Cipolla won the 1st set in that Challenger play, 6-3. Boo. Not looking good.
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Murray wins
Also 1 part of my double has won, just waiting on Mello.
Good day so far, challenger double, Murray so far.Comment -
did the NADAL over 20.5 win?Comment -
edit: oops, delelte this post pleaseComment -
Oooopssss. saw that they just started (NADAL)...looking good early with NADAL down 0-3...hopefully this goes into three sets for an easy win!Comment -
Huta Galung evened that match at 1-1. Still aliveComment -
DOUBLES PLAY: STAKHOVSKY-YOUZHNY +145
Russian Syndicate play. The mafia needs some spending cash for the weekend I hear. In all seriousness though, this duo has played well together this year. They won the Halle grass court title and worked through the 1st two rounds here, including an upset of the #6 seeded team. They draw Mirnyi-Bhupathi who are a regular tandem on tour. Still, they seem over priced here. They did win the Miami hard court title in March, but other than that are 1-5 at other outdoor hard court events in 2010. Russian Roulette on a Friday afternon, nothing quite like it. Smells like burning and match fixing and vodka and a little sprinkle of fear.Comment -
Not officially confirmed yet, but reported that Huta Galung won 6-2 in the 3rd.
Total looking good now that Nadal has straightened out in the 2nd. Also need him to roll up in the 3rd and keep that future alive.Comment -
Confirmed.
Huta Galung 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 winner.
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Great stuff EP, tailed this one
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Cash that Nadal total.
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The Syndicate is going to be angry. The Russian boyz did not do their duty. Played pretty well until late in the 2nd set, got broken and then didn't show up in the super breaker. I suppose the Syndicate probably made money any way.
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Think I am real glad I took Federer to cover the Berdych future. Haven't watched any, but the stats indicate that either Berdych is hurting or Federer is playing like a stud today. Berdy only has two points in four Federer serving games.Comment -
R-Fed is playing great, on this form he can definitely win the tournament and not just act as berdych cover.
Berdych doesn't look 100%, or slightly off, he's struggling on almost every service game so far which is unusual.Comment -
SATURDAY CHALLENGER PARLAY: VOLANDRI + VAN DER MERWE [+113]
Volandri draws Tavares at the Trani Cup event. Volandri whipped the Portugese back in February on clay in straights. Tavares has been in good form over the last three weeks with a finals appearance at the Tampere clay Challenger and some nice wins this week. Volandri has shown little problems following up a finals appearance in San Marino last week. Volandri has already won two clay Challengers in Italy this year and should give himself a chance to go to the final here. Van Der Merwe draws Ito again. Last week, the South African outlasted Ito on a hard court in 3 sets. Ito's one set that he won was 7-6 while Van Der Merwe crushed him in the other two: 6-3, 6-0. Both guys have been solid this week, but Van Der Merwe is on a roll with a title in Brazil last week and another finals appearance at a hard court Challenger earlier this year. Expect experience to prevail here.Comment -
Fed was great first set, but choked like a Frenchie last game of the 2nd - 2 doublefaults and wild errors to give away the set. Lost his game for a long while after that, Berdych got a break and served for the set, but missed too many first serves and broken.
Not really sure what to make of it all tbh, Fed playing badly in masters is nothing new, but the choke was awful. He usually doesn't bother fighting back from those situations though, so he definitely wants it this week. With 1000 points to defend next week also, he must win today to have any chance at the number 2 seed for the US Open - without that there's the chance he meets Nadal in the semis, but if not someone else can knock Nadal out (Djoko, Murray, Berdy).Comment -
IVANOVIC +4.5 [-135]
I may immediately regret this once the match begins, but Ana has confidence right now in her game and that really is the one thing she needed outside of results. She's gotten the results this week although I'm a little cool tempered on what those mean just yet as the best player she faced was Azarenka who was in a fatigue situation from the week before. Still, her serve has improved through this tournament and she has talked about simply having confidence in her game right now. Clijsters has battled better players in her time here, winning a tough battle with Pennetta yesterday. Clijsters has admitted she is making errors right now that she might not make as she tries to round into her best form. Her best will likely crush Ana, but anything less and I think if Ana plays with confidence, she can stay within this number.Comment -
Some sort of injury to Ana, did not watch. She retired down 1-2 in the 1st. Cancelled bet.Comment -
Injured her foot. Called for trainer. trainer called for doctor. She played 1 point after injury timeout and then just called it quits, she started cryingCause Sleep is the Cousin of DeathComment -
Van Der Merwe down a set and a break in the 2nd now. Parlays is pretty much looking shot. Volandri won earlier, but that doesn't much matter.Comment -
******* fag van der merweComment -
SHARAPOVA-PAVLYUCHENKOVA OVER 20.5 [-120]
Russian on Russian. So long as the teenager has been given her Mafioso briefing that most of these matches are expected to go three sets and feature wild momentum swings, the total should have a chance. Even a two set affair could do it with this total. Sharapova has been impressive, but the serve issues are always something to watch. Pavlyuchenkova has become a hard girl not to like with her penchant in this tournament for comebacks and she remains perhaps the best in-form player on hard courts over the past couple of weeks. Pavlyuchenkova would do herself a world of good to get off to a quick start and serve well tonight.Comment -
Federer looks great early. Djokovic looks like he's ready to enjoy being ranked #3 again.
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What a roller coaster match this has been. Lots of errors by Fed in this 3rd set.Comment -
The Russian dolls come through again!!
Pissed I chickened out on the +4.5 on Pavly but happy to have tailed you on the over.
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I give Djokovic credit for battling to the end. Good win for Federer even if it was stylish. Sunday should be fun and at least I have a future alive still. Total is sitting pretty for the Sharapova-Payvlyuchenkova match so long as they both finish!Comment -
Yeah Shari I liked both underdogs on the handicap today in the women's semis. I too was a bit chicken though to take Pavlyuchenkova, especially after the Ivanovic injury thing. Kind of weirded me off it.Comment -
SUNDAY CHALLENGER PLAY
KUKUSHKIN -140
He draws Mannarino here who has made finals in his last two tournaments, but lost both. Neither guy has dropped a set this week. Kukushkin meanwhile has two Challenger finals appearances this year, one on clay and one on hard courts with two titles to show for it. Have to side with the guy who has shown the knack for getting it done when it counts.Comment -
Whats your lean for tonight EP. I think I might take Murray, seeing as though the last two matches have probably taken a bit out of Fed. Any thoughts?Comment -
I have Federer in futures at +375. I am probably going to play Murray to win 2-1 to try and guarantee some profit. I don't really know what to think of the match. Federer theoretically should be more fatigued, but mentally he still has an edge unless Murray starts quickly. If Federer starts quickly, Murray could become pretty fragile. Both guys have so much to play for ... might be a good match to watch and try an in-play bet.
Another Challenger flamout special. Kukushkin loses in 3. My weekend blahs for tennis continue for the most part.Comment -
So ESPN is showing NASCAR and a USA basketball exhibition instead of showing the Murray-Federer match live? Another great call by the WorldWide leader in sucking ass.Comment -
SHARAPOVA +154
Clijsters record in hard court finals is stellar. She's won her last eleven straight, last losing a final at the 2005 Australian Open to Justine Henin. Very impressive, but the play of Sharapova this week has been equally impressive to me. She continues to work through off and on service issues, but finds a way to win. She was clinical in beating Radwanska and Bartoli during her run this week and really mostly dominated play against both Kuznetsova & Pavlyuchenkova despite losing a set to each. Clijsters really has only had one test this tournament and that was Pennetta. Pennetta blew an opportunity to win the opening set and wound up losing in two tight sets. These might be the two best hard court players not named Serena Williams right now, so it should be an intriguing clash. Sharapova had success against Clijsters prior to her retirement on hard courts, so she shouldn't be playing with any fear today. If she goes for it all and can keep that serve steady, why not?Comment -
Took Sharapova live +3,5 games handicap. She just broke Clijsters' serve. Hopefully we can both cash.Comment -
First set to hotstuff...
Eagles,just a heads up,both Hunta Galung and Semjan have to play home country wild cards in the first round.Not a big travel angle though.
Although the uzbek challngers are only 135 Km apart they go from clay to hard..
Hunta goes from italy to spain..clay to clay..
ito goes from clay to clay and has to play guez..Comment
