08/01/08 Full Card
ATP Sydney: Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) vs Stanislas Wawrinka (SWI) - Today, 00:00 GMT
Dmitry Tursunov had a positive week in Doha, with an easy win over Albert Montanes and then giving probably the best fight he ever gave to Nikolay Davydenko, probably the worst matchup in the circuit for him. Tursunov likes the hot weather and the surfaces where the Australian tournaments are played and he had time to travel from Doha and adapt to the conditions in here. He has a great first serve and powerful strokes that can be very hard to catch. He reached quarter finals in here the only time he has played in Sydney, with a straight sets over Top 10 player Tommy Robredo included. The Russian doesn't seem to have problems in handling players with great backhands outside clay, as recent wins over Nicolas Almagro, Fernando Verdasco and Richard Gasquet show it.
One of the hardest things to do in tennis is to have two great weeks in a row, especially on different continents. Wawrinka reached the final of Doha and now he flew all over the Ocean to get to Australia. He only had two days to recover from a physically and emotionally tiring week and he won't be on his best shape today for sure. Wawrinka reached two finals last season and he lost in straight sets in the first round of the week after these good tournaments. Wawrinka needs to be at 100% to be competitive, as he gets pretty error-prone sometimes and that won't be possible today.
Tursunov had more time to adapt to the Australian conditions and he has also more energy in the tank for this match. Wawrinka can't play two amazing tournaments in a row and even if he did, he would ruin all his chances of a good performance at next week's Australian Open. Take Tursunov to win this one.
Play 1* unit on Dmitry Tursunov to win @ +114
ATP Auckland: Mario Ancic (CRO) vs Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) - Today, 01:00 GMT
Mario Ancic expects to have finally a season without injury worries. He is clearly a Top 10 player, but he has simply bad luck with injuries. He is an hardcourt machine, with a great serve and a good amount of weapons to perform well on the baseline and also on the net and the only thing that he is lacking is to stay fit the whole season. The only time he did it on his career, he finished that season in the Top 10. That's why he will try to do again this season. Ancic is a former finalist in here and the surface is good for him, as his serve gets close to being unbreakable, but at the same time, he is capable of contesting the service games of his opponents to sneak a break per set. He prepared this season very well and he had to pull out of Adelaide last week thanks to a flu, but now he is at 100% to begin the season on the best way possible.
Juan Carlos Ferrero is probably one of the best opponents Ancic could get for his first match of the season. He is a big name in the circuit, so a win in here would leave Ancic extremely confident for the rest of the season. And also Ferrero is known for performing badly on the first week of the season. Ferrero has lost his first match of the season in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007! And against Jan Hernych, Chris Guccione (x2) and Nicolas Massu! Players way far from the level of the world class player that is Ancic. Ferrero seems to struggle on his serve in the first month of the year and if that happens today, he is going to lose for sure, as Ancic won't give him a lot of chances on his service games.
This is a big match to start the season, but Ancic is simply the better player of the two. The Croatian wants to have a career season this year, while Ferrero's prime has already passed five years ago. Take Ancic to start the season in style in here.
Play 1* unit on Mario Ancic to win @ +109
ATP Auckland: Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR) vs Michael Llodra (FRA) - Today, 01:00 GMT
Hyung-Taik Lee has the perfect opponent for his first round in here: a left handed serve & volley player that comes from a tournament win the week before. Lee eats serve & volley players for breakfast and he showed that last week by beating Max Mirnyi by 6:3 6:2. Also the last time Lee has lost on hardcourt against a left handed player (besides Rafael Nadal) was in 2004! He is a perfect 12-0 after that! Also the fact that he is playing someone who has just won a tournament is good for him, as tournament winners are extremely prone to suffer a let down on the week after, especially when we are only one week away from a Grand Slam.
That's right. Michael Llodra won Adelaide out of nowhere last week and that was so unexpected, that he must have celebrated with style. Llodra after such physically and emotionally effort won't be 100% focused on this match, especially when he is going to play singles and doubles at next week's Australian Open. Even though he has defeated Gilles Simon and Jarkko Nieminen last week, he is still 4-13 on his last 17 matches against a list of good returners that I've on my program. It's also strange that after a win in Australia, he flew to New Zealand, just to comeback to Australia next week. I won't be surprised if Llodra just comes here to get his pay check and leaves to Australia again.
Lee is an horrible matchup for Llodra, who won't be 100% focused on the match, after celebrating his win in Adelaide. Lee is very experienced and he will take advantage of the unforced errors Llodra will end up committing. Take Lee to win in here.
Play 1* unit on Hyung-Taik Lee to win @ -104
WTA Sydney: Marion Bartoli (FRA) vs Francesca Schiavone (ITA) - Today, 01:30 GMT
Marion Bartoli has a really important season in 2008. After reaching surprisingly the Wimbledon final in 2007, she needs to prove she deserves to be in the Top 10. She began her season very well with a 6:1 6:0 over Top 50 player Karin Knapp yesterday. Bartoli is a good hardcourt player and the fact that she can open the angles very well will make Schiavone struggle, who hasn't exactly a perfect movement on court.
Francesca Schiavone isn't exactly in great shape and she struggled a little bit to defeat the veteran Jill Craybas by 6:4 6:4. She is an aggressive player, who likes to finish the points in the net, but Bartoli won't allow that and if she is capable of maintaining Schiavone on the baseline, then she will have no problems in defeating her. Schiavone went 1-8 against Top 10 players last season and her only win was thanks to a retirement. She isn't exactly on her prime and I can't see how she will make this match competitive, unless Bartoli pulls out an horrible performance, something that's unlikely after such good performance yesterday.
Schiavone has a traditional struggle against French players, as they obligate her to stay in the baseline and that was what happened the last three times she faced Golovin for example. The results? 6:2 6:0, 6:3 6:1 and 6:0 6:4 for the French player. Bartoli should be capable of doing the same thing Golovin did to Schiavone last season and she should get this one in straight sets.
Play 1* unit on Marion Bartoli to win 2-0 @ +162
WTA Hobart: Ashley Harkleroad (USA) vs Meilen Tu (USA) - Today, 02:30 GMT
I'm officially on the Harkleroad bandwagon. The beautiful American player easily got rid of Yaroslava Shevdova by 6:4 6:3 yesterday, in another great win for her. Now it's time to get another one. She is playing well and even serving well, something that's unlikely to happen on this level on the WTA tour. Harkleroad seems to be confident and she is getting close to the Top 50, a place she should get around the US Open this season. She has won 15 of her last 16 matches, something that gives her a momentum very hard to stop.
Meilen Tu defeated Emilie Loit (who is struggling to win close matches) yesterday, but she hasn't convinced me. Her serve continues to be pretty weak and with Harkleroad serving well, that's bad news for her. Tu seems to be still far from her best and not as confident as Harkleroad is right now. She is just 4-16 on her last 20 matches on second rounds of WTA tournaments, something that makes me think she struggles to recover from hard matches on the first one, like the one she had yesterday, where a third set was needed to determinate the winner.
Harkleroad's momentum is hard to stop right now and in this kind of situations, everything works well for her. Serve, return, backhand, forehand, everything works when a player is confident and has a huge momentum. Meilen Tu is still working on her tennis and she hasn't reached the level she presented in the middle of 2007. The value in my opinion is clearly on Harkleroad to get this one in straight sets.
Play 1* unit on Ashley Harkleroad to win 2-0 @ +200
ATP Sydney: Steve Darcis (BEL) vs Joseph Sirianni (AUS) - Today, 04:00 GMT
Steve Darcis passed qualifying in here, showing that he is more than a mere claycourter. He has a game similar to the Rochus brothers, with a versatile game and his wins over Top 100 players like Frank Dancevic and Evgeny Korolev already in here must have given him the confidence on his game that he needed to perform well in here and at next week's Australian Open. He is a great returner and he has a lot of weapons to counter Sirianni's game.
Joseph Sirianni didn't win Adelaide, but he also had a career tournament last week, something that must have worn him out physically and emotionally. We are talking about a player who had never reached a later stage on an ATP tournament and that needs time to recover the energies that he lost and that isn't something that he could have done in three days. Sirianni will end up committing a lot of errors today, with Darcis returning every ball Sirianni hits and that will end up killing every chance of the Australian to have another great performance in here.
Darcis is simply the better player of the two and Sirianni won't have the necessary energy to perform well in here. Take the Belgian player to win in here.
Play 1* unit on Steve Darcis to win @ -112
Good luck!
ATP Sydney: Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) vs Stanislas Wawrinka (SWI) - Today, 00:00 GMT
Dmitry Tursunov had a positive week in Doha, with an easy win over Albert Montanes and then giving probably the best fight he ever gave to Nikolay Davydenko, probably the worst matchup in the circuit for him. Tursunov likes the hot weather and the surfaces where the Australian tournaments are played and he had time to travel from Doha and adapt to the conditions in here. He has a great first serve and powerful strokes that can be very hard to catch. He reached quarter finals in here the only time he has played in Sydney, with a straight sets over Top 10 player Tommy Robredo included. The Russian doesn't seem to have problems in handling players with great backhands outside clay, as recent wins over Nicolas Almagro, Fernando Verdasco and Richard Gasquet show it.
One of the hardest things to do in tennis is to have two great weeks in a row, especially on different continents. Wawrinka reached the final of Doha and now he flew all over the Ocean to get to Australia. He only had two days to recover from a physically and emotionally tiring week and he won't be on his best shape today for sure. Wawrinka reached two finals last season and he lost in straight sets in the first round of the week after these good tournaments. Wawrinka needs to be at 100% to be competitive, as he gets pretty error-prone sometimes and that won't be possible today.
Tursunov had more time to adapt to the Australian conditions and he has also more energy in the tank for this match. Wawrinka can't play two amazing tournaments in a row and even if he did, he would ruin all his chances of a good performance at next week's Australian Open. Take Tursunov to win this one.
Play 1* unit on Dmitry Tursunov to win @ +114
ATP Auckland: Mario Ancic (CRO) vs Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) - Today, 01:00 GMT
Mario Ancic expects to have finally a season without injury worries. He is clearly a Top 10 player, but he has simply bad luck with injuries. He is an hardcourt machine, with a great serve and a good amount of weapons to perform well on the baseline and also on the net and the only thing that he is lacking is to stay fit the whole season. The only time he did it on his career, he finished that season in the Top 10. That's why he will try to do again this season. Ancic is a former finalist in here and the surface is good for him, as his serve gets close to being unbreakable, but at the same time, he is capable of contesting the service games of his opponents to sneak a break per set. He prepared this season very well and he had to pull out of Adelaide last week thanks to a flu, but now he is at 100% to begin the season on the best way possible.
Juan Carlos Ferrero is probably one of the best opponents Ancic could get for his first match of the season. He is a big name in the circuit, so a win in here would leave Ancic extremely confident for the rest of the season. And also Ferrero is known for performing badly on the first week of the season. Ferrero has lost his first match of the season in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007! And against Jan Hernych, Chris Guccione (x2) and Nicolas Massu! Players way far from the level of the world class player that is Ancic. Ferrero seems to struggle on his serve in the first month of the year and if that happens today, he is going to lose for sure, as Ancic won't give him a lot of chances on his service games.
This is a big match to start the season, but Ancic is simply the better player of the two. The Croatian wants to have a career season this year, while Ferrero's prime has already passed five years ago. Take Ancic to start the season in style in here.
Play 1* unit on Mario Ancic to win @ +109
ATP Auckland: Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR) vs Michael Llodra (FRA) - Today, 01:00 GMT
Hyung-Taik Lee has the perfect opponent for his first round in here: a left handed serve & volley player that comes from a tournament win the week before. Lee eats serve & volley players for breakfast and he showed that last week by beating Max Mirnyi by 6:3 6:2. Also the last time Lee has lost on hardcourt against a left handed player (besides Rafael Nadal) was in 2004! He is a perfect 12-0 after that! Also the fact that he is playing someone who has just won a tournament is good for him, as tournament winners are extremely prone to suffer a let down on the week after, especially when we are only one week away from a Grand Slam.
That's right. Michael Llodra won Adelaide out of nowhere last week and that was so unexpected, that he must have celebrated with style. Llodra after such physically and emotionally effort won't be 100% focused on this match, especially when he is going to play singles and doubles at next week's Australian Open. Even though he has defeated Gilles Simon and Jarkko Nieminen last week, he is still 4-13 on his last 17 matches against a list of good returners that I've on my program. It's also strange that after a win in Australia, he flew to New Zealand, just to comeback to Australia next week. I won't be surprised if Llodra just comes here to get his pay check and leaves to Australia again.
Lee is an horrible matchup for Llodra, who won't be 100% focused on the match, after celebrating his win in Adelaide. Lee is very experienced and he will take advantage of the unforced errors Llodra will end up committing. Take Lee to win in here.
Play 1* unit on Hyung-Taik Lee to win @ -104
WTA Sydney: Marion Bartoli (FRA) vs Francesca Schiavone (ITA) - Today, 01:30 GMT
Marion Bartoli has a really important season in 2008. After reaching surprisingly the Wimbledon final in 2007, she needs to prove she deserves to be in the Top 10. She began her season very well with a 6:1 6:0 over Top 50 player Karin Knapp yesterday. Bartoli is a good hardcourt player and the fact that she can open the angles very well will make Schiavone struggle, who hasn't exactly a perfect movement on court.
Francesca Schiavone isn't exactly in great shape and she struggled a little bit to defeat the veteran Jill Craybas by 6:4 6:4. She is an aggressive player, who likes to finish the points in the net, but Bartoli won't allow that and if she is capable of maintaining Schiavone on the baseline, then she will have no problems in defeating her. Schiavone went 1-8 against Top 10 players last season and her only win was thanks to a retirement. She isn't exactly on her prime and I can't see how she will make this match competitive, unless Bartoli pulls out an horrible performance, something that's unlikely after such good performance yesterday.
Schiavone has a traditional struggle against French players, as they obligate her to stay in the baseline and that was what happened the last three times she faced Golovin for example. The results? 6:2 6:0, 6:3 6:1 and 6:0 6:4 for the French player. Bartoli should be capable of doing the same thing Golovin did to Schiavone last season and she should get this one in straight sets.
Play 1* unit on Marion Bartoli to win 2-0 @ +162
WTA Hobart: Ashley Harkleroad (USA) vs Meilen Tu (USA) - Today, 02:30 GMT
I'm officially on the Harkleroad bandwagon. The beautiful American player easily got rid of Yaroslava Shevdova by 6:4 6:3 yesterday, in another great win for her. Now it's time to get another one. She is playing well and even serving well, something that's unlikely to happen on this level on the WTA tour. Harkleroad seems to be confident and she is getting close to the Top 50, a place she should get around the US Open this season. She has won 15 of her last 16 matches, something that gives her a momentum very hard to stop.
Meilen Tu defeated Emilie Loit (who is struggling to win close matches) yesterday, but she hasn't convinced me. Her serve continues to be pretty weak and with Harkleroad serving well, that's bad news for her. Tu seems to be still far from her best and not as confident as Harkleroad is right now. She is just 4-16 on her last 20 matches on second rounds of WTA tournaments, something that makes me think she struggles to recover from hard matches on the first one, like the one she had yesterday, where a third set was needed to determinate the winner.
Harkleroad's momentum is hard to stop right now and in this kind of situations, everything works well for her. Serve, return, backhand, forehand, everything works when a player is confident and has a huge momentum. Meilen Tu is still working on her tennis and she hasn't reached the level she presented in the middle of 2007. The value in my opinion is clearly on Harkleroad to get this one in straight sets.
Play 1* unit on Ashley Harkleroad to win 2-0 @ +200
ATP Sydney: Steve Darcis (BEL) vs Joseph Sirianni (AUS) - Today, 04:00 GMT
Steve Darcis passed qualifying in here, showing that he is more than a mere claycourter. He has a game similar to the Rochus brothers, with a versatile game and his wins over Top 100 players like Frank Dancevic and Evgeny Korolev already in here must have given him the confidence on his game that he needed to perform well in here and at next week's Australian Open. He is a great returner and he has a lot of weapons to counter Sirianni's game.
Joseph Sirianni didn't win Adelaide, but he also had a career tournament last week, something that must have worn him out physically and emotionally. We are talking about a player who had never reached a later stage on an ATP tournament and that needs time to recover the energies that he lost and that isn't something that he could have done in three days. Sirianni will end up committing a lot of errors today, with Darcis returning every ball Sirianni hits and that will end up killing every chance of the Australian to have another great performance in here.
Darcis is simply the better player of the two and Sirianni won't have the necessary energy to perform well in here. Take the Belgian player to win in here.
Play 1* unit on Steve Darcis to win @ -112
Good luck!