[samus82]

Straight up ML on Lopez tomorrow, large play from me. I have a lot of respect for Simon, he gets stuck into matches and never gives up on points, but Lopez has shown this week the class tennis he is capable of. His service game is very powerful right now (not just the powerful serve, but follow up shots, volleying, constructing points well when he has the initiative etc). He has only been broken once this week, which is impressive considering his opponents.

Lopez had a real dip in form last year, I remember him losing to Nieminen at Wimbledon and from there his game went to pot for a while, but he is really getting back into his game again.

He should get plenty of opportunities to attack the Simon serve and has the capability to hit winners around the court despite Simon's excellent movement. This will be harder as the conditions are forecast to be a damp with rain due around start time. Slower conditions will favor Simon more. If it was scheduled to be sunny tomorrow, I'm sure the line would be more skewed to Lopez.

Both have experience in finals, but no doubt for me Simon has better mentality of the two players. Still right now Lopez has a lot of confidence and he will believe this match is his to lose.

5 units on Lopez

[lucasdawg]

sorry but i think simon for this, generally i would call him the slack player that doesnt really give a rats what happens. but hes gotten this far
so i dont think hes gonna back down, plus lopez will have the added pressure. its been a good run for lopez but i think it ends tonight sorry.

[MagicDiceFlow]

If it was sunny forecasted for tomorrow, I would go Lopez all the way as well. Maybe even the -1.5 games line too. But that rainy forecast makes me hesitant. You are correct, the damp conditions will favor Simon a bit. It will also make the ball heavier so aces might be reduced. I'll probably wait until the last hr to check on the weather.

Good luck on the bet.

[samus82]

sorry but i think simon for this, generally i would call him the slack player that doesnt really give a rats what happens. but hes gotten this far
so i dont think hes gonna back down, plus lopez will have the added pressure. its been a good run for lopez but i think it ends tonight sorry.

Don't have to apologise for having an opinion mate, but I'd be interested to hear why you think Simon wins?

Thanks Dice. I think Lopez still rack up a fair amount of aces, but Simon moves so well round the court, with slower conditions he will retrieve more attempted winners from Lopez. Still the conditions have been pretty poor all week but Lopez has still been effective with his ground strokes. Simon's defence is very good but I still think Lopez has enough to keep his service games safe.

[EaglesPhan36]

sorry but i think simon for this, generally i would call him the slack player that doesnt really give a rats what happens. but hes gotten this far
so i dont think hes gonna back down, plus lopez will have the added pressure. its been a good run for lopez but i think it ends tonight sorry.

What added pressure? Winning 250 points and a 250-level trophy? Neither of these guys would give two shits if a bum offerred them that off the street. No pressure on either one. The fact that they play in the 1st round at Wimbledon is what makes this intriguing because there could be a certain edge gained by sacrificing Saturday to win Round 1. In other words, would one of these schmoes tank to preserve their best match strategy for the Grand Slam?

I wouldn't be playing anything if I didn't have a futures bet on Lopez to hedge because there is definitely some uncertainty in this one regardless of situation. Surface favors Lopez no matter what in my opinion. Grass is not Simon's friend. This is his best result on grass. Lopez has a handful of solid results on grass, on the slower grass at Wimbledon (Three time quarterfinalist) - so I don't think the court speed is going to be a large factor. If you wanted an edge for Simon, it would be more experience and more winning experience in Finals settings.

[samus82]

Yeah Simon has a record of 10-3 in finals whereas Lopez 2-6. Simon has not reached a final on grass before, but I think that is due more to other players being much stronger on grass as opposed to him being weaker on grass.

I have to disagree with your point Eagles about holding back for the slam, neither player is going to turn down the chance to win a title, even if its just a small one just for the sake of possibly gaining an advantage for Wimbledon. Confidence is a huge factor and nothing stokes that fire more than victory.

Also the coaches analyse their player's opponents and plan tactics ahead of time, both will be well aware of what the other is capable of. No doubt Simon will spend some time practicing returning big serves in prep for his Wimbledon match.

Gutted I'm not going to be playing the first week of Wimbledon next week, my fav slam to bet on, but I'm going to Glastonbury instead, woo!

[Hardcoar]

I agree. Tanking might have been a factor in 1:st or 2:nd, but in the finals? No sir! A title would mean the world to both these enemy combatants.

[MagicDiceFlow]

So it looks like the weather is holding up and I'm gonna place a play on Lopez. I've watched tapes of Lopez matches the last few days and the windy weather doesnt affect Lopez serve much. He has a low toss and fast impact so I dont think the heavy wind comes into play. If anything I think it will affect Simon's serve more.

For the tanking factor you guys mentioned about, I think Simon will be more susceptible to that. It looks like FLO wants this more and I can see Simon giving up mentally if he jumps out to a big lead.

Best of luck fellas.

[samus82]

Cash it boys