play against Germany's Phillip Kohlschreiber in an interesting duel for the first round.

Right now it's difficult to determine my favorite because of all the good players here, but i think Djokovic should play well recovering from his ilness, Murray is obviously playing well and David Ferrer won his match against Tommy Haas 6-3 6-0. I think i will determine my pick for this tournaments in the quarterfinals, because a lot of good players are here.

Started Using Smorty

2008-03-04T04:33:00.000-08:00

I have started using smorty.com as a way to advertise on blogs this week. This is a review service that puts me in connection with advertisers that want a review for their product/service/website. After your blog is accepted (a process that takes 1 day or so), an administrator emails the suitable offers for my blog and then i have the opportunity to accept or remove an offer that is made to me.

I have already written a review (the one about e-commerce) and the post was approved. The system works smoothly. This is great way for bloggers like me to get some money while blogging. Unfortunately, my blog doesn't have great traffic, and the Page Rank is very low, but i am still able to get enough money to continue keeping this blog.
As opposed to other review services, this is a place for all bloggers, no matter how new or old you are to blogging.

Another great thing about this service is that even tough they accept "small" blogs like mine, you are paid accordingly with the elements described earlier in this post. If your blog drives more public or if you have a higher page rank, then you will be paid more for your review (which is quite fair in my opinion). It is also very nice that you don't have to make a positive review to the product, you can blog for money while being completely sincere to your audience.

Smorty.com imposes you only one restriction about how the review should be made : just the some keywords the post should contain and an anchor text. I think this is great because i have my own style for writing, and this does not oblige me to change the way i blog.

I have entered this service not very confident that i will find appropriate offers for my blog, and i did not want to write posts that don't go along with the theme of my blog : sports (well, tennis to be a little more specific). But the offers vary and i was able to find and accept the ones i need, while respecting my blog and the ones who read my blog. The design is simple yet sufficient for you to take an offer, write and then get your pay.

If you are looking to get paid for blogging, this is a site i sincerely recommend.

Week 9 Results

2008-03-04T00:07:00.000-08:00

David Nalbandian was defeated by Spaniard Nicolas Almagro in 2 sets : 6-1 7-6, Almagro capturing the Acapulco title. This is the second title this year for Almagro, after the one he won at Costa de Saouipe (Brazil). He is 15-3 this year and holds an impressive 14-1 on clay, his only loss coming as the result of an injury, against Juan Ignacio Chela. Almagro climbed 3 places in the ATP rankings (from No. 28 to No. 25) in his quest to reach the top 20. This is the highest ranking the Spaniard ever held took.
Nalbandian climbed one place to No. 7 in the ATP rankings after his performance here. He is 12-2 this year and 11-1 on clay, this being his first loss on this type of court. He won the tournament in Buenos Aires last week, reaching a streak of 10 consecutive matches.

In Memphis, Soderling lost his second consecutive final. Even so, the Swede is now 10-3 this year, reaching 2 consecutive finals (last week in Rotterdam lost against Llodra), and displaying some good quality tennis. He jumped 21 places in 2 week, from No. 59 to No. 38 in the ATP rankings. My opinion is that he will reach at least the top 20 this year, if no injuries come up.
Steve Darcis won this tournament and he is now 7-5 in major tournaments, jumping 35 places up to No. 46 in the ATP rankings. The Belgian player is more of a Challanger player and it remains to be seen if he is ready for the big show or this was just a happy week for him. I should not bet either way.

Today i will cover the tournament in Dubai, a very interesting tournament to watch.

Finals of Week 9

2008-03-01T14:22:00.000-08:00

Sorry that i was not able to cover the matches this week, but in addition to my personal problems, i noticed that nothing exciting went on in the 3 major tournaments.

In Zagreb, Ljubicic met Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky, who was actually a lucky loser at this tournament.
Ljubicic, number 23 in the ATP rankings and first seed at this tournament was looking strong coming into this final, after defeating Gabashvili in the quarterfinals and Ancic in the semifinals (the latter being an outcome i did not expect, even tough it was not actually an upset).
On the other side, Stakhovsky is currently ranked 209 in the ATP, and lost in the third round of the quallies here. He got a spot on the main draw as a lucky loser and started strong by defeating Ivo Karlovic, the second seed, then Victor Troicki, Tipsarevic and Boelli en route for the final.
I must admit that i did not expect this outcome, even tough i was not excluding it, not only considering Ljubicic as a player that cannot win finals, but also looking at this season so far and realising that upsets are starting to come more and more often in the tennis world.

In Acuapulco, it seems that we encountered the first normal tournament of the season. I don't think that any other final (out of the major tournaments) was disputed by 2 seeds. Well this time we have the honor of watching David Nalbandian (first seed) and Nicolas Almagro (sixth seed) playing for the trophy on the clay of Acuapulco.
Nalbandian, ranked 11 in the ATP, showed a tremendous form of play in this tournament not losing a single set so far.
On the other side, Almagro played a long and spectacular semifinal against Jose Acasuso and also a 3 setter against Nicolas Massu.
I thing Nalbandian is most likely to win this one, not only because he spent less time on the court, and should not be as tired as the Spaniard, but also because i find that Nalbandian is on a hot streak.

In Memphis, Soderling confirmed my opinion that he is playing a good tennis at the moment by reaching his second consecutive ATP final. And not only this, by also by defeating players like Roddick (first seed at this tournament) and also the fourth seed, Radek Stepanek. His games record for this tournament is great 50 - 24. He did not lose a set, played great and i think he will continue to play well, throughout the season. My guess is that he will defeat his opponent, Steve Darcis

Software For Your Online Store

2008-02-27T09:24:00.000-08:00

ecommerce software

If you want to sell something related with tennis (not only tennis, actually everything you are trying to sell), this is the site you should visit, if you think that you can't find a free software to implement yourself.
If you have knowledge of Html, I find this type of shopping cart as useless, not to mention very expensive. You may ask why, but i think this is very simple. If you don't have a big or up-and-coming site, you will not direct enough traffic to sell enough products to cover you expenses for using this software. It will cost you over 50$ a month only to get the software on your site, not adding you eventual hosting and other software you are using on your site. Here is where the problem is : your average blogger is earning around 50$ per month (from Adsense and refferals), thus not affording this software. The software looks very nice, and you can find all the information you need and also good feedback, but you can't afford it, because not a lot of people will buy stuff from your blog or site if you are not popular enough to draw the attention.

If you have a bigger site or blog, with good traffic (or you sell things you made yourself, with few resources), this is where this site may do good for you. But if you have a lot of traffic, then you will spend around 100$/month, not including your initial 89$ setup fee. At this pricing you should be able to find a free software that you or a professionally trained specialist can implement. I agree that you will find no problem in using this software, as the informations available are more than sufficient, even for a newbie, and that you will find some features that free software cannot display.

This software's strong point are the multitude of features, like SMS messaging (that you pay about 20 cents / SMS), Live Chat Support, Daily Store Backups, a custo Tax Editor, Discount Coupons, and all the stats you need. Also the security is very tight, so you can rest assured that nobody will try to fraud you.

Concluding, if you have a Tennis store, and want to make it available online (or any other store for that matter), this ecommerce software is one of the possibilities you can take into consideration. If you feel that the pricing is good enough for you. If you have little or no knowledge of internet programming, or if you want a software that looks very good and offers a lot of features, this may be the software for you, but you should also keep an eye open for other opportunities.

Memphis : Week 9 / 2008

2008-02-27T04:27:00.000-08:00

He had a quiet first round in Memphis, as all seeds that played their matches have progressed in the second round.

Only 2 interesting things happened :
1. James Blake (ATP world number 9 and second seed) announced that he will not play in this tournament due to a knee injury. I hope that James will return as soon as possible on the court, because he is a very explosive player and always a pleasure to watch. Blake was replaced by Sam Warburg (as a Lucky Loser), who was defeated by Donald Young.

2.The other thing that caught my attention was the match between T. Johansson (number 54 in the ATP and sixth seed) and Russia's Marat Safin. Johansson was the winner of this match, with a contested 7-6 7-6.

Roddick (first seed) faces Gilles Muller in the first round. The German player that defeated him at the US Open 2 years ago. This will be a nice match to watch, but i think Muller's odds of repeating the upset are slim to say the most.

Llodra does it again...

2008-02-24T09:57:00.001-08:00

World No. 58 Michael Llodra won his second title of the year, defeating Robin Soderling from a set down 6-7 6-3 7-6. His previous title was captured in Adelaide, as he defeated Jarko Nieminen. It was a very close match, decided by the few key-points, as there were no breaks in the first and third set. Soderling hit a double at 3-4 in the decisive tie-break and could not come back. This was the first meeting between these two players.

As it appears on the ATP official website, Soderling declared "In a match like this a few points decide everything. Michael played really well on the important points and he deserved to win. I made a few bad mistakes in the two games he broke me and maybe I didn't play my best tennis during those games.".

It was still a great week for Soderling as he returned from his 6 months of injury. He is now 6-2 for the season, winning some very important matches against good players.

On the other side, Llodra, already topped his previous season record (13-18) as he reached 14 wins and only 3 losses. This is the most important title for the Frenchman, as he managed to get past a tough crowd : Sluiter, Davydenko, Haase, Karlovic and now Soderling. I must confess i was not impressed by his level of play, but it seems he is able to win the key points, thus winning matches.

Llodra will now meet Serbian Victor Troicki on carpet in Zagreb.

I will cover this weeks tournaments as soon as i will analyze the draws.

Rotterdam Final : Soderling vs Llodra

2008-02-24T03:16:00.000-08:00

Sweden's Robin Soderling has played very well in the last 2 weeks as he returned in the ATP Circuit from a wrist injury sustained in Montreal against Marat Safin in July 2007. He 6-1 this season as he reached the quarterfinals last week in Marseille where he lost against Croatian Mario Ancic.
As i have stated yesterday, Soderling is playing very well and his results are backing me up : He defeated in only 2 weeks players like : Nieminen, Gasquet, Baghdatis in 3 sets and has blown past Verdasco, Seppi and Simon in this tournament in straight sets. He reached the final after defeating Frenchman Gilles Simon with a 6-2 6-1 push while losing only 7 points on his serve.

On the other side of the court we will find Michael Llodra, a player i expected to lose yesterday against Karlovic, but has managed to win and therefore improve his record this year to 13-3, tying his 2007 record, when he was 13-18 at the end of the season. The Frenchman played good, winning in Adelaide, reaching the quarterfinals in Auckland and now reaching the final here, in Rotterdam.

I think Soderling will win this one, as he is the more explosive player, that being a big advantage on this court.

Rotterdam Semifinals

2008-02-23T01:44:00.000-08:00

Today the Rotterdam Semifinals are to be played.

In the first match of the day, big server Ivo Karlovic will meet Frenchman Michel Llodra. I think Karlovic is in a good form, and this is a court where he can take advantage of his serve. He is 6-3 this season. Even tough on paper, Llodra should be better in this match ( winner in Adelaide, quarterfinal in Auckland and a 12-3 season so far), and is leading 2-0 in the direct meetings, i don't think he will be able to face the Croatians serve. My guess is Karlovic will win this one.

The second semifinal will be Soderling against Gilles Simon. Soderling played great in the last 2 weeks, reaching the quarterfinals in Marseille, where he lost to Ancic in 3 sets. He defeated players like Nieminen, Gasquet, Baghdatis, Verdasco and Seppi, proving that he is in a very good form. On the other hand, Gilles Simon does not actually shine, nor at this point, nor at any point in his career. He is a constant, mediocre player. I don't think he can qualify for the final today.

Rotterdam Madhouse

2008-02-21T11:04:00.000-08:00

If someone whould have told me that in the third round, none of the seeds whould qualify, i whould of told them to come back to Planet Earth. But maybe this is a sign that Rotterdam is on Mars or something.

The No. 1 seed, Raffael Nadal lost to Andreas Seppi 3-6 6-3 6-4 after two hours and 14 minutes of play. This result comes as a bigger surprise after seeing the match between the Italian and Llayton Hewitt in the first round, were both players played... oh well, AWFULL. Seppi saved a match point in the first round. Nadal is now at 11-3 this season.

Thomas Berdych, seed No 5 in Rotterdam and ranked No. 12 in the ATP lost against Croatian Ivo Karlovic in straight sets 6-4 6-4. This outcome was not a huge surprise, being aware of Karlovic's advantage on this type of court, but Berdych has shown some good tennis this year.

Micha Zverev is the biggest surprise of this tournament. He defeated Kohlschreiber in the first round and today managed to upsed David Ferrer, the thirth seed at this tournament 6-2 7-5. It was obvious that he played well against the German in the first round, but now it is a fact.

To "finish" things up, Michel Llodra defeated N. Davydenko today 6-3 7-5, going up to 11 matches won this season. I will come back later with thoughts about the quarterfinal matches tommorow.

Baghdatis, Youzhny and Ferrero Out

2008-02-19T11:08:00.000-08:00

I did not expect these guys to leave the competition so early on, maybe except Baghdatis, who lost against Sweden's Robin Soderling 3-6 6-3 4-6 in one hour and 43 minutes. Baghdatis, number 21 in the ATP rankings reached the semifinals in Marseille last week, where he was defeated by Croatian Mario Ancic. Soderling hit 10 aces and converted both break points. Soderling had a 2-1 record against Baghdatis before today's contest. Soderling is heading twards a match with Jarko Nieminen (if the Finn can dispose of Fernando Verdasco, a thing i think he will do...), in a rematch of last week's first round in Marseille. Soderling won that match 6-3 5-7 7-5. Soderling is 3-1 this season while fell at 5-4.

The No. 4 seed here, Michael Youzhny, a player i was counting on to play well and reach one of the superior rounds here in Rotterdam has fallen to Jarko Tipsarevic in straight sets, in a match that i did not anticipate to go that way, while Juan Carlos Ferrero (seed No. 7) lost to qualifier Gabashvili 7-5 6-1.

In an exciting match, the tallest player in the top 100 (Karlovic) has blown out the smallest player in the top 100 (O. Rochus) 6-1 6-2.

Another match i was not expecting to turn out the way it did was Ph. Kohlschreiber's loss to qualifier Michael Zverev 7-5 7-5.

A match that was not that much of an upset for me was the Robredo - Mahut clash, won by the latter 7-5 6-4. N. Davydenko managed to get past J. Hernych in straight sets, 6-3 6-3.

Tomorrow a few matches i think will be exciting :

Mahut vs. Gabashvili : Neither one of these players cannot be considered as a great player (No. 42 and No. 132 in the ATP rankings), but both players have shown good tennis in the last 2 weeks. I think this one will go to Nicolas Mahut.

Nadal vs Tursunov. It is interesting that these 2 player did not meet before, despite the fact that both players have been in the top ATP players for a while now. Nadal is playing his first match since the loss against Tsonga at the Australian Open. He looked good, but Tsonga was just great. Tursunov is a player i never knew how to predict. For instance, this year he won at Sydney, facing some tough opponents (Wawrinka, Gasquet, Grosjean, Santoro and Guccione), but afterwards lost in Melbourne against Sam Querrey, before losing to young Victor Troicki in the Davis Cup. To win a match against Nadal you have to be consistent and self-confident, because it is going to be a fight, and i don't think Tursunov is up to the task.

Berdych vs Ljubicic. This is a match made to be played indoors, both players being great in these conditions. Ljubicic started well this season, reaching the semifinal at Doha, but then lost all 3 matches at Kooyong before losing to Dutch player Robin Haase in the first round at the Australian Open. Berdych on the other hand has proven to be a consistent player. He does not defeat great players but does not lose against modest ones. His ranking may be a bit high in my opinion (12 in the ATP ranking), but i still think he will win this one.

Rotterdam : Week 8 / 2008

2008-02-17T14:25:00.000-08:00

This week we will have a great tournament to watch : with 11 out of the top 20 players in the ATP, and more than 800 000 EURO in prize money, this one is set to be a good tournament.

Michael Youzhny is the defending champion in Rotterdam, and seed No 4. The Russian does not seem to have a difficult preview before the Quarterfinals, where it's possible for him to meet Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero (No. 7 seed).

The No. 1 seed in Rotterdam is Spaniard Raffael Nadal. This side of the draw seems to be one of the toughest, with player like Dmitry Tursunov (Nadal's opponent in the first round), Llayton Hewitt, Andreas Seppi, Nieminen, Verdasco and Baghdatis (the No. 8 seed and Marseille semifinalst). This Quarterfinal is the toughest on to predict, because there are a lot of good players, and most of them are on a good streak.

Another tough Quarterfinal to predict is the one in wich No. 3 seed, David Ferrer and seed No. 5, Berdych are involved. Ferrer will meet Ljubicic in the first round, in a match i think the Spaniard will win. A player to watch right here is German Phillip Kohlschreiber. He has a 10-2 record this year, showing a good tennis so far. Also present in this part of the draw is big server Ivo Karlovic, who will meet Oliver Rochus in the first round. I personally am considering a Berdych - Ferrer semifinal, but Kohlschreiber and Ljubicic are not to be underestimated.

The easiest quarterfinal to predict should be the lower one. Andy Murray is the No. 6 seed, and i don't think he will have too many problems reaching the quarterfinal, where i think he will meet Nikolai Davydenko, the second seed here in Rotterdam.

In the first round, the most exciting matches should be Soderling - Baghdatis (Both players played well in Marseille last week), Youzhny - Tipsarevic (i think Youzhny will win this one), Berdych - Ljubicic (Ljubicic is leading 2-1 in the head to head, but he is not in a great streak, Berdych is my favorite), Hewitt against Seppi (Hewitt is starting to play better, while Seppi is not that great at the moment) and Robredo against Mahut in a match that i think is open-ended, Mahut showing some good tennis last week in Marseille.

Murray Captures Fifth Career Title In Marseille

2008-02-17T12:42:00.000-08:00

Andy Murray has captured his fifth career title in Marseille today after defeating Croatian Wild Card Mario Ancic 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 54 minutes. The match had a great rhythm, with both player taking turns at the lead of the set, but Murray broke at 4-3 for him in the first and in the second hand faced a 1-3 situation, but managed to win 5 out of the next 6 games to win the title in Marseille.

Murray will now return to the top 10 players in the ATP, after winning his second title this year. His record is 10-1 this year, losing his only match against Australian Open finalist Wilfred Tsonga.

As a personal note, i find the Englishman as one of the players that will play at the Shanghai Master Series Final at the end of the year. He has shown great improvement over the last season, and he would of been higher in the rankings if not for the injuries he sustained. He is a star on the rise.

I would like to conclude 2 things after this tournament in Marseille :
1. Mario Ancic is back after having a few health problems that kept him away from the court for more than 6 months. It remains to be seen weather is worthy to regain his top 10 ranking this season.
2. Jo-Wilfred Tsonga does not seem to maintain the level of tennis displayed in Melbourne, but the next few weeks will prove if he just had "the Melbourne syndrome" or if he is truly a great player.

Marseille Semifinals

2008-02-16T08:15:00.000-08:00

Andy Murray and Mario Ancic will play in the Marseille Final.

Murray disposed 6-2 6-2 of the last remaining Frenchman, Paul. H. Mathieu, breaking his serve 4 times. He lost only 6 points on his serve and did not give Mathieu a chance of winning. Mathieu did not play as well as before this match, but that is maybe because Murray has a difficult style to play against.

Wild Card Mario Ancic defeated Marcos Baghdatis in 2 sets, score 6-2 6-4 and is set up to play the final against the Englishman tomorrow. Ancic, former World No. 8, improved his record at 4-0 this year.

I think this one may go either way, but my best bet should be Murray, because he played very well and his style can be very effective against Mario Ancic. But if Ancic has a great day on serve, this will go well for the Croatian.

Marseille Quarter Finals

2008-02-15T10:41:00.000-08:00

P.H. Mathieu defeated countryman Gilles Simon and took their head to head score at 3-0 for him. The score was 6-3, 6-4 in 75 minutes as the defending champion Gilles Simon could not face the big serves of Mathieu (8 aces and a 87% win on the first serve). Mathieu will now face Andy Murray for a place in the final. Murray, World Number 11, defeated Nicolas Mahut 7-5 7-6, in one hour and 44 minutes

Croatian Mario Ancic (No. 135 ATP) reached the semifinals after defeating Sweden's Robin Soderling 6-3 6-7 6-2 in one hour and 48 minutes to improve his record at 3-0 this year. he will meet the winner of the Baghdatis-Youzhny clash.

I think a final between Andy Murray and Mario Ancic is most likely, but in Marseille a lot of things went wrong for the favorites.

Gasquet Out, Djokovic Out, Youzhny Still In

2008-02-14T14:23:00.000-08:00

It has been a crazy day in Marseille as the first and second seeds have lost their round 2 matches today. If Djokovic can blame the sickness and the fact that the crowd was on Simon's side (the defending champion here in Marseille), Gasquet had the crowd on his side but did not manage to get past Robin Soderling. The Swede won the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Soderling hit 19 aces and converted on three of his seven break point chances against Richard Gasquet (Nr. 7 in the ATP Rankings). Soderling will match up with Mario Ancic in the Quarter Finals (Ancic defeated Gabashvili with an easy 6-3, 6-2). This one will most likely go to the Croatian player, as he has shown good tennis in this tournament.

Murray won the rematch of the Doha final, defeating Stanislas Wawrinka 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1. He is now tied with the Swiss 2-2 in the head to head rankings. He will now meet Mahut in the Quarter Finals. Mahut defeated Ferrero in the second round, but the odds are Murray's side.

Simon will meet countryman P.H. Mathieu, who won his clash against M. Llodra with a 7-6, 7-6 score. This one can go either side, both players have played well. Mathieu is 3-0 against Simon and i might add that he has proven to cope well with pressure, winning all 4 sets in this tournament at the tie-break. My personal opinion is that Mathieu will win this one.

The favorite now to win the Open 13 is M. Youzhny, as he defeated Benneteau 7-5, 6-3. He is the best ranked player still in the tournament (World No. 8 in the ATP rankings). He will meet the winner of the Baghdatis - Karlovic clash.

Marseille : Day 2

2008-02-13T09:18:00.000-08:00

3 things that I did not expect happened in Marseille today.

The first of them is not that amazing, but Karlovic defeated F. Lopez, a player i considered to be in a better form that Ivo Karlovic, but the head to head score was 3-3 before this game, and that many matches between 2 players tend to even the match up. The score confirms my theory : 6-7 7-5 7-6.

Another match i was looking forward to was the clash between Grosjean and Wawrinka, a match that the Frenchman lost 3-6 6-4 6-4. I must admit that i was almost convinced that Grosjean will win this one, but maybe the Doha finalist was too much for him. Wawrinka will meet Andy Murray in a rematch of the Doha final I reminded, a final won by Murray 6-4 4-6 6-2. I am expecting a close match, Murray coming back after an injury and so is Wawrinka, but the one sustained by the Swiss happened at the Australian Open, while Murray did not play in the Davis Cup because of this medical problem. I think that Wawrinka may win this one, but it will be a close one.

I also was not expecting Tsonga to fall against Mario Ancic. Ancic played only 12 tournaments in 2007 because of an injury, and he should of had some problems getting to his rhythm, but it seems that it was not the case. Ancic defeated the Australian Open runner-up 7-5 7-6. Maybe this was also because Tsonga was partying until the dawn this weekend in Romania, or maybe I am wrong, but one thing is clear : Ancic is trough and he will meet Gabashvili in the second round, a match I am convinced the Croatian will win.

Djokovic is back from the flu symptoms he suffered from this weekend and defeated I Dodig 6-1 6-4. He will meet G. Simon in the second round. If he is feeling well, he will win this match despite of the crowd's desire.

Right now, Djokovic is my favorite for this tournament, but that is only if he is feeling well, if not, my bet goes on Gasquet.

Marseille after day 1

2008-02-12T13:34:00.000-08:00

He had a calm day in the first day of the Marseille tournament.

The biggest match of the day can be considered the contest between J.C. Ferrero and H.T. Lee. Ferrero won this match with a 6-4 6-1 score, taking the head to head score at 2-1 for him, and improving his record at 8-2 this year. He will now face Mahut for a place in the Quarter Finals, a place that is guaranteed if he keeps up the good tennis.

Romanian Andrei Pavel has retired at 6-1 1-0 for J. Benneteau, blaming back problems (as a personal note, these back problems seem to threaten his career) .

In another good match, Baghdatis defeated crowd favorite Arnauld Clement. Also Robin Soderling managed to get into the second round, defeating Jarko Nieminen.He have yet to witness a big clash in this tournament.

Week 7/2008 : Marseille

2008-02-11T14:19:00.000-08:00

This week there are 3 major tournaments underway. Out of them, the tournament in Marseille is the toughest one, especially because the Frenchman are playing well and are also well ranked. So we will find here an ill Djokovic as the number one seed. I don't think he will play due to the flu picked up in Russia last weekend.

Gasquet and Youzhny are seed nr 2 and 3 (places 7 and 8) and both are in rhythm, playing for their national teams this weekend in the World Group, and both winning their singles matches ( Gasquet against Hanescu and Youzhny against Zimonjic) I think both these players can win the tournament.

He also have Jo-Wilfred Tsonga at this tournament, ranked as seed nr 7, and he is setting up for a Quarter Final with his countryman, Richard Gasquet. Juan Carlos Ferrero is also playing in Marseille, as a nr 5 seed, and having a tough first-round match against H.T. Lee.

Even tough Gasquet is probably my pick for this tournament, he has a tough preview. In the second round he will play against either Soderling or Nieminen (both former top players, both looking to come back on top of things), then maybe a Quarter Final against Tsonga (now that is a match i would like to see.
The best unseeded player here in my opinion is Grosjean, considering the fact that he is front of his crowd, and even tough he is not actually in top shape, maybe this will be the place to start playing good tennis.

As a subjective note, i will be cheering for Andrei Pavel (i am Romanian after all), and hoping we will defeat Benneteau as a partial revenge for the 5-0 defeat in the Davis Cup. Too bad for Pavel that even tough he will display the good tennis shown las weekend, and defeat Benneteau, he will meet Youzhny in the second round and that will be pretty much as far as he will go.

Tommorow i will cover the remaining 2 tournaments.

BTW : If you like this blog, or actually hate it, write a comment.

Davis Cup : Round 1 Results

2008-02-10T08:43:00.000-08:00

Russia - Serbia 3-2. The Russians found themselves today in a very bad place, when Djokovic vas 2-0 in sets and 3-0 in the third. But then the Serbian fell victim to his illness and had to retire while leading 2-1 in sets. Djokovic accused dizziness and left straight from the arena to the hotel and then to a local hospital. He displayed a great tennis for 2 and 1/2 sets but suddenly, something was obvious wrong. Troicki defeated Dimitri Tursunov in a match that was only for statistical means.

Israel - Sweden 2-3. Jonas Bjorkman came trought for the Swedes, defating Harel Levy 0-6 6-4 6-3 7-6(6) in the decisive match. The tie was at scored 2-2 before the match, Elrich and Ram winning the doubles match and T. Jochansson defeated Dudi Sela in the morning. This tie was the only one that was disputed in a decisive match.

Germany - Korea 3-1. Germany are already trough after 4 matches. Kohlschreiber defeated a tired H.T. Lee today, and yesterday the German doubles team had no problem in defeating a Korean team in which Lee did not play.

USA - Austria 4-1. The USA team was already trough after the first 2 days, leading 3-0. The only match that posed problems was the first one, in which J. Melzer hanged on to an Andy Roddick that seemed more preoccupied by the clay court than his game. Roddick won the match 3-2.

Czech Republic - Belgium 3-2. The Czech team was already qualified after the doubles match, when they were leading 3-0. This is a draw in which the indoor court played a big role.

Romania - France 0-5. France won the doubles match in the fifth rubber, in a highly disputed match. Overall, France was just way bettter.

Argentina - Great Britain 4-0. This score was more than probable at the start of the draw. These are matches that have no history.

Peru - Spain 0-3. Spain is rough after the doubles match. They have yet to lose a set in this tie.

Germany v Korea, Rep.--- Davis Cup : Day 1

2008-02-08T12:55:00.000-08:00

Florian Mayer found out the tough way that Lee plays well in the Davis Cup. Germany is in a 1-1 tie with Korea at the moment. Kohlschreiber defeated 6-2 6-2 6-2 Jae-Sung An in a math that was pretty much forward while Mayer lost a 7-5 6-3 1-6 6-7(7) 6-3 thriller against Lee.
Lee is ranked 24 places better than the German, but the Korean played only one match in the last 2 years on clay. That is why this can be considered as a surprise. Even tough the match is tied, it's the Koreans that find themselves in a tough spot : Lee is exhausted. He will decide tomorrow morning if he will play in the doubles. If he doesn't, Germany has a huge chance of winning. And I don't think Jae-Sung An can win his second singles match. Korea's only chance is to get Lee fit, win the doubles and then it's up to Lee to win the third point. Not very likely.

Czech Republic v Belgium --- Davis Cup : Day 1

2008-02-08T12:45:00.000-08:00

The Czechs are in front and looking strong, not losing a set in the first 2 matches. Berdych defeated Vliegen 6-3 6-1 6-4, while Stepanek defeated Steve Darcis 6-4 7-6(4) 7-6(5). Both matches had no history, as the Czech will not depend on the doubles match tomorrow, as the singles matches on Sunday will almost 100% get them the third point.

Israel v Sweden --- Davis Cup : Day 1

2008-02-08T11:49:00.000-08:00

Israel and Sweden are 1-1 after the first day. Nobody expected Dudi Sela to defeat Jonas Bjorkman, but it appears that the 36 year old swede is starting to show his age. T. Jochansson was able to win in straight sets and get the Swedish point they needed.
I think that Jochansson will get the second point, but Bjorkman needs to get the thirs, because Ram and Elrich are looking very strong in the doubles match. This will be a close one.

Russia v Serbia --- Davis Cup : Day 1

2008-02-08T11:36:00.000-08:00

In Moscow, Russia is up 2-0. But that is mainly because the Russians did not play the "fire match" that we expected. The Australian Open winner, Djokovic did not play today due to a flu-like syndrome, and Tipsarevic had a stomach problem.
That's why today we saw Youzhny playing against Nenad Zimonjic, a match that was won 3-1 by the Russian after losing the first set. Youzhny was not able to concentrate and made a lot of unforced errors during the first set, but then he regained his focus.
On the other side, when Davydenko was set to play against Victor Troicki everybody was sure of a 3-0 win by the Russian. The outcome was a bit more that we expected, but Russia lead 2-0 : 6-1 1-6 6-3 1-6 6-2. It could of been a great tie if Djokovic and Tipsarevic played, but now it's a matter if Russia gets a 5-0 win or not.

Romania - France --- Davis Cup : Day 1

2008-02-08T11:22:00.000-08:00

Starting with the Romania - France tie, played in Romania, France is up 2-0 after a neat day of tennis. Richard Gasquet defeated Hanescu straight sets, as the Romanian was more concerned to gather games than win the whole match. Hanescu vas able to push the first set into a tie-break, but there it was obvious that Gasquet is just better (mentally, physically, tactically and also as a matter of skill).
So 1-0 for France, and then the 34 year old Romanian player, Andrei Pavel and the "Davis Cup Rookie" : Jo-Wifred Tsonga gave the audience a good tennis to watch. The match started with both players serving strong, and leading the game on their serve, until they reached the tie-break, where Pavel was pushed a lot by the crowd. 7-6 for Pavel the first set. But then, even tough the quality tennis continued, Tsonga startd hitting harder and harder, and it was enough for Pavel to lose a game on his serve in each of the next 3 sets to lose the match. Pavel played great, but Tsonga was better. 2-0 for France

Romania v France --- Davis Cup : Round 1

2008-02-06T01:42:00.000-08:00

Now this is bad luck for the Romanian team. They faced France last year in the same round, and they lost 1-4. Andrei Pavel is a great player when he plays in the Davis Cup, and even better when he plays in front of his home crowd. But he is not as young as he used to be.

France has a great team. They have 7 or 8 players in the top 100 and Romania will rely on places 77 and 78 : Andrei Pavel and Victor Hanescu. The Romanian double is a young team (Mergea and Tecau). They have a great future ahead in the doubles competition, they won in 2007 the double match, bringing the only point for Romania, but even if they repeat their great performance, Romania has almost no chance of winning this one, even tough they play in front of their home crowd.

Peru v Spain --- Davis Cup : Round 1

2008-02-06T01:38:00.000-08:00

Robredo, Verdasco, Lopez and Almagro on clay, even tough not in front of their home crowd. This spells danger for me in so many ways. The all are good if not great clay players. I don't know why did the team of Peru choose to play on a surface where their opponents are very good.

Peru has Luis Horna that will struggle to get them a point, but even if by a miracle he does get them 2 points, the double match will be won by Spain.

Spain can't lose this match.

Germany v Korea, Rep.--- Davis Cup : Round 1

2008-02-06T01:29:00.000-08:00

Germany has a good Davis Cup team, not great, but just enough to ensure them a place at least in the Quarter Finals each year, provided the fact that they don't reach a SUPERPOWER (like they did in 2006 when they met France).
They rely on Philipp Kohlschreiber, Florian Mayer and Michael Berrer in a match against the team of the Republic of Korea. I think Philipp Kohlschreiber will bring them 2 points and Mayer can get one. They both are top players, and they also play in front of the home crowd.

Rep. Of Korea does not have a great Davis Cup team and never had. They lost their first 16 ties before winning their first match against Kazakhstan. Hyung-Taik Lee can bring them 1 point, maybe even 2 if he is at the top of his game. We must take in account the fact that the match is played on clay, where Lee is not brilliant.

I will put my bet on Germany, but i think this one will be a good one to watch.

Israel v Sweden --- Davis Cup : First Round

2008-02-06T01:22:00.000-08:00

This is a tough match to predict and to analyze, because both teams are mediocre Davis Cup Teams, and none of the teams have any sure points.

The match will be played in Israel, where the home crowd will cheering for one of the best double teams in the world : Elrich/Ram. Sela and Levy are not great players, not great at all if one's opinion is allowed.

The Swedish team rely on veteran Jonas Bjorkman (a good doubles player), Thomas Johansson, Aspelin and Prpic.

Overall, i think Sweden has the better team, but not by much.

Argentina v Great Britain --- Davis Cup : Round 1

2008-02-06T01:14:00.000-08:00

The 2006 finalist, Argentina faces an easy match in the first round of the 2008 Davis Cup. And the fact that makes this match VERY easy for the Argentinians is that the match will be played on clay, a surface where Nalbandian, Calleri and Acasuso play very well. Even tough Nalbandian lost in the third round at the Australian Open, Calleri in the second and Acasuso in the first, they played on hard, where at least the former 2 are not that great. On clay, we have a different situation.

Great Britain has only one top player available, and that is Andy Murray, a player that is 6-12 overall on clay, so i guess this will be an easy one for Argentina, especially in front of the home crowd in Buenos Aires

Czech Republic v Belgium --- Davis Cup : First Round

2008-02-04T11:39:00.000-08:00

The Czech have a strong team for this round, especially because they are playing on carpet, a surface that is not at all common for this time of year. But the Czech like playing on this, especially Berdych and Stepanek.

On the other side, the members of the Belgian team don't like playing indoors, and when they do, they play at Challenger tournaments.

I think this one will be won 4-1 by the Czech

Russia v Serbia --- Davis Cup : Round 1

2008-02-04T11:25:00.000-08:00

The Russians have a big tradition in the Davis Cup. They have always been a tough nation in tennis. The team of Russia is the 2006 champions and the 2007 runner-up, where the Europeans were defeated by the USA.
This time, Russia's first 4 will most probably be Nikolay Davydenko, Mikhail Youzhny, Dmitry Tursunov and Marat Safin. They have an experienced Davis Cup team.

On the other side, the Serbian team is for the first time in the World Group after the upsetting of Team Australia in the play-offs. It was a suprise for most of the tennis world by considering only Australia's tradition in the Davis Cup, but we must consider the fact that Australia did not have any other player but Hewitt, and that was a Hewitt in a bad form of play. They rely on the 2008 Australian Open champion : Novak Djokovic (he is 11-3 in the Davis Cup), Janko Tipsarevic (25-9 record), Victor Troiki and Nenad Zimonjic. They played some matches in the Davis Cup, but never before in the World Group.

I don't think that Djokovic will be able to get them trough a tough team and a tough crowd in Russia.

Davis Cup : Round 1

2008-02-04T11:22:00.000-08:00

This week the first round of the Davis Cup will be under way. These are the fixtures

Russia v Serbia in Russia
Czech Republic v Belgium in the Czech Republic
Argentina v Great Britain in Argentina
Israel v Sweden in Israel
Germany v Korea, Rep. in Germany
Peru v Spain in Peru
Romania v France in Romania
Austria v USA in Austria

Djokovic and Tsonga... the new generation ?

2008-02-03T13:15:00.000-08:00

After the much-debated Australian Open, where Djokovic defeated Wilfred Tsonga 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(2), the first question to arise is if Djokovic is ready to be number 1 and if he has finally managed to put his emotions aside when under pressure.
I cannot say for sure that Djokovic is better than Federer or Nadal overall, but sometimes "Nole" can play some pretty hard tennis. He has all the qualities that make a champion, but the thing is that he has shown that he can fold under pressure. If he will manage to be a better mental player, i think it won't be long before he will reach the most desired ranking in the ATP.
The second question is if Tsonga will return to his level of play (like Baghdatis did in 2006) or if he is truly a great player. I will not bet my money on Tsonga just yet. He is a great athlete but "one Grand Slam wonders" are not that unique. I can think of at least 5 or 6 players that went a long way down after reaching a Grand Slam final. Also, i don't think Tsonga is an "all-round" player. But maybe time will prove me wrong.

Gilles Simon beats "Hane"

2007-09-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Romanian player Victor Hanescu was defeated yesterday by Frenchman Gilles Simon, in the BCR Open Romania final.

At the start of the year, Victor Hanescu was struggling at the bottom of the ATP standings. Victor was number 643 ATP. Sunday, "Hane" was the hero of the 5000 spectators and the thousands of TV viewers that watched breathless the final, when the Romanian faced Frenchman Gilles Simon.

Hanescu (number 151 ATP), the first Romanian player to reach the Bucharest final, was not able to cope with the huge pressure and lost (6-4 3-6 6-2), after 1 hour and 52 minutes of play. At 26 years of age, Victor missed not only the opportunity to conquer his first ATP title, but also the 55.820 EURO check that the winner was granted.

Victor Hanescu and Gilles Simon had never played before in the professional circuit. With the crowd behind him, and a big morale (given the fact that he did not concede a single set before the final), Victor started well, and got the first set quite easy.
Gilles Simon (number 42 ATP) got ahead quicly tough in the second set, a set that he won 6-3. The Frenchman continued to play well in the third set, while "Hane" seemed to be losing morale. Not even the crowd cheering and the "home" clay were not able to save the first Romanian to reach this tournament's final.

Victor Hanescu against Gilles Simon

2007-09-15T16:59:00.000-07:00

After defeating Gael Monfils 6-2 6-3, Victor Hanescu is the first Romanian player to reach the final of this tournament. The home crowd has been waiting for 12 to cheer for it's local favorite in the last day of the tournament, and now they have it.

Tomorrow, in Bucharest, from the moment the first serve is being played, Gilles Simon will be an enemy of the state.

But let's take a moment to look at the facts here :

Gilles Simon likes to play on clay. He has shown that this year not just by a 17-10 record this year on this sourface but also in his game. He did not play a single match in a Challanger tournament this year, and that means he is used to playing only at a high level. Not an extraordinary year for the Frenchman but it has not been a bad one.

On the other hand we have Victor Hanescu, the local favorite. And just by saying that he is the first Romanian to reach the final in this tournament is a big advantage for him : the whole arena will cheer for him. His year has been awfull for him, just recovering from an injury, and that's why Hanescu decided to play a lot in Challangers (not exactly top players there, but you can build up your morale). Hanescu reached the Quarter Finals last year at Rolland Garross, so we can say that he likes clay. Hanescu has declared that he enjoys playing at the moment, he feels like he is playing good tennis, and that he is perfectly fit.
Hanescu needs to win this.

I think Hanescu will grab this one, or lose it at the limit. Either way, it will be a good final to watch.

Gael Monfils in the semifinals

2007-09-14T05:42:00.000-07:00

Monfils managed to get in the semifinals at BCR Open Romania, after defeating compatriot Mark Giquel in straight sets.

The thing about Monfils is not weather or not he is playing well enough to win in Bucharest, but if he won't be tired after playing 3 matches more than any of his future adversaries in this tournament.

Monfils will face the winner of the match between Victor Hanescu and Potito Starace.

Pavel Out, Hanescu Trough

2007-09-14T05:38:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately for the home crowd, Andrei Pavel lost yesterday against the number 3 seed : Potito Starace, in straight sets.

All local hopes go now to Victor Hanescu, who managed to set up a quarter final against Potito Starace, hoping to get revenge for Pavel.

Also Carlos Berlocq mannaged to get in the semifinals.

French day in Bucharest.

2007-09-12T16:17:00.001-07:00

It seems that French players enjoy playing in Bucharest, mainly because they like clay and in Romania they play on it, compared to Sanghai where they play on hard.
Gael Monfils seems to live up to my expectations and has reached the Quarter Finals where he will play Marc Giquel, his compatriot. Giquel defeated Andreev in the second round : 6-4 6-3.

Also another qualifyier that has reached the Quarter Finals is Hugo Armando. Armando
impressed in Bucharest today when he defeated Andreas Seppi. Armando will meet Gilles
Simon.

Tommorow there will be the following matches, all of them counting for the second round :

Simone Bolelli against Yuri Schukin (no predictions here)

Ivan Navarro-Pastor against Carlos Berlocq : personally i whould take Berloq to win : 6 units at 1.50 (Gamebookers). Berloq i think is the better player and starts with a morale advantage, leading 2-0 in head 2 head encounters.

Albert Montanes against Victor Hanescu. These players played 5 times, Montanes has won 3 and Hanescu 3. I think it will be a good match to see, 2 different types of players.

Andrei Pavel will play Potito Starace tommorow for a place in the Quarter Finals. Potito Starace had a better year so far, but Pavel is just great in the last 2 months. These players have never encountered before on a tennis court. I will take Pavel to win : 5 units @ 2.20 (Gamebookers)

So these are the picks for todat

Pavel to win against Starace 5/10 @ 2.20 - Gamebookers
Berlocq to win against Navarro-Pasttor 6/10 @ 1.50 - Gamebookers.

Nr 1 and 2 out

2007-09-11T07:53:00.000-07:00

This has been a crazy first round at the BCR Open Romania : Both first seed Nicolas Almagro and second seed Filippo Volandri have been eliminated from the competition.

Spaniard Nicolas Almagro was forced to retire with a right elbow injury during his match against Simone Bolelli of Italy. Two-time Valencia champion Almagro was leading 6-4, 1-5 when he quit.

Gael Monfils (pictured) made it two career wins in a row against Filippo Volandri, the No. 2 seed and 2006 runner-up. Monfils defeated Volandri 6-3 7-6 and will play Vassalo Arguello from Argentina in the second round.

Romanian qualifier Catalin Gard lost to Mark Giquel, and Hanescu notched over Florian Mayer with a 7-6 7-6 win.

Potito Starace is now the top seed still in the competition after 3-6 7-5 6-2 with Kristof Vliegen.

This tournament has lost a lot of big players, but that makes it only more interesting. And the Romanian crowd is now more entitled than ever to hope for a Romanian player to win the title.

Upsets in first round

2007-09-11T04:41:00.000-07:00

BCR Open Romania : Round 1

In the first matches, it seems that there have been 2 upsets :

First of all, the last year's champion, Jurgen Melzer lost his match against Andreas Seppi (4-6 7-5 6-4). This was a tough match for Melzer against a very good player, probably the best player that is not amongst the seeds.

The other upset (it is not an actually upset, but you can call it that) is Florent Serra (the champion of 2005 here in Bucharest) retiring from his match against Evgeny Koroloev after winning the first set and being 6-5 down in the second.

It is nice to see that Gael Monfils was able to defeat Alberto Martin in a heavy disputed match in the thrid and final qualifying round, but is now facing another tough match, against Fillipo Volandri (the second seed and number 29 ATP).

We do have a couple of interesting matches programmed for today :
Andrei Pavel vs Oscar Hernandez
Potito Starace (3) vs Kristof Vliegen
and let's not forget about the Romanian Cataling Gard that made it to the main draw and is now facing Mark Giquel.

I will come back later with more news.

Directory of Sports Blogs

BlogCatalog

2007-09-10T11:59:00.000-07:00

I have submitted my blog to blogcatalog.com in order to get more exposure for it.

http://www.blogcatalog.com/directory/sports/tennis

BCR Open Romania

2007-09-10T06:10:00.000-07:00

This week there will be 2 major tennis tournaments : China Open (Beijing) and BCR Open Romania (Bucuresti). I think it is obvious that i will choose to cover the tournament in Romania in more detail.

The seeds are not that well ranked compared to other tournaments, but they are regular players in this tournament, and most of them are clay players, and that is the reason why they came to play in Bucuresti.

I can't really pick a favorite in this tournament. I think that Andrei Pavel will have a good tournament (at least the Quarter finals, because he has shown a good form in the last months, and he always plays well in front of his own fans). Also, Gael Monfils will be a player to watch here, but the problem is that he is currently in the Qualifiers, and now has to play against Alberto Martin (a 0-2 record between them), and if he manages to win, he may be a little tired.

This is not my favorite, but Nicolas Almagro (first seed) is the player i think has the most qualities to win, because he is a clay player, he won a tournament this year in Valencia (ESP) and he has a 23-12 record on clay this year, given the fact that he did have some bad luck in the draws.

That is all for today, log in tomorrow for the latest news and updates regarding the tournament in Romania.

Heh

2007-09-10T05:04:00.000-07:00

Came back from Greece the other night and noticed i was right about the winners. Hope i can keep it up like this.

US Open

2007-08-31T11:49:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately i won't be able to cover this year's US Open (my second favorite Grand Slam).

But i will pick my favorites : Federer (who else...:|) and Henin.

Why ? Because Federer is perfect and because Henin has the best technique in the world and most powerful mental game.

About Me

2007-08-31T11:24:00.000-07:00

I thought it was nice to start this blog with a post about me, so that viewers will know who is writing these articles.

My name is Andrici Mihail-Sebastian, but most of my friends call me Smyke. I was born and raised in Pitesti, Romania. I played tennis in competitions since i was 7, until 2006 (that's 10 years), when financial problems obligated me to give up my dream. I can say i know a lot about this sport, since i played it for a pretty long time, and i watched a lot of it.

Tennis is my life.