Tennis 30th July - 5th August(ATP Legg Mason & Sopot, WTA Acura and Stockholm)

[Wittmann 44]

ATP - Legg Mason (US hardcourt)

http://www.leggmasontennisclassic.com

ATP - Sopot (Poland) - Clay

http://www.ideaprokomopen.pl

WTA – Acura Classic (US hardcourt)

http://www.acuraclassic.com

WTA – Stockholm (Hardcourt)

http://www.nordiclightopen.com

[Wittmann 44]

Just 1 from ffice:smarttags" />Poland
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Acasuso-Eschauer

Acasuso showing signs of life when pushing Ferrer hard last week should have too much class for Eschauer who fell back to earth fairly rapidly last week after making his first final in Amersfoot the previous week. Eschauer was playing and losing Bundesliga tennis on Sunday and faces a long trek to Poland. Worth opposing.

2 Units Acasuso @ 1.55

I’ve had a few quid e/w on Mayer (25/1 Boyles) and Almagro (10/1 Bet 365) on Betfair in the top ½ of the draw in Sopot. Mayer has an excellent record here and Almagro on his day can beat most on clay. The top ½ of the draw looks very weak – the seeded Davydenko has been lacklustre since Wimbeldon, the other seed Chela is carrying an injury and hard to see who else could pose a realistic threat.

[Wittmann 44]

3 from the Nordic Light Open

Loit-Petkovic

Loit not in the best of form but this is a gentle start to the hardcourt season for her and a big leap in class for the young German who is knocking on the top 100. Loit made the SF here in 2005 and has some decent hardcourt results against the mid rankers and challengers Should be straightforward.

2 Units Loit @ 1.40

Pirinkova-Dechy

Dechy hasn’t played since Wimbeldon which makes me think she is either injured or mentally fatigued. As it is her 2007 has been mediocre, barely better than Pirinkova who has had injury worries of her own. A very speculative lay of Dechy here. Theres very little liquidity in the set betting but this is one that might be worth playing in running.
Lay Dechy @ 1.39 (0.75 Units Risked)

Dechy 2-1 0.25 Units @ 4.50

Johansson-Zapalkova

Zapalkova takes on a local wild card and is worth opposing given her terrible form and her abysmal record here. Johansson is ITF fodder but at 1.26 I can lay Zapalkova.

Lay Zapalkova @ 1.26 (0.50 Units Risked)

[engineer]

Originally Posted by Wittmann 44

Pirinkova-Dechy

Dechy hasn’t played since Wimbeldon which makes me think she is either injured or mentally fatigued. As it is her 2007 has been mediocre, barely better than Pirinkova who has had injury worries of her own. A very speculative lay of Dechy here. Theres very little liquidity in the set betting but this is one that might be worth playing in running.
Lay Dechy @ 1.39 (0.75 Units Risked)

Dechy 2-1 0.25 Units @ 4.50

Yes, I can't say what is the condition of PirOnkova, but this year, when fit, she shows some good tennis, mainly against better opponents. If the french doesn't have any problems I can't see her losing against Pironkova, but nobody knows what she will look like, so she should be laied at those odds.

[Wittmann 44]

Some very interesting looking games in Washington today and tonight.

Henman - Isner

Henman tries to stave of the inevitable with a match against young American college player Isner. John Isner is well over 6 foot and has by all accounts a massive serve. He is still a player ranked just under 500. He has beaten absolutely no one of any note (a win against Michael Russell was over 2 years ago) and under normal cirsumstances Henman would be priced around 1.15 for a game against a player of this rank. Timster is a former finalist here and has some decent results here. My experiences with Henman have generally been very negative of late but I cannot let this price go by. Maximum stakes here on the fist pumper.

5 Units Henman @ 1.33

Economides-Klizen

Econmides took a holiday in Austria last week when he went out first round 2-0 to Hartfield who was heavily supported to win by that score at odds down to 1.20. The Greek, like Isner mentioned above is another giant with a monster serve and goes off amazingly at odds against versus Klizen who was the 2006 French Open juniors winner. Klizen however has done very little since as recent hardcourt losses in the US to Evans and Bastl show. He will be better accilimatised than Economides and while I can see the Greek not being too pushed being beaten by a player like Hartfield ranked marginally above him I cannot see him being too happy losing to a whippersnapper like Kilzan who is like Isner mentioned above ranked close to the 500 mark. I’m opposing the market here which has seen the Greek steadily drift today from 1.60 out so beware!

1.50 Units Econmides @ 2.22

[$olvent]

Potential Venus-Sharapova semi highlights Acura draw

The draw for the 24th and final edition of the Acura Classic women's tennis tournament was announced Friday, and all eyes were on one half of bracket ---- the half potentially showcasing top seed and defending champion Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams in a semifinal battle.
For the first time since 1996, the WTA event will not have at least seven of the top 10 ranked players in the world in the main draw. The Tier I event features a $1.34 million prize pool and 16 of the top 23 ranked women's players.
Martina Hingis, who won the event in 1997 and 1999, is among the players competing.
"San Diego has always been a bounce-back tournament for me," said Hingis, a five-time winner of Grand Slam events. "I'm healthy and can run, and hopefully that will show on the courts this week."
Hingis joins fellow Swiss player Patty Schnyder and fourth-seeded Nadia Petrova in the same portion of the bracket.
Fifty-six players will take part in a draw in which the top eight seeds receive a bye. Williams is the No. 10 seed and will play Anastasia Rodionova in the first round.
La Costa resident Coco Vandeweghe also will be in Hingis' part of the draw after being awarded a wild-card entry for the second consecutive year. She will face Elena Bovina, who has won three career WTA tournament titles, in the first round.
Amelia Herring, a 14-year-old La Costa Canyon student, was afforded a wild card into the 32-player qualifying draw and will face Aiko Nakamura in the first round.
"They go through the effort of playing in the opportunity tournaments," said Raquel Giscafre of Promotion Sports Inc. of the wild-card entries. "It's a big opportunity for them. Why not?"Second-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia received the most favorable draw; three qualifiers and three wild cards are in her section.

[rcgills]

Originally Posted by Wittmann 44

Economides-Klizen

Econmides took a holiday in Austria last week when he went out first round 2-0 to Hartfield who was heavily supported to win by that score at odds down to 1.20. The Greek, like Isner mentioned above is another giant with a monster serve and goes off amazingly at odds against versus Klizen who was the 2006 French Open juniors winner. Klizen however has done very little since as recent hardcourt losses in the US to Evans and Bastl show. He will be better accilimatised than Economides and while I can see the Greek not being too pushed being beaten by a player like Hartfield ranked marginally above him I cannot see him being too happy losing to a whippersnapper like Kilzan who is like Isner mentioned above ranked close to the 500 mark. I’m opposing the market here which has seen the Greek steadily drift today from 1.60 out so beware!

1.50 Units Econmides @ 2.22

Took Economides myself this morning at 1.85, which I thought looked a decent enough price. Kept stakes low though having seen he'd already drifted a fair bit, and if he's now out to 2.22 then it's beginning to look very suspicious.

[$olvent]

Monday, July 30, 2007
WTA - San Diego (USA) - Hardcourt, World

7:00 PM Alona Bondarenko (UKR) 1.33 Shuai Peng (CHN) 2.70 +2
7:00 PM Vania King (USA) 1.07 Asia Muhammed (USA) 5.26
8:15 PM Angelique Kerber (GER) 1.02 Brittany Augustine (USA) 7.00

8:15 PM Elena Dementieva (RUS) 1.04 Catalina Castano (COL) 6.15 +1
8:15 PM Michaella Krajicek (NED) 1.29 Yuliana Fedak (UKR) 2.87 +2
8:30 PM Aiko Nakamura (JPN) 1.62 Milagros Sequera (VEN) 1.97 +2
9:30 PM Akiko Morigami (JPN) 1.17 Anne Kremer (LUX) 3.70 +2
9:30 PM Camille Pin (FRA) 1.50 Tatiana Poutchek (BLR) 2.19 +2
9:30 PM Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 1.18 Hana Sromova (CZE) 3.60 +1
9:30 PM Patty Schnyder (SUI) 1.09 Jamea Jackson (USA) 4.85 +2
11:00 PM Eleni Daniilidou (GRE) 1.44 Jill Craybas (USA) 2.33 +2
11:00 PM Laura Granville (USA) 1.27 Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 2.98 +2
11:00 PM Tatiana Golovin (FRA) 1.17 Gisela Dulko (ARG) 3.70 +2
11:00 PM Venus Williams (USA) 1.01 Anastasia Rodionova (RUS) 7.70 +2

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

7:00 PM Ai Sugiyama (JPN) 1.28 Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) 2.92
7:00 PM Lucie Safarova (CZE) 1.20 Meilen Tu (USA) 3.45
7:00 PM Shahar Peer (ISR) 1.50 Sania Mirza (IND) 2.20

bwin

[$olvent]

My choice is TREBLE: (with the best odds from Ladbrokes.com - Online Sports Betting, Poker Games, Casino and Games)

Event: Acura Classic; M Krajicek vs Y Fedak
Selection: M Krajicek@1.40
Event: Acura Classic; M Sequera vs A Nakamura
Selection: A Nakamura@1.83
Event: Acura Classic; A Morigami vs A Kremer
Selection: A Morigami@1.22

[$olvent]

Monday, July 30, 2007
WTA - San Diego (USA), Doubles - Hardcourt, World

11:00 PM M. Krajicek/B. Mattek 1.20 L. Dekmeijere/I. Senoglu 3.45 +1
11:00 PM N. Pratt / B. Stewart 1.50 S-W. Hsieh/A. Kudryavtseva 2.20 +2
11:00 PM V. King/S. Peng 1.14 V. Henke/E. Makarova 4.10

bwin


My choice is:

11:00 PM N. Pratt / B. Stewart 1.50 - S-W. Hsieh/A. Kudryavtseva 2.20

[Wittmann 44]

The Ecomides match has been pulled from almost all the bookies .

Looks like this one might have been decided already and it won’t be the Greek. Second in a row for him if it happens.

This would be a real disgrace. Kilzan is nearly 400 places below him.

[Martens]

i think acasuso and andreev will win today,they both deserve my minimum stake today ( amount equal to a pint of beer) ...this is a "loosers" tournament to my eyes, last clay of the season

have a nice day all

[ForzaLazio]

Great writeups from Wittmann and co the last few weeks. Going to start keeping a record of my tennis bets.

M.Krajicek-Fedak

Misa is one of the most exciting up and coing talents in WTA imo. Her hard hitting,big serve and passionate attitude was evident in a great run in Wimbledon. Today she faces Fedak who is a neat player who is capable of playing well but she is not consistant in matches and can play good for a set and poorly for two. I believe Krajicek will have far too much class for her today as she is a superior player with high confidence.
Krajicek hasnt showed her best on hard courts yet, she had personal problems at the atart of the year and that was a big factor in her poor form, but hard is her most comfortable surface proven by her US Open win in Juniors.
2/5 is a big price for Misa today and one that I feel I have to take for my max.

5pts Krajicek to beat Fedak at 2/5

[Wittmann 44]

I looked at Kraijeck Forza - big price alright but her form is a bit suspect last two games. I can't understand why she has only played twice since Wimbeldon? She was beaten by Birnerova in her last outing (Birnerova had lost 12 of the previous 13 to that) and Kraijeck is now a negative 16-19 for the year. Fedak beat her on grass which should be her best surface back in June. Finally this is her first hardcourt outing in months and Fedak has already warmed up by beating the in form Osterloh and another Yank Stevenson in qualifying. GL - she probably needs a bit of confidence to start playing like she is capable of.

Incidentally speaking of funny prices Volandri's price has gone crazy. He should be able to beat the Pole he is playing with one hand tied behind his back. Early prices of 1.22 look about right. He drifted out to Evens and is now back at 1.55. He has been involved in at least 2 other highly suspect games recently. Don't be surprised to see him lose the first here and then win 2-1.

[ForzaLazio]

I think shes only played once mate.

I wouldnt read too much into the loss against Birnerova. It was a tier 5 clay tournament and Misa will have losses like that on clay, its just not a great surface for her. Another thing was that her whole family was there having a little holdiay with her in Palermo. The last time they were on holiday she lost in the 1st round in Prague. I honestly dont think she had any interest in Palermo and I dont know why she even played it as she doesnt like clay.
Fedak is capable of playing well like her performances In Birmingham, although she then went out in the first round of Wimbledon qualifiers.
I can see Krajicek being really pumped up aswell becasue there are plenty of points available as she had a poor US hard court season aswell.