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Wednesday 31st March
Roger Federer joined Svetlana Kuznetsova on the sidelines yesterday as the men's No.1 seed went the way of the Russian after a three set loss to Tomas Berdych. The Czech saved a match point at 5-6 in the deciding tie-break before taking the 2'51" match 6-4 6-7 7-6.
A great win for Berdych but further evidence that away from the Slams we have to view Federer with a fair degree of caution ...
We collected on Robin Soderling W1/2 over Fernando Gonzalez but that, in itself, is nothing to make too much fuss about. It's been a stop-start month for results overall as we've tended to land with the shorter priced bets but just missed out with the bigger gambles ... but our time will come!
Today's FREE Sony Ericsson Open Betting Tips
Rafael Nadal has blown hot and cold in his last couple of matches and he'll need to be back at his best to see of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga today (although he leads the Frenchman 4:1, all on hard). A bet for the statisticians amongst you, Nadal to take the first set 7-5 (11/1) or 7-6 (13/2) covers five of the nine sets he's taken off the No.8 seed in the past. Those prices offer a bit of value as on current form the Spaniard will do well to win this easily.
Elsewhere, Andy Roddick should have too much for Nicolas Almagro in their match (they've not met before). Almagro has served pretty well though meaning the American might not find him a pushover.
As for the ladies, both Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin are short odds to win and both should do so, to set up a cracking SF clash on Thursday.
we'll see you back here tomorrow for more FREE tennis betting!
Tuesday 30th March
Plenty of action in the Sony Ericsson Open yesterday as the men's and women's event both took a further step towards completion.
In the men's tournament there were wins for Roger Federer (just) as well as Soderling, Cilic and Verdasco on a day which produced no real shocks as far as the formbook was concerned.
In the ladies event there was a defeat for the No.1 seed Kuznetsova, as a shoulder injury badly hampered the Russian against Bartoli, plus Azarenka and Jankovic. Meanwhile, both the Belgian girls (Henin and Clijsters) still appear to be on a collision course in the bottom half of the draw.
All in all it means it's boiling up nicely to be a really exciting finish to both these events over the coming Easter weekend.
Today's FREE Sony Ericsson Open Betting Tips
Robin Soderling (8/15) should prove too strong for Fernando Gonzalez when they meet today. It's not been a great year so far for the Chilean and although Soderling has only been more than a little consistent himself the manner of his win yesterday (6-1 6-2 over Philipp Petzschner) showed that he's hitting the ball well at the moment. Gonzalez is 4:4 with the Swede but the view is that Soderling is in better form and can progress.
As for the women, Agnieszka Radwanska is playing well at present and although a win over Venus Williams might be asking a lot of the Polish girl, she can take a set off the American. Venus to win 2-1 (10/3) is the call.
Thank you again for your company, we'll see you back here tomorrow for more FREE tennis betting!
Monday 29th March
We're starting to see the tournaments taking some shape in Miami as the men's and women's draw begin to move towards the QF stage at this week's Sony Ericsson Open.
The women's event looks wide open with six of the top eight seeds still in play (Na Li and Elena Dementieva being the only casualties). As for the men, it's a similar story with only Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, of the top eight, failing to make it into the second week.
That should make for some stellar competition over the next few days, and we'll cover it all right here for you.
Today's FREE Sony Ericsson Open Betting Tips
Roger Federer battered Nicolas Lapentti 6-3 6-3 in R2 and against France's Florent Serra he should also win comfortably. However, the total number of games which is a mere 17.5 under-rates the Frenchman's talents - he's No.61 in the world but he's no mug. These two haven't played before but Serra has played guys like Davydenko, Murray and Djokovic, for example, on hard courts and made a game of it ... so the logical call has to be a win for the top seed but over 17.5 games (4/6) for the match as surely Serra can take six games off Federer.
In the Verdasco/Melzer match the overall stats suggest a potentially tight encounter with Verdasco 7-6 (13/2) or Melzer 7-6 (10/1) proving just a little bit of value in the first set scoreline. Elsewhere there's some tough looking ties as Cilic/Baghdatis, Youzhny/Wawrinka and Fish/Lopez are all tricky.
Nothing for the women today as all eight R4 ties are being played. Some great matches - Clijsters/Azarenka, Jankovic/Stosur, Henin/Zvonareva - but not ones we want to get involved in from a betting point of view.
Sunday 28th March
Whilst it was plain sailing for the No.1 seeds yesterday in Florida as both Roger Federer and Svetlana Kuznetsova breezed through their matches in straight sets, it was a day not without incident in Miami.
The big loser at the Sony Ericsson Open being the men's defending champion Andy Murray who played well below par in losing to Mardy Fish in 92 minutes (4-6 4-6). The No.3 seed not looking himself at all.
Less drama in the women's draw but familiar names like Ana Ivanovic and Nadia Petrova were the highest ranked seeds to exit the action in R3 whilst Kuznetsova, Venus Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska all progressed.
Today's FREE Sony Ericsson Open Match Betting Tips
Tough looking day in prospect, much like yesterday, with any number of evenly matched players on view. Almagro/Chardy, Bellucci/Rochus, Isner/Ferrero and Ferrer/Karlovic being prime examples.
Andy Roddick (versus Stakhovsky) and Rafael Nadal (against Nalbandian) appear the only players who simply 'must' win.
We'll take the Spaniard, Nadal, to beat Nalbandian 2-0 (4/6) in their R3 match as although the Argentine leads their series 2:1 (both wins coming indoors) his R2 win over Troicki doesn't read that well, nor that over Kubot in R1, and Nadal looks like he's in good nick at the moment and could wrap this one up pretty comfortably if he starts well.
So that's all for today. Do come back tomorrow though as we finish off R3 in Miami and move a step closer the QF's of this Masters Series event.
Saturday 27th March
Another interesting day's play on the ATP Tour yesterday as the players in Miami served up some fascinating matches in the Sony Ericsson Open.
As far as we were concerned, the main results in the men's and women's draw provided us with a nice winner. We backed Olivier Rochus W10/3 to take a set off No.2 seed Novak Djokovic ... only for the Belgian to not just win the first set 6-2 but also the third en route to a three set upset of the Serb (as we've said all along the 'winning mentality' of Djokovic still remains in doubt despite all his tour wins to date ... he's no Federer or Nadal).
Later, it was Justine Henin W8/11 who landed a Belgian 1-2 with a very easy win over Elena Dementieva 6-3 6-2 in less than an hour.
Going into the second week of action in Florida, hopefully we can keep up that level of performance. Bit quiet today but plenty more to follow through next week as we enter the latter stages of this Masters Series event.
Today's FREE Sony Ericsson Open Match Betting Tips
The likes of Roger Federer and Andy Murray make their belated entrance into the event today but there's little incentive to back either in their matches against Nicolas Lapentti and Mardy Fish respectively.
It's quite a poor day in fact ... Berydch (1/4), Verdasco (1/6), Cilic (1/7) and Soderling (1/10) all featuring in matches which have no great interest. And other ties (Lopez/Berrer, Tipsarevic/Petzschner, Serra/Montanes) have favourites who don't deserve total support at the odds and underdogs who can't be relied upon to cause a surprise.
So we'll keep it quiet for today, do come back tomorrow though as we move into R3 in Miami with several top players once again in action.
Friday 26th March
No shocks of Indian Wells proportions yesterday in Miami as the R1 matches in the Sony Ericsson Open went pretty much according to plan.
For sure, a couple of results caught the eye - Sela beating Korolev, Falla over Hanescu, Zeballos knocking out Seppi - but these weren't shocks of seismic proportions. They, in fact, came in the women's draw with losses for the likes of Na Li and Flavia Pennetta as a total of seven seeds went out of the ladies event.
We at least collected on Michael Berrer W4/5 but whilst both our correct scores proved to be successful, they were winners for the other match we were talking about! We saw a tie-break in the Fish/Mayer match and Anderson prevailed 6-3 in the first set against Ricardo Mello.
Today's FREE Tennis Match Betting Tips
Bit of value possibly today in backing Olivier Rochus (10/3) to take a set off Novak Djokovic. The Belgian is a real fighter and although the No.2 seed should win this match there's every chance that Rochus (who leads their series 2:1) can get a set on the board ... as much by his own endeavours as the questionable temperament of the Serb. We won on a similar bet the other week with Baghdatis versus Federer, this one has the same appeal.
We're also going to back Justine Henin (8/11) to get the better of Elena Dementieva ... again! The Belgian (seems to be our prefered nation of the day) beat Dementieva 7-5 7-6 in Melbourne in January to take her career mark to 10:2 against the Russian. Neither played well last week but the form, and the class, must point to the former world No.1 holding sway once again in this mouth-watering R2 clash.
That's all for today, come back tomorrow as we've more R2 matches in Miami and the start of R3 as well.
Thursday 25th March
We're in Miami these next 10 days for the Sony Ericsson Open - the final action in the States before the tour heads off to Europe for the start of the clay court season and the build-up to the French Open in May.
After the shocks and surprises last week at Indian Wells (including 300/1 winner Ivan Ljubicic) we're expecting the action in Florida to follow the formbook a bit more closely! Should at least make finding winners slightly easier. We collected on Florian Mayer yesterday - sadly at 4/7 not 300/1 - but today there are several bets lined up, all at decent prices.
Today's FREE Tennis Match Betting Tips
Couple of bets to begin where we're looking at the first set score - often the best way of securing a good priced bet (and winner) on an otherwise unappealing match.
Leonardo Mayer trounced Mardy Fish 6-4 6-0 when they played in Memphis a few weeks back and whilst it might not prove to be quite as one-sided here the Argentine is fancied to come out on top. A first set score of either 6-3 (7/1) or 6-4 (6/1) would see Mayer sneak the opener by the odd break of serve and that looks a fair call as Fish has struggled for form of late.
We're also backing the Ricardo Mello/Kevin Anderson match to have a first set tie-break. Mello 7-6 (15/2) or Anderson 7-6 (13/2) looks a good bet on two players who could prove evenly matched on hard courts.
In terms of match betting, Michael Berrer (RU in Zagreb) has been in pretty good form so far in 2010 and although his opponent Lukas Lacko has also enjoyed a decent start to the season it's the 29-year-old German who should hold sway in their R1 encounter - Berrer (4/5) is the call here.
That's all for today, come back tomorrow as we move into the R2 matches in Miami and see some of the big names enter the action.
Wednesday 24th March
We begin the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami today looking to repeat our success of 12 months ago when Andy Murray W9/2 in the men's event and Victoria Azarenka W14/1 in the women's tournament.
We will be releasing our outright bets for both events today so remember to sign up for our exclusive outright bets.
Also, should we get any late information through for today's matches after our morning update - and we did have a couple of late winners earlier this week - make sure you're also signed up to get our free tennis bets newsletter.
Today's FREE Tennis Match Betting Tips
Tricky day today to start off the men's event (and it's little better as far as the women are concerned). A number of fascinating match-ups but either current form, the head-to-heads or, more importantly, the prices offer little great incentive to get involved.
Matches like Garcia-Lopez/Clement, Ancic/Chardy, Becker/Greul ... none of them provide clear betting opportunities. And given recent form there's no rush to back guys like Richard Gasquet, Michael Llodra or even David Nalbandian at short prices.
Hence, the best of a very bad bunch is Florian Mayer (4/7) to beat Marco Chiudinelli. Six months ago it would have been the Swiss player who would be the favourite here but after a bright finish to 2009 his form this year has been moderate. Mayer just won the Sunrise Challenger Tour event and the form he showed there is certainly good enough to win him this match.
That's all for today, come back tomorrow as we continue with the rest of the R1 matches in Miami and sign up for our Sony Ericsson bets.
Tuesday 23rd March
Two winners for us yesterday with our free bets newsletter as late news from the US provided a couple of successes - mind you, the prices were nothing to shout about!
Still qualifying wins for Xavier Malisse over Michael Yani followed up with Kevin Anderson over Juan Pablo Brzezicki confirmed the importance of following the action at all levels of the game. Remember, if you're not already signed up to the free bets newsletter then make sure you do today - late news can come through at any time.
We're in Miami this week for another Masters Series tournament on the ATP Tour, the Sony Ericsson Open and you can sign up for our exclusive outright bets by clicking Outright Tennis Betting Tips (they will be released in the next 24 hours).
FREE Tennis Match Betting Tips
We may come back to the qualifying action in Florida later - so remember to sign up for the newsletter - now we're off to Italy on the Challenger Tour.
Flavio Cipolla, at 26, has probably missed his big chance to breakthrough on the main tour but he's still got more time on his side than today's opponent, Spain's David Marrero - at 29 the man from Las Palmas has never figured highly in the rankings ... and probably never will. They met in Brazil earlier this year and the Italian, Cipolla, won 6-7 6-0 6-3 and he should frank that form today. Cipolla (4/7) looks a solid call in the Barletta event.
That's all for today, come back tomorrow as we start to look at the Miami draw in earnest and also sign up for our Sony Ericsson bets here.
Monday 22nd March
The narrow 7-6 7-6 win of Ivan Ljubicic over Andy Roddick in the final of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells pretty much summed up the tournament. Take nothing away from Ljubicic who beat Djokovic, Nadal and Roddick back-to-back to land a first ever Masters Series title but in terms of the formbook this result is best given a wide berth.
Too many top players simply played too badly to draw much of a conclusion from this event ... same goes for the women as Jelena Jankovic beat Caroline Wozniacki in another upset (but one which we did flag up over the weekend).
Next we're off to Miami for another Masters Series tournament - with better from, we hope! - the Sony Ericsson Open. You can sign up for our exclusive outright bets for by clicking Outright Tennis Betting Tips.
FREE Tennis Match Betting Tips
Quiet day today on the main ATP Tour as we prepare for the event in Miami later this week. There is action on the Challenger Tour, where we've been amongst the winners lately, with events in Jersey, Barletta and Rimouski.
Nothing for today but we'll certainly be covering those events as we move through the week, then it's the draw for Miami, then the start of the event itself and hopefully an easier tournament to predict than the one we've just seen in California!
That's all for today, be sure to come back tomorrow as we start to look ahead to Miami and also sign up for our Sony Ericsson bets.
Sunday 21st March
All week we've highlighted the strange results which have come through from the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells and the SF defeat of Rafael Nadal to Ivan Ljubicic was yet another example on Saturday. The Croat's stunning 3-6 6-4 7-6 win was virtually impossible to predict on past meetings (Nadal led 5:1) but in keeping with the catalogue of shocks we've seen over the past 10 days ... maybe no great surprise!
At least Nadal re-grouped to post a fine win in the doubles with Marc Lopez as they beat Nestor/Zimonjic in straight sets ... in another shock!!
Don't forget, after today's finals in California, we're off to Miami next week for another Masters Series event - get you hands on our Outright bets by clicking Sony Ericsson Open Outright bets.
Today's FREE Tennis Bets From The Tour
We won again yesterday on the Challenger Tour with Robin Haase W10/11 in Italy. And today, in the Sunrise tournament in Florida, we must back the French player Gilles Simon to beat Florian Mayer. Simon (8/13) has looked in good form this week and, on his day, is different class to his German opponent. This looks an ideal opportunity for the former world No.6 to get back to winning ways ... even if Mayer beat him 6-3 7-5 in this very event four years ago.
As for the action in the main event at Indian Wells. Andy Roddick leads Ljubicic 7:3 on past meetings and really should win today - this a glorious opportunity for the American against a player he would normally expect to beat (and beat easily). In the set betting, Roddick 2-0 (11/10) is the call.
That's all for today, be sure to come back tomorrow as we start to look ahead to Miami and also sign up for our Sony Ericsson bets here.
Saturday 20th March
Into the final couple of days at Indian Wells as the BNP Paribas Open draws to a close. Fair to say, it hasn't been the most predictable of events with 'expect the unexpected' being a pretty good way of summing up the action over the last 10 days. Andy Murray was the latest casualty in the QF's yesterday as the No.4 seed lost out to Robin Soderling 1-6 6-7.
Don't forget, after Scottsdale is done, we're off to Miami next week for another Masters Series event - the Sony Ericsson Open - and you can sign up for our exclusive outright bets for this event right here by clicking Sony Ericsson Open Outright bets.
FREE ATP Tour Tennis Bets
In the men's SF matches, we're going to play the score betting in the game between Soderling/Roddick. In the first set score market go for 7-6 Soderling (9/2) and 7-6 Roddick (5/1) - worth noting here the pair have played four sets in their two previous matches (Soderling leads 2:0) and three of the four were tie-breaks.
In the other SF it's hard to see Ivan Ljubicic beating Rafael Nadal. The No.3 seed has found some form this week (he's also in the doubles final) and leads Ljubicic 5:1 in their series. Nadal should win and in straight sets.
The women's final sees Jelena Jankovic face Caroline Wozniacki. It's been the Serb who has won all their previous meetings (3:0) and that advantage makes her more appealing as the 6/5 underdog for this match.
Finally, on the Challenger Tour in Caltanissetta (Italy) we're backing the Dutch player Robin Haase (10/11) to beat Grega Zemlja. Haase has won all three of their previous meetings on clay - all at this level.
That's all for today, it's the men's final tomorrow in Indian Wells, be sure to come back for that and also sign up for our Sony Ericsson bets here.
Friday 19th March
We're into the final stages of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells with SF's to look forward to in the women's tournament and the men's event due to be at the same stage by close of play.
We already know that Rafael Nadal will play Ivan Ljubicic in the bottom half of the draw for a place in the final (Nadal leads 5:1) and after today's action in Scottsdale we'll know the players in the other SF ... more news of that in a second. We've also got the women's SF matches being played today.
if you haven't done it already, sign up to our FREE bets newsletter as further late bets, news and analysis can come through after we update the site each day. And, even more importantly, we're off to Miami next week for another Masters Series event and you can sign up for our exclusive Miami Masters outright bets right here.
FREE Tennis Bets From The ATP Tour
Winners the last couple of days with the men but no bet today for us on the ATP Tour (or Challenger Tour). Andy Roddick leads Tommy Robredo 10:0 going into their QF and Andy Murray is 2:1 over Robin Sodlering. Very little to excite in A-Rod's match, he should win easily, and as for Murray he's the call but it might not be that easy for him against the useful Swede, a set score of 2-1 for the Scot is probably the best play (7/2) if you fancy a bet.
As for the ladies, Jankovic/Stosur is a tough call. If we had to pick, at the price, Stosur edges it but she does trail Jankovic 0:2 on past meetings. We will back Agnieszka Radwanska (1/1) against Caroline Wozniacki in what could be another close match between two close friends. The Polish girl has looked a bit sharper this past week and just gets the vote.
That's all for today, more news back at Indian Wells tomorrow, be sure to come back for the best of the tennis betting action.
Wednesday 17th March
Results continue to surprise at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells as yesterday it was the turn of the No.1 seed Roger Federer to make his exit from the tournament. Thankfully, we backed against the Swiss player and collected on a nice bet as Marcos Baghdatis W11/4 - not just taking a set off the top seed but saving 3 match points en route to a 5-7 7-5 7-6 victory.
That's just another in a series of shocks in both the men's and the women's draw this past week ... and we're probably not finished yet.
Don't forget as well that if you're not already signed up to our FREE bets newsletter then make sure you do it today as further late bets, news and analysis can come through after we update the site.
Today's FREE Tennis Betting Tips From The ATP Tour
Robin Soderling (4/6) to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is the first advice of the day. The Swede leads their series 2:0 and has shown the better form in his two matches here thus far - Tsonga struggled past Albert Montanes in R3 whilst Soderling has beaten Korolev and Lopez in straight sets.
We've also got a similar bet to the Baghdatis advice yesterday as we're backing Nicolas Almagro to win a set (5/2) against Andy Murray. The Scot could very well hit top form today after a couple of moderate efforts in R2 and R3 (where both Seppi and Russell broke his serve and kept well within touching distance) but Almagro has given the No.4 seed problems before and already has three good wins to his name (Zverev, Karlovic and Blake). Murray, in top form, would win easily ... but is he playing that well?
That's all for today, more news from Indian Wells tomorrow, be sure to come back for the best of the tennis betting action.
Tuesday 16th March
Given the fact that winners have been hard to come by this month it was more than a little frustrating to see Philipp Kohlschreiber waste now fewer than 3 match points against Novak Djokovic in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells yesterday. The German, a 4/1 chance, had the No.2 seed in real trouble in the third set of their match ... but sadly couldn't finish the job!
Such is the way with betting. We're still nicely in profit on the year, for both our FREE daily tennis bets as well as our outright betting, and there's still a long, long way to go this season.
Remember also, if you're not already signed up to our FREE tennis bets newsletter then make sure you do it today as further late bets, news and analysis does come through after we update the site - and you need to be on it!
FREE Tennis Bets From The ATP Tour
We're looking for value again today and following on from an unconvincing win over Victor Hanescu in R2, Roger Federer might have a match on his hands against Marcos Baghdatis. Although the world No.1 leads their series 6:0 the belief is that he takes these Masters Series events much less seriously than in years gone by - in the last four years Federer has actually won more Slams than World Tour 1000 events!
Back the Cypriot to win a set (11/4) which looks seriously over-priced as he's taken a set off Federer in two of six past meetings (meaning this bet should strictly be around the 2/1 mark).
That's all for today, more news from Indian Wells tomorrow, be sure to come back for the best of the tennis betting action.
Monday 15th March
The form in the desert these past few days has been none too reliable ... and overnight there was more evidence. Greul beating Monfils (possibly a sign that the Frenchman is returning to his old, inconsistent ways), Almagro knocking out Karlovic and Dudi Sela accounting for Radek Stepanek.
Guys like Roddick and Murray won well enough but Federer dropped a set to Hanescu, Sharapova went out in the women's event - it hasn't been entirely straightforward in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
Such matters make the finding of match bet winners that much harder to do but we've got a couple of decent bets lined up for today's action which should see us back amongst the profits.
FREE ATP Tour Tennis Bets
Fernando Verdasco and Tomas Berdych look evenly matched players on past meetings. Berdych leads 4:3 (2:1 on hard) and four of their five meetings, away from the Slams, have gone to three sets. Both are capable players on their day and a three set match (5/4) would be no great surprise. It also seems a slightly safer option than backing the Czech player to win (15/8) although he does seem a bit overpriced at this mark.
What would be a surprise is Philipp Kohlschreiber (4/1) beating the No.2 seed Novak Djokovic. Stranger things have happened this week, let alone this year on tour, and the German is no back-number despite not having much success so far in 2010. Djokovic's shaky winning form in Dubai backed up with a bizarre 6-1 0-6 6-2 win over Mardy Fish in R2 gives the German (who has beaten Djokovic before) half a chance in today's match.
That's all for today, more news from Indian Wells tomorrow, be sure to come back for the best of the tennis betting action.
Sunday 14th March
More shocks and surprises at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells as the women's No.1 seed, Svetlana Kuznetsova, crashed out of the event along with Ana Ivanovic and Daniela Hantuchova.
The biggest name to go out in the men's event was Marin Cilic - who we fancied to go well here - as he fell 6-7 0-6 to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Cilic served for the first set before totally falling apart, winning just 13 more points in the whole match!
Today we see the likes of Roger Federer and Andy Murray make their belated entrance into the event - and both shouldn't face too many problems against Victor Hanescu and Andreas Seppi respectively - however, the matches we're interested in are found elsewhere ...
FREE Tennis Betting Advice For The ATP Tour
Paul-Henri Mathieu signalled his return to the tour with a resounding 6-3 6-1 win over Benjamin Becker in R1. The French player now faces the recent SA Tennis Open champion Feliciano Lopez for a place in R3. Mathieu (5/6) leads his opponent 4:2 and even despite a lack of match fitness he could well frank the form against the talented, but inconsistent, Spaniard.
In the match between Janko Tipsarevic and Thiemo De Bakker the bet is for the Dutchman De Bakker to win a set (4/5). These two have met once before when Tipsarevic won 7-5 7-5 (Chennai 2010) and first time out the Serb might well find his opponent troublesome.
That's all for today, more news from Indian Wells tomorrow when we enter the 'second week' of the tournament and see several more top players fight for a place in R3. As ever, we'll have the best of the tennis betting covered for you right here.
Saturday 13th March
Certainly was an interesting day to start off the men's draw at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Good wins for Nalbandian, Blake, Korolev and Mello being the main highlights along with surprise defeats for the likes of Gasquet, Llodra and Benjamin Becker.
There was also a major shock in the women's draw as Justine Henin went down to the Argentine, Gisela Dulko, 2-6 6-1 4-6.
More action today in both draws involving the higher ranked seeds with guys like Davydenko, Cilic, Djokovic and Nadal all playing in R2 matches with Clijsters, Azarenka and Kuznetsova being the main attractions in the women's tournament.
FREE Tennis Tips For The ATP Tour
First up for us today a real battle of the giants as 6'9" John Isner takes on 6'8" Kevin Anderson. They've played twice before (1:1) when, no great surprise, serve has dominated. Isner, however, is the better all-round player and is in better form in 2010. A first set score of either 6-4 (7/2) or 7-6 (9/2) to Isner looks attractive given that Anderson, of the two, will find it much harder to break his opponent's serve.
We'll also take a look at the match between Nikolay Davydenko and recent Delray Beach winner Ernest Gulbis. Whether that win proves to be the start of something big for the Latvian remains to be seen but with this being the Russian's first game since an early retirement in Dubai, Gulbis might just catch him cold. A three set match (7/4) has a chance on past meetings - Davydenko leads 2:0 (both on hard, 2008) with one being a two set match and the other going to a decider - as Gulbis can make a fight of this.
That's all for today, more news from Indian Wells tomorrow when more of the top players will start their campaign in Scottsdale.
Friday 12th March
The expected tough first day of the men's draw came to pass as the early play in the men's tournament at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells was very competitive and proved very tough to call.
No fewer than five players (Gulbis, Fish, Delgado, Garcia-Lopez and Ancic) came from a set down to win their matches and several others produced shocks, of a kind, with Fognini over Rochus, Harrison over Dent and Dabul over Leonardo Mayer being the main eye-catchers.
FREE Tennis Tips For The ATP Tour
Today's play isn't that much easier to dissect with another bunch of close games lined up for the rest of the R1 draw - then tomorrow we'll see the first of the seeds start their challenge for this Masters Series title.
Benjamin Becker (5/6) has already been the subject of steady support ahead of his match with Paul-Henri Mathieu. The Frenchman is coming back from a long injury lay-off (3 months) and first time out Mathieu could well lack the match fitness to beat his German opponent. Becker is certainly no world-beater, and a fit and fresh Mathieu would be the favourite here, but the percentage play is that Becker will edge their meeting today.
Another player on the comeback trail is David Nalbandian. The Argentine has played in Buenos Aires and the Davis Cup but it's still early days in his rehabilitation. Stefan Koubek at 33 won't run the legs of Nalbandian but he won't be a push-over either. A three set match (13/8) is quite possible given the Austrian's decent start to 2010 and the Argentine's track record of never winning matches quite as easily as he's expected to do ...
That's all for today, more news from Indian Wells tomorrow when some of the top players will enter the action in Scottsdale.
Thursday 11th March
The action gets underway in the men's draw of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells today after the women opened proceedings on Wednesday - including an easy win for Justine Henin.
The 32 seeds all get a bye into R2 meaning that the big guns won't enter the action until Friday/Saturday ... still time to sign up for our outright bets for the event.
The play will then continue through until Sunday, March 21st by which time the first Masters Series champion of 2010 will be known - the question is will it be Roger Federer ... we don't think so.
Tennis Match Bets For The ATP Tour
Looking at the R1 betting for today we find a number of very close looking matches - Alves/Schuettler, Cuevas/Gil, Serra/Falla, Ram/Koellerer etc - none of which merit strong support either way.
Olivier Rochus (4/6) looks the best of a bad lot on Day 1 in his match with Fabio Fognini. The 22-year-old Italian has lost all his hard court matches this year and really is a clay-courter, and little else. That said, this is no big value price about the Belgian. Same goes for Lukas Lacko (8/13) over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Jeremy Chardy (4/9) versus Potito Starace where two more clay-courters look ripe to be opposed.
But it's short odds we're being asked to take about all of them and at some point we must draw a line in the sand and say 'these bets simply don't represent value' and so should be avoided.
As such we'll play it safe today, more news from Indian Wells tomorrow and before you go, don't forget to sign up for outright tennis betting advice here!!
Wednesday 10th March
We'll have our outright bets online later today for the WTA Tour event at Indian Wells - which includes one girl at very nice double figure price - so if you're still to register for our exclusive preview, click Master Series tennis outright bets.
You'll see from our tennis betting results that there have been plenty of outright winners so far this year, on both tours, and we aim to add to that in Scottsdale this coming week.
The men's draw has also been made for the ATP Tour event, the first Masters Series event of 2010, and our outright selections will also be posted within 24 hours ... so get registered!!
FREE Tennis Match Betting Tips For Today
Blaz Kavcic W8/13 was yesterday's winner, once again proving the worth of the Challenger Tour for making profits - and the action continues today in Sarajevo, Kyoto and Rabat.
One bet for us today in Sarajevo where Marsel Ilhan plays Conor Niland for the second time in a week (Niland won 6-3 6-1 6-2 in the Ireland/Turkey Davis Cup tie last Friday). However, despite this, and a previous win for Niland in Ilhan's native Turkey last year, we simply don't believe that the Turk is the inferior player. He's ranked No.122 in the world to Niland's No.241 and has form on the main tour which the Irishman just hasn't got.
It might be a case of Niland simply having the 'Indian Sign' over Ilhan but the 22-year-old from Istanbul looks a player of some promise and surely can reverse the form when they meet later today. Ilhan (5/6) is the bet.
That's all for today, more news from Indian Wells tomorrow and before you go, don't forget to sign up for outright bets!!
Tuesday 9th March
The draw has been made for the WTA Tour event at Indian Wells - and it looks a very open contest to say the least - and later today the ATP will also finalise the field for the first Masters Series event of 2010.
You'll see from our tennis betting results that there have been plenty of outright winners so far this year, on both tours, and we aim to add to that in Scottsdale this coming week. If you're not already signed up for our outright tennis preview, click outright tennis bets.
And don't forget each day we provide FREE match betting analysis as well which made profits in both January and February and all you need to do is visit us each day for the best match betting analysis around.
Match Tennis Betting FREE Tips For Today
The action in Arizona starts in a couple days but we can keep ourselves busy, and backing winners, on the Challenger Tour for the moment. Last week we were 100% in the Cherbourg event and today we head off to the clay action in Rabat, Morocco.
Blaz Kavcic (8/13) to beat Adrian Ungur. These two have met twice before at this level and the 23-year-old Slovenian has won both times. He's been in better form already this year (SF in Tangiers) and is ranked higher than his Romanian opponent (No.101 to No.172). Kavcic can win this today.
Also worth a look in Morocco is Simone Bolelli over Adrian Menendez (the Italian should have too much experience for his Spanish opponent) along with Dominik Hrbaty against Jan Minar in the Challenger Tour taking place in Sarajevo. Hrbaty, again, is the higher ranked and more experienced player and should win. The double on Bolelli/Hrbaty (10/11) looks a solid call.
And before you go, don't forget to sign up for outright bets here.
Monday 8th March
The QF's for the Davis Cup were finalised yesterday as all but one of the R16 ties were completed (the Chile/Israel match will conclude today with the home country leading 2-1 and looking good to progress).
In the top half of the draw France will take on defending champions Spain whilst in another mouth-watering tie it's Russia at home to Argentina. The winners of those two matches will play in the SF's.
As for the bottom half of the draw, Croatia entertain Serbia in something of a 'local derby' with the winner going on to face either Chile (should they, as expected, beat Israel) or the Czech Republic.
These ties come later in the year, once the small matter of a couple of Slams and few Masters Series events are out of the way...
Sign Up NOW! For Indian Wells Betting Tips
Talking of which, this week it's the first Masters Series event of the year at Indian Wells - where we advised Rafael Nadal W9/4 last year. We'll have both the tournaments covered, that's men and women, so make sure you sign up today if you haven't already.
Join today for exclusive Tennis Outright bets
Qualifying takes place early this week and the main event starts just before the weekend. However, we do expect to be betting if not tomorrow then on Wednesday so remember to bookmark this page and check in each day.
Our FREE tennis match bets have been in great form in 2010 and we have a lot more in store for Indian Wells. And before you go, don't forget as well to sign up for outright tennis bets here.
Sunday 7th March
Just the one bet yesterday. Nicolas Mahut W11/10 in Cherbourg as the Challenger Tour event provided a second winner of the week (Mahut also W4/6 earlier in the week). The Frenchman will face Gilles Muller in the final.
Interesting how once again an event in France has delivered at least one home finalist - as we've pointed out before, it's more than a coincidence to see French players always doing well on native soil.
As for the Davis Cup... the Czech Republic, Croatia and France are all through to the QF's after the doubles on Saturday. They all have unassailable 3-0 leads. In the other ties it's Spain, Serbia, Russia and Argentina who lead 2-1 entering today's reverse singles. Starting a day late, Chile are 2-0 against Israel.
Of the teams trailing 1-2 the one with the best chance of fighting back look to be Sweden with Soderling and Johansson taking on Mayer and Schwank respectively. The others seem to have done enough to seal the win.
Sign Up For Masters Series Outright Betting Tips
Next week it's the first Masters Series event of the year at Indian Wells - where we advised Rafael Nadal W9/4 last year. We'll have both the tournaments covered, men and women, so make sure you sign up today if you haven't already.
That's all for now. It's best to leave the action alone today, mainly because the prices on offer are poor and there will be inevitable line-up changes for the final matches, depending on how the ties stand. We'll start next week with a look at Indian Wells so sign for outright tennis bets here and join us again tomorrow morning.
Saturday 6th March
Things went pretty much according to plan on Day 1 of the Davis Cup with no major surprises in any of the seven ties which got underway (the final one, in Chile, will start later today having been delayed due to the recent earthquake).
Each of France, Russia, Croatia, Serbia and the Czech Republic won both singles rubbers on the opening day to put themselves in a commanding position. Victory for any of them today in the doubles and they will go through to the QF's with a day to spare.
Spain/Switzerland and Sweden/Argentina are more delicately poised at 1:1 after the initial matches. Both home sides still remain the favourites to go through but having dropped a match already nothing can be taken for granted in either Logrono or Stockholm.
Today's Tennis Match Betting Action
... well it doesn't come from the Davis Cup play as the doubles isn't an area of the game which provides a great deal of form for us to study (and, more to the point, bookmakers don't tend to cover it to any great extent). Hence it's best to leave these ties alone for the moment.
The Challenger Tour event in Cherbourg sees Nicolas Mahut play fellow Frenchman Arnaud Clement. They've played five times in the last six years and Mahut has won every time (four times in straight sets). Both have looked in good form this week but Mahut (11/10) has already won for us in R1 (against Kevin Kim) and looks the value once again in Northern France.
That's all for today. We'll round off the Davis Cup ties tomorrow and then it's time to move onto Indian Wells and the first Masters Series event of the year ... we'll see you back here in the morning.
Friday 5th March
Nicolas Mahut W8/15 was an easy winner yesterday in the Cherbourg Challenger Tour event, beating Kevin Kim 6-4 6-3, but today we can look to some tennis action at a slightly higher level!
The Davis Cup starts today and as we keep saying ... if you haven't signed up yet make sure you sign up for our exclusive outright bets for the 2010 competition. We're opposing the defending champions (Spain) who won the title in both 2008 and 2009 - and who we backed last year! - and we've got some real value bets in the outright betting market.
Today's Tennis Match Betting In The Davis Cup
To start with the ties themselves, it's very hard to see any major surprises this weekend. The best value could turn out to be the USA (4/1) against Serbia but with home advantage the Serbs have shrewdly selected a clay court for the tie ... this will significantly reduce the big-serving threat of both John Isner and Sam Querrey (and the USA are without Andy Roddick).
As for the individual matches there are some very short prices about today which offer no interest at all - Marin Cilic (1/33) to beat Giovanni Lapentti, Mikhail Youzhny (1/25) against Rohan Bopanna, plus each of David Ferrer and Robin Soderling (both 1/14) to beat Marco Chiudinelli and Eduardo Schwank respectively and Novak Djokovic (1/9) over Sam Querrey.
Opportunities are thin on the ground as a result. Just one main bet today and that's in the Spain/Switzerland tie where Almagro/Wawrinka to play out a four set match (6/4) looks a solid bet. They've played four times before at ATP & Challenger Tour level with Wawrinka leading 3:1 but there's only been one straight sets match in those four encounters. What's more there's a lot at stake in this first match of the tie and it'll be extremely competitive ... so this bet covers either player winning in four sets.
That's all for today. Tricky day, generally, in match betting terms so best to play in conservatively but we'll have the doubles tomorrow, plus updated outright betting on the ties, and then it's the reverse singles on Sunday.
Thursday 4th March
Generally a quiet week on the tennis front with the main focus of attention being the Davis Cup which starts tomorrow. So, if you haven't done so already, make sure you sign up for our exclusive outright bets and then tomorrow we'll return with a look at the match betting on Day 1 of the various World Group ties.
But there is a little bit of tennis action taking place this week - and we gave a couple of winners yesterday as Vania King W5/4 (WTA Monterrey) and Gilles Muller W5/6 (Cherbourg Challenger) were both successful. Not strong fancies but if you backed them and make a profit ... that's what it's all about.
We do provide a FREE match betting service, updated each day, and all we ask is that if you back a winner or two you make a small donation to the running of the site - please make your contribution here.
This Week's FREE Tennis Match Betting
Not a great deal to interest us in the ladies event in Mexico - there have been plenty of surprises in Monterrey this week and it looks an event that's going to have plenty more!
As for the men, Nicolas Mahut (8/15) looks the best bet today against the American Kevin Kim in the Challenger Tour event in Cherbourg. Although currently ranked 82 places below Kim (at No. 208 to No.126) Mahut has the better career profile and looks a decent bet to defeat the No.3 seed. As we say, it's always worth noting the French when playing on home soil.
That's all for today. Don't forget, before you go, there's the latest article in our series The Art Of Outright Tennis Betting which has just been posted on the site - please check it out - and also make sure you get hold of our Davis Cup preview which you can sign up for right now.
Wednesday 3rd March
It's the start of the Davis Cup this weekend ... and if you haven't already registered for our outright betting preview of the competition then make sure you sign up for our exclusive outright bets.
After that we're off to Indian Wells and then Miami for back-to-back Masters Series tournaments where we expect to add more winners to our list for 2010:
- Dubai - Novak Djokovic WON 9/2
- Johannesburg - Feliciano Lopez WON 8/1
- Sydney - Elena Dementieva WON 7/1
- Chennai - Marin Cilic WON 2/1
- San Jose - Fernando Verdasco WON 4/1
There has also been John Isner W11/1 and Ernests Gulbis W11/1 as both were featured in an earlier Players To Watch In 2010 article.
And don't forget the likes of Mikhail Youzhny in Rotterdam e/w 20/1 and several others who have made the frame - Gasquet, Wawrinka, Isner etc.
This Week's FREE Tennis Match Betting
Quiet for us this week on the ATP Tour in preparation for the coming play in the Davis Cup (and we'll start to preview that action tomorrow). There's one Challenger Tour event in Cherbourg this week and a WTA Tour event in Monterrey. Neither have any great match betting interest with the best match in France a 50/50 call between Gilles Muller and Kristof Vliegen - we'd just go for the Luxembourg player, Muller. Very little to note with the ladies in Mexico where there have been several major shocks already and Vania King (5/4) could add to these against Julie Coin in their R2 match.
That's all for today, don't forget our Davis Cup preview which you can sign up for right now ahead of this weekend's action.
Tuesday 2nd March
After the hectic four week period of action after the Australian Open, where no fewer than 12 events were played, there's a bit of a chance to catch up this week. It's the start of the Davis Cup this weekend ... and if you haven't already registered for our expert outright betting preview of this competition sign up for our exclusive outright bets here.
Then next week it's off to Indian Wells and then Miami for back-to-back Masters Series tournaments. Already this year our outright bets have provided a host of winners:
- Dubai - Novak Djokovic WON 9/2
- Johannesburg - Feliciano Lopez WON 8/1
- Sydney - Elena Dementieva WON 7/1
- Chennai - Marin Cilic WON 2/1
- San Jose - Fernando Verdasco WON 4/1
There have also been runners-up (like Mikhail Youzhny in Rotterdam) at prices up to 20/1 .... and there's plenty more to follow.
There has also been John Isner W11/1 and Ernests Gulbis W11/1 as both were featured in an earlier Players To Watch In 2010 article.
This Week's FREE Tennis Match Betting
It's going to be pretty quiet this week up until the start of the Davis Cup ties but one bet to consider today in the WTA event in Monterrey is the veteran American Jill Craybas (8/11) against Iveta Benesova. Not one for huge stakes but the 35-year-old Craybas leads their series 2-1 and Benesova has been struggling a bit for form this year. This is worth a small interest on a generally difficult day for betting in Mexico.
That's all for today, don't forget our Davis Cup preview which you can sign up for right now ahead of this weekend's action.
Monday 1st March
Last week ended on a winning note as Novak Djokovic W9/2 in Dubai after a rain-delayed final with Mikhail Youzhny went into a second day. The Serb's eventual 7-5 5-7 6-3 win being another outright betting success for our exclusive previews.
We also celebrated the overdue first success of the 21-year-old Latvian Ernests Gulbis W11/1 in Delray Beach as he was another player featured in an earlier Players To Watch In 2010 feature back in January. He beat Ivo Karlovic 6-2 6-3 to land his maiden ATP Tour title.
Sign Up For Our Davis Cup Betting Advice
Don't forget, we'll be revealing our outright bets for this year's Davis Cup competition this week (after advising Spain W2/1 last year).
Make sure you sign up for our exclusive outright bets as there will be a couple of good prices to take about our selections.
This Week's FREE Tennis Match Betting
Good to report that February's FREE match bets ended the month in profit, just like January, and we'll publish the full breakdown of results very soon.
With it being Davis Cup week the opportunity for match bets will come towards the end of the week as there are only scraps of play elsewhere on the WTA Tour and Challenger Tour.
IF ANY BETS COME THROUGH WE WILL SEND THEM OUT VIA THE FREE BETS NEWSLETTER - PLEASE SIGN UP HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY.
That's all for today, don't forget our Davis Cup preview which you can sign up for right now ahead of this weekend's action.
