12/01/08 Full Card
ATP Australian Open (Qualification): Konstantinos Economidis (GRE) vs Stephanie Bohli (SWI) - Today, 00:30 GMT
Konstantinos Econimidis is almost an expert on Grand Slam qualifyings, as since 2002 he has basicaly played them all. The Greek player is a consistent and versatile Top 150 player and even though he has never reached the Top 100 yet, he has been inside the Top 150 since forever and he has a lot of experience on a level that can be considered as being already high. He is already 30 years and if he wins today, this will be his 4th Grand Slam main draw presence, so I doubt he will feel extremely pressured in today's game. He has easily squashed Farrukh Dustov and Laurent Recouderc in the first two rounds of the qualifying and he will play like he was playing at Greece, since there is a huge Greek community in Melbourne.
Stephane Bohli is 24 years old and if he wins today, this will be his 1st Grand Slam main draw presence ever. And I have no doubts he is going to feel pressured in here. Actually the pressure began yesterday in the second round, where after leading Simone Vagnozzi by 6:1 *5:3, he discovered himself trailing by 6:1 5:7 *2:3 15-40! Then he was capable of winning the third set by 6:4, but he showed a lot of his weakness and I doubt he will be calm enough to play his A game tonight. We are talking about someone who has never even played a final round of a Grand Slam qualifying and who is 0-3 at challenger finals, with two losses in matches where he could have won.
On one side, we have an experienced Economidis, who is yet to drop a set in here and who will be supported by hundreds of Greek fans. On the other side, we have Bohli who isn't being able of handling the pressure and who will play a final round of a Grand Slam qualifying for the first time on his career. I guess the side to take is an obvious one. Take the Greek Economidis to win in here.
Play 1* unit on Konstantinos Economidis to win @ -111
ATP Auckland: Juan Carlos Ferrero (SPA) vs Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) - Today, 01:30 GMT
Juan Carlos Ferrero has a huge chance of finally winning an ATP title again. The former number one of the world doesn't win a title since 2003 and that's weird for someone with the talent of the Spanish player. He has played 5 ATP finals after his last title, but they were always against very tough opposition (Hewitt, Nadal, Ljubicic, Roddick, Canas) and Ferrero was never capable of winning those matches. But today he has no excuses. Ferrero is playing very well and especially he is being amazing in the clutch situations. He saved all break points Benneteau had yesterday (including a 0-40 at 2:2 in the first set) and his movement on court is looking close to 100%, something remarkable as he is playing his first tournament of the season.
Philipp Kohlschreiber is also having a nice week, but he is just taking advantage of the nice draw he had. Michael Russell and Marin Cilic were the first two opponents of the German player this week and they made Kohlie struggle a little bit, especially Cilic who took him to a close third set. Then he faced Florian Mayer, who gives little trouble to players with nice movement as Kohlschreiber. And finally in the semi finals, the German player destroyed Juan Monaco, who was worn out after a very long marathon against Michael Llodra the day before and who was already counting his energies for next week's Australian Open. This will only be the second ATP final for Kohlschreiber and the first outside Germany. The German player doesn't have a lot of experience at such high level and his mental weakness (just 44% in tie-breaks played on hardcourt) will end up destroying his chances to beat Ferrero, who is too experience to not take the opportunities Kohlie will give to him.
If there isn't a big difference in terms of talent to play on the surface, there is in experience and ability to perform their best at clutch situations. Ferrero was looking for this opportunity to finally win an ATP title and he will take advantage of it. Take Ferrero to win in here. DOUBLE DIME PLAY!
Play 2* units on Juan Carlos Ferrero to win @ -125
Good luck!
ATP Australian Open (Qualification): Konstantinos Economidis (GRE) vs Stephanie Bohli (SWI) - Today, 00:30 GMT
Konstantinos Econimidis is almost an expert on Grand Slam qualifyings, as since 2002 he has basicaly played them all. The Greek player is a consistent and versatile Top 150 player and even though he has never reached the Top 100 yet, he has been inside the Top 150 since forever and he has a lot of experience on a level that can be considered as being already high. He is already 30 years and if he wins today, this will be his 4th Grand Slam main draw presence, so I doubt he will feel extremely pressured in today's game. He has easily squashed Farrukh Dustov and Laurent Recouderc in the first two rounds of the qualifying and he will play like he was playing at Greece, since there is a huge Greek community in Melbourne.
Stephane Bohli is 24 years old and if he wins today, this will be his 1st Grand Slam main draw presence ever. And I have no doubts he is going to feel pressured in here. Actually the pressure began yesterday in the second round, where after leading Simone Vagnozzi by 6:1 *5:3, he discovered himself trailing by 6:1 5:7 *2:3 15-40! Then he was capable of winning the third set by 6:4, but he showed a lot of his weakness and I doubt he will be calm enough to play his A game tonight. We are talking about someone who has never even played a final round of a Grand Slam qualifying and who is 0-3 at challenger finals, with two losses in matches where he could have won.
On one side, we have an experienced Economidis, who is yet to drop a set in here and who will be supported by hundreds of Greek fans. On the other side, we have Bohli who isn't being able of handling the pressure and who will play a final round of a Grand Slam qualifying for the first time on his career. I guess the side to take is an obvious one. Take the Greek Economidis to win in here.
Play 1* unit on Konstantinos Economidis to win @ -111
ATP Auckland: Juan Carlos Ferrero (SPA) vs Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) - Today, 01:30 GMT
Juan Carlos Ferrero has a huge chance of finally winning an ATP title again. The former number one of the world doesn't win a title since 2003 and that's weird for someone with the talent of the Spanish player. He has played 5 ATP finals after his last title, but they were always against very tough opposition (Hewitt, Nadal, Ljubicic, Roddick, Canas) and Ferrero was never capable of winning those matches. But today he has no excuses. Ferrero is playing very well and especially he is being amazing in the clutch situations. He saved all break points Benneteau had yesterday (including a 0-40 at 2:2 in the first set) and his movement on court is looking close to 100%, something remarkable as he is playing his first tournament of the season.
Philipp Kohlschreiber is also having a nice week, but he is just taking advantage of the nice draw he had. Michael Russell and Marin Cilic were the first two opponents of the German player this week and they made Kohlie struggle a little bit, especially Cilic who took him to a close third set. Then he faced Florian Mayer, who gives little trouble to players with nice movement as Kohlschreiber. And finally in the semi finals, the German player destroyed Juan Monaco, who was worn out after a very long marathon against Michael Llodra the day before and who was already counting his energies for next week's Australian Open. This will only be the second ATP final for Kohlschreiber and the first outside Germany. The German player doesn't have a lot of experience at such high level and his mental weakness (just 44% in tie-breaks played on hardcourt) will end up destroying his chances to beat Ferrero, who is too experience to not take the opportunities Kohlie will give to him.
If there isn't a big difference in terms of talent to play on the surface, there is in experience and ability to perform their best at clutch situations. Ferrero was looking for this opportunity to finally win an ATP title and he will take advantage of it. Take Ferrero to win in here. DOUBLE DIME PLAY!
Play 2* units on Juan Carlos Ferrero to win @ -125
Good luck!
