Federer, Venus Williams in search of Wimbledon Crown
Federer, Venus Williams in search of Wimbledon Crown
Game Time: 06/29/2009 12:00 AM ET
By: Crazy Lou | crazylou.mysbrforum.com
With relatively manageable matches ahead of them, both Roger Federer and Venus Williams are in search of another Wimbledon Championship.
If American sports history has proven anything, it is that the masses love to root for the little guy, the choo-choo train with the engine that never could, the underdog with odds stacked against them, the one person nobody expects to succeed.
It is their determination not to fail, not to falter in the face of adversity, the will to prevail when faced with a man or woman much greater in talent than themselves that shapes the entire backbone of American sports.
As we are more than halfway through the Super Bowl of tennis, the Wimbledon Championship, betting boards in Las Vegas are illuminated by quarter-finals odds from both the ATP and WTA tennis draw. Sorry America, the dogs aren’t barking.
WTA
Venus Williams vs. Agnieszka Radwanska
Venus leads the series 3-1 having won the last 3 encounters, with Radwanska’s lone victory against the American occurring back in 2006 at the Luxembourg tournament when Venus was battling injury. About the only positive Radwanska could draw from is the fact that in March of 2009 she snatched a set against Venus on hard court at the Miami Premier event, that is the only set she has taken from Venus in the last 3 matches.
I absolutely love Agnieszka Radwanskas game, she plays a different style of tennis than most ladies on tour, she has very little power with which to work with and makes up for it with her excellent court coverage, defense, and tennis IQ. She is a player that doesn’t seem to suffer from the same chemical imbalance most ladies on tour do, she isn’t going to gift matches away with unforced errors, isn’t going to hit the panic button should she drop serve. However, her one weak point is the fact that she has no answer for a player with Venus’ skill. I was tempted to say the word ‘power’, but the fact is Radwanska is more than capable of holding her own against heavy hitters, but she has historically done better against the likes of the Petrovas and Wozniackis. The reason for this is these players, while having dominating powerful groundstrokes, often times are deficient in the intangibles department, frequently not making key adjustments to utilize their power.
Venus Williams doesn’t have that problem. She is a master at harnessing her power on grass, and is capable of blowing out the best in the world from wire to wire , as evidenced today in her 6-1 0-1 rout over Ana Ivanovic, dominating her so much that the Serb retired in defeat.
The tennis enthusiast in me wants to say Radwanska is worth a shot at these incredible odds, but the tennis handicapper knows better.
The pick: Venus Williams -655
Other WTA picks include: Dinara Safina -202, Francesca Schiavone +271, Serena Williams -286.
ATP
Roger Federer vs. Ivo Karlovic
Federer leads the series 8-1, but it should be stated that out of those 9 matches there were 12 tiebreaks, the only time the two met on the Grand Slam level was back Wimbledon 2004 where Roger won in straight sets which included two tiebreakers.
The only time Karlovic defeated Federer was back in July of 2008, a month after Rafael Nadal had shocked the world and surpassed Federer by defeating him in the five-set thriller at Wimbledon and snatching the #1 ranking away from the Swiss in the process. It should be stated that Federer was not playing anywhere close to his best at that time, the match included two tiebreakers and the final score-line read Ivo Karlovic 76 46 76.
Federer is nonetheless -775 in a match which again figures to be decided largely by who outplays the other in the tiebreakers. Karlovic rifled down 35 aces in his 4 set win over Fernando Verdasco, won 73% behind his first ball and committed 33 unforced errors. He also was no slouch on the return having had 6 break point opportunities, although he had capitalized off only one. Karlovic in years past has had a reputation of a one-trick pony, a 6ft 10 Croatian that has the best serve on tour, but is often not prudent on the return with his big clumsy stature and lack of touch. Karlovic has obviously spent an immense amount of time working on his game, as he loves rushing into the net and trying to end each rally with one huge approach. He has incredible wingspan and has also improved his match fitness, having developed a reputation of an early exit on the Grand Slam level as he had up to this point never advanced past the 3rd round. It was believed that his lack of endurance hampered his ability to win best of 5 matches, as opposed to the non Grand Slam tournaments where each match is best of 3.
I can tell you right now, the value is NOT on Roger Federer in this match, even though I like his chances to get it done in 4 or 5 sets. He is my pick to win the championship, but I simply can’t justify laying $775 to win $100 in a match where it is reasonable to believe going in there will be two if not more tiebreakers involved.
Federer was impressive in his straight sets dismissal of Robin Soderling, hammering 23 aces and winning 67% behind his first ball. He had only 8 unforced errors the entire match which is quite impressive, he gave Robin only 2 break point opportunities but neither were taken advantage of by the Swede. Federer got in some much needed tiebreaker practice as he defeated Soderling 64 76 76.
Just to put into perspective how good Roger Federer is, even if Karlovic has his best serving game of the tournament, rifles down 50 aces, gives away only one break point opportunity to Federer, I still have to favor the superior skill, decision making, and big game experience of Roger Federer and do like him to break Karlovic whenever possible. Alternatively, I also like Roger to win this match even if we see only tiebreakers. Whereas if you place the shoe on the other foot, I do not think Karlovic has two ways of winning this match. He will either serve his way into the Semi Finals or he will go home, either way it is off his racket and he has no exit strategy if his serve is not clicking. He likely will not break Federer in this match and most certainly is not skilled enough of a returner to hang in there for the real pressure building points.
The pick: No value, but if I had to, I’d take Federer to win 3-1 and 3-2 at the best sportsbook odds possible.
Other ATP picks include: Andy Roddick -242, Tommy Haas +210, and a lean on Andy Murray depending what the odds come out as against JC Ferrero.
Stop on by the tennis betting subforum to chat with fellow handicappers!
Game Time: 06/29/2009 12:00 AM ET
By: Crazy Lou | crazylou.mysbrforum.com
With relatively manageable matches ahead of them, both Roger Federer and Venus Williams are in search of another Wimbledon Championship.
If American sports history has proven anything, it is that the masses love to root for the little guy, the choo-choo train with the engine that never could, the underdog with odds stacked against them, the one person nobody expects to succeed.
It is their determination not to fail, not to falter in the face of adversity, the will to prevail when faced with a man or woman much greater in talent than themselves that shapes the entire backbone of American sports.
As we are more than halfway through the Super Bowl of tennis, the Wimbledon Championship, betting boards in Las Vegas are illuminated by quarter-finals odds from both the ATP and WTA tennis draw. Sorry America, the dogs aren’t barking.
WTA
Venus Williams vs. Agnieszka Radwanska
Venus leads the series 3-1 having won the last 3 encounters, with Radwanska’s lone victory against the American occurring back in 2006 at the Luxembourg tournament when Venus was battling injury. About the only positive Radwanska could draw from is the fact that in March of 2009 she snatched a set against Venus on hard court at the Miami Premier event, that is the only set she has taken from Venus in the last 3 matches.
I absolutely love Agnieszka Radwanskas game, she plays a different style of tennis than most ladies on tour, she has very little power with which to work with and makes up for it with her excellent court coverage, defense, and tennis IQ. She is a player that doesn’t seem to suffer from the same chemical imbalance most ladies on tour do, she isn’t going to gift matches away with unforced errors, isn’t going to hit the panic button should she drop serve. However, her one weak point is the fact that she has no answer for a player with Venus’ skill. I was tempted to say the word ‘power’, but the fact is Radwanska is more than capable of holding her own against heavy hitters, but she has historically done better against the likes of the Petrovas and Wozniackis. The reason for this is these players, while having dominating powerful groundstrokes, often times are deficient in the intangibles department, frequently not making key adjustments to utilize their power.
Venus Williams doesn’t have that problem. She is a master at harnessing her power on grass, and is capable of blowing out the best in the world from wire to wire , as evidenced today in her 6-1 0-1 rout over Ana Ivanovic, dominating her so much that the Serb retired in defeat.
The tennis enthusiast in me wants to say Radwanska is worth a shot at these incredible odds, but the tennis handicapper knows better.
The pick: Venus Williams -655
Other WTA picks include: Dinara Safina -202, Francesca Schiavone +271, Serena Williams -286.
ATP
Roger Federer vs. Ivo Karlovic
Federer leads the series 8-1, but it should be stated that out of those 9 matches there were 12 tiebreaks, the only time the two met on the Grand Slam level was back Wimbledon 2004 where Roger won in straight sets which included two tiebreakers.
The only time Karlovic defeated Federer was back in July of 2008, a month after Rafael Nadal had shocked the world and surpassed Federer by defeating him in the five-set thriller at Wimbledon and snatching the #1 ranking away from the Swiss in the process. It should be stated that Federer was not playing anywhere close to his best at that time, the match included two tiebreakers and the final score-line read Ivo Karlovic 76 46 76.
Federer is nonetheless -775 in a match which again figures to be decided largely by who outplays the other in the tiebreakers. Karlovic rifled down 35 aces in his 4 set win over Fernando Verdasco, won 73% behind his first ball and committed 33 unforced errors. He also was no slouch on the return having had 6 break point opportunities, although he had capitalized off only one. Karlovic in years past has had a reputation of a one-trick pony, a 6ft 10 Croatian that has the best serve on tour, but is often not prudent on the return with his big clumsy stature and lack of touch. Karlovic has obviously spent an immense amount of time working on his game, as he loves rushing into the net and trying to end each rally with one huge approach. He has incredible wingspan and has also improved his match fitness, having developed a reputation of an early exit on the Grand Slam level as he had up to this point never advanced past the 3rd round. It was believed that his lack of endurance hampered his ability to win best of 5 matches, as opposed to the non Grand Slam tournaments where each match is best of 3.
I can tell you right now, the value is NOT on Roger Federer in this match, even though I like his chances to get it done in 4 or 5 sets. He is my pick to win the championship, but I simply can’t justify laying $775 to win $100 in a match where it is reasonable to believe going in there will be two if not more tiebreakers involved.
Federer was impressive in his straight sets dismissal of Robin Soderling, hammering 23 aces and winning 67% behind his first ball. He had only 8 unforced errors the entire match which is quite impressive, he gave Robin only 2 break point opportunities but neither were taken advantage of by the Swede. Federer got in some much needed tiebreaker practice as he defeated Soderling 64 76 76.
Just to put into perspective how good Roger Federer is, even if Karlovic has his best serving game of the tournament, rifles down 50 aces, gives away only one break point opportunity to Federer, I still have to favor the superior skill, decision making, and big game experience of Roger Federer and do like him to break Karlovic whenever possible. Alternatively, I also like Roger to win this match even if we see only tiebreakers. Whereas if you place the shoe on the other foot, I do not think Karlovic has two ways of winning this match. He will either serve his way into the Semi Finals or he will go home, either way it is off his racket and he has no exit strategy if his serve is not clicking. He likely will not break Federer in this match and most certainly is not skilled enough of a returner to hang in there for the real pressure building points.
The pick: No value, but if I had to, I’d take Federer to win 3-1 and 3-2 at the best sportsbook odds possible.
Other ATP picks include: Andy Roddick -242, Tommy Haas +210, and a lean on Andy Murray depending what the odds come out as against JC Ferrero.
Stop on by the tennis betting subforum to chat with fellow handicappers!
Then just says, "Strong write ups" 
