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Tough call there on that handicap. Fatigue could certainly play a part for Clijsters, but Kanepi's outdoor hard court career is hard to back either. I'd sit it out personally.Comment -
Djokovic gets past hurdle #1 in his draw. Future still alive after beating Nalbandian in straights. Soderling or Roddick next.Comment -
Why does Nadal always start the match slow? I should have taken the spread on Benneteau.Comment -
Nadal might be in trouble.Comment -
Yea, Shari so much about fatigue factor. I guess we got fooled by her. To be fair, she wasn't that good last night in her 3 sets match against Sands. But, she becomes Superman today.Comment -
Over in the Nadal-Benneteau match should be good if both guys play it out.Comment -
Why is Ferrer favored if he is ranked 11 and Davydenko is ranked 6? I looked it up and Davydenko won two out of three meetings.Comment -
i hope marcos can come thru 1x on himComment -
RODDICK +150
I know many are still hesitant to back Roddick after getting burned by him the past couple of weeks. I had thought going into this tournament that if the mono stories were true and his fitness was getting back near 100% though, that Roddick would look to make a statement in Cincinnati. He struggled a little against Stakhovsky, losing a set, but rebounded to pound him in the 3rd. He was a bit sharper against de Bakker yesterday. His serve has not been broken yet. Soderling had to battle back against Hewitt after dropping the opener and nearly blew a break lead in the final set before advancing, 7-5. These two met in the Spring at Indian Wells when Roddick was healthier and he prevailed in 3 sets. I've talked about motivation a lot here lately and this is another case where motivation should all be in Roddick's corner. He has something to prove after the lackluster results of the summer so far and if health was the major factor, now is his time to prove he is not just healthy but a factor for the rest of the year on hard courts. Getting a featured night match should amp him up even more.Comment -
Form. Look at the results for Davydenko this year and especially lately since coming back from injury. Rankings should be maybe 1% of a factor in capping a tennis match.
Baghdatis wins the 1st. Damn if he could get the win today that would really add some pop to that futures play.Comment -
Baggy onto the QFs. Yessuh.Comment -
Gritty win Roddick. Gritty win. Djokovic vs. Roddick tomorrow. Federer vs. Davydenko. Nadal vs. Baghdatis. Murray vs. Fish. Superb QFs.Comment -
awesome qfCause Sleep is the Cousin of DeathComment -
FRIDAY DOUBLES PLAY: BHUPAHTI-MIRNYI -160
About the cusp of price as far as chalk I would lay in a match, but this one seems to be a good shot. The team of Bhupathi-Mirnyi draws the Polish duo of Fyrstenberg-Matkowski. The Poles won their first match on US hard courts this summer in their 1st round encounter here in Cincy. These two teams met in Miami with Bhupathi-Mirnyi winning in straights. The Polish team made the semis that tournament, their best showing of 2010 on hard courts. Bhupathi-Mirnyi lost the final in that tournament. Bhupathi has had good experiences at Cincy with semifinal appearances the last two years with a different partner and with Mirnyi way back in 2003. The team was solid in Toronto last week losing in the semis in a super breaker to the Bryans. They have not had an actual match yet here as they drew Querrey-Isner who withdrew, so this will be their 1st up. They could potentially start slow, but I think knowing they have beaten this team on a hard court will give them the confidence needed.Comment -
tailing you on the doubles play
what are your thoughts on the qf's EP? they all seem interesting.
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PARLAY: FEDERER + AZARENKA [-120]
Federer draws Davydenko today. The one thing perhaps going against Federer is the lack of match play here at Cincinnati. He's only played one set due to retirements., but the rest may have done him well. Davydenko is to this point having won back-2-back matches for the first time since February. Erratic is a good word to describe the Russian against Ferrer last night as he outlasted him in 3. Davydenko will need to serve much better to keep pace with Federer today. Motivation again is that key word and Federer should have ample motivation here with a potential semifinal against Nadal waiting in the wings. Federer had owned the Russian until late last year when the Donkey was on his run. If Federer can get his serve working from the opening bell and doesn't allow Davydenko to pick on his backhand, I think he outlasts him and moves on. Azarenka draws Bartoli and this is just not a good match-up for Bartoli. Four times they've met and four times Azarenka has been victorious, that includes wins on a hard surface and grass in 2010. Azarenka should be full of confidence against Bartoli after rallying from down a set and a break in the 2nd when they played in Stanford to polish her off in 3. Bartoli has barely broken a sweat this week, but that is due to the lack of quality competition so far. In looking at her summer hard court results, she's beaten who she should beat, but has generally lacked the game to beat those higher up on the food chain. Azarenka had her one blip on the fade-dar when she lost to Ivanovic in Cincy, but that surely had a lot to do with travel and fatigue from playing in a final the week before. Otherwise, she is 8-1 during this summer hard court swing and she dominated two quality players in Kirilenko and Li in the last two rounds. Her 1st serve has been key as she's getting it in at a high rate which keeps her from getting into too many break chances given to her opponent. If she continues that against Bartoli, Azarenka should book a spot in the semis.Comment -
NADAL-BAGHDATIS OVER 22 [-127]
Favorite total on the board today. As evidenced by Nadal against Benneteau yesterday, when an opponent on this quick surface serves well - they can stick with Nadal. Baghdatis has that. The one thing that has not hurt the Cypriot yet is a lack of getting first serves in as his 1st serve percentage is well under 50% through 3 rounds. If he could get that to 60%, he'd have a superb shot at keeping this match real close against Nadal. Nadal's serve was a little shakier than normal yesterday with 12 break opps given. I'll say it again, Nadal plays a lot of deuce games on serve and that gives his opponents their chances if they hold their nerve to get a break opportunity. Won't be surprised at all if Baghdatis takes a set here and an upset is certainly a possibility.Comment -
LOVE that ******* parlay, love it.
Was thinking of it anyway, definitely doing it now.
Fed 12-2 up, Azarenka 4-0 up.
Found this write up about it from a site I frequent.
46 unforced errors!After a career of futility against the Swiss grandmaster, Davydenko finally cracked the code during the London year-end championships last fall. Following that triumph with a routine January victory in Doha, he entered the Australian Open as a trendy pick to capture his maiden Slam. For the first set and a half of his quarterfinal against Federer, he jerked the GOAT around the court seemingly at will; then, at 6-2, 3-1, 40-15, reality struck as the eventual champion reeled off 13 consecutive games. Having restored the balance of power in this pseudo-rivalry, the third seed enters this quarterfinal extremely rested after receiving a bye, a first-set retirement, and a walkover in the first three rounds. Meanwhile, Davydenko hasn’t regrouped entirely from a wrist injury this spring, suffering repeated losses to players outside the top 50 since his return. Showing signs of life in a three-set comeback over Ferrer, he nevertheless demonstrated negative body language while committing 46 unforced errors, which revealed persistent frailty on almost all of his strokes. It’s difficult to see him summoning the nerve to win a tight match from Federer at this stage in his return, and it’s even more difficult to see him dispatching the defending champion routinely.
Also loving Roddick and will definitely go for him at +162.
Leads the H2H, playing himself into some form, also in the baking heat, Roddick's style is far less taxing that Djokovic, who struggles in these conditions, and Roddick can breeze through games at times with his serve.Comment -
Roddick can win any given match at anytimeComment -
True, I think last nights match, although a struggle, will give a huge boost.
And i'm definitely factoring the conditions. Djokovic HATES these conditions, that's a given, and Roddick's game is less taxing, I just don't think Roddick should EVER be a +162 dog against Djokovic in the USA.Comment -
Racking my brain today on what to do with the Djokovic future. Got him at +950. Going to be hot in Cincinnati this afternoon and he looked a little creaky in the 2nd set against Nalbandian. He does get Roddick on a short turn-around though so Roddick's fatigue may negate Djokovic's breathing/allergy whatevers. Since I have Federer and Baghdatis too, might just let it ride and see where the chips fall.Comment -
This will be a 49/51 game for Roddick - so backing him is clearly value IMHO....Comment -
nice hit on roddickComment -
Doubles play starts out the day with a Chicken Dinner. 6-3, 6-2.
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nice again always hate when my bookie dont offer ur picks
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CHALLENGER PLAY: RAMIREZ-HIDALGO -130
The Spaniard draws one of the in-form players on the Challenger level in Huta-Galung. The Dutchman is in off a clay title in Italy last week and will be seeking his third straight semifinal spot at a Challenger event. He's on a heavy workload here without much rest in the past three weeks although he caught a break with Gremelmayr retiring in his last match. Ramirez-Hildalgo is playing in this tournament in San Sebastian for the 3rd year in a row. He made the final in 2008, but lost in the Round of 16 last year. He struggled some in his opener this year, but rebounded with an easy straight sets win. These two played on dirt in Rome back in April with Huta-Galung running away with it in 3 sets. In his home country and in a tournament that he seems to enjoy, I think Ramirez-Hildalgo gets the revenge today. 2nd serves will be big as both sometimes struggle to get the 1st serve in.Comment -
KUZNETSOVA-ZHENG OVER 20.5 [-133]
The Russian has owned the head-2-head, three of the four completed matches were very competitive. Kuznetsova also seems to have a penchant for disappearing for a set in a lot of these US hard court matches so far. She's played three setters in 6 of 9 matches. Zheng has looked pretty solid this week after struggling early this summer with the transition to hard courts. Sveta may very well add to her win total against Zheng today, but I think it's going to be a hard fought match today. Thus, I think taking the over has its advantages.Comment -
Good start to the day, EP. I am surprised you didn't go for the over on Murray / Fish. I am watching it on ESPN and it seems like it's going to be a really tight match. Very hard to predict winner, but very good chance it will go to 3 sets in my opinions. Won't be a lot of break and it will go to tie breaker.Comment -
Thought about it, but there was so much talk about it and who would win and who was on what, fatigue, etc. I decided to just pass and see what happens. The only reason I wasn't totally sold on the over is that I think if Murray breaks Fish in a set, that set is going to wind up lop sided. Fish has done real well in keeping the sets tight so far, but I was curious to see what adversity would do. He may not face it at all, but that was a slight concern.Comment -
Murray looks good honestly. For Fish to win he has to break down Murray at least one. If he goes to tie breaker, it's totally crap shot.Comment -
EP, you have to like Baggy chances as underdog against Nadal, right? There is no way Nadal would blow out Baggy after he played very mediocre against Benny yesterday. Baggy should cover +4 spread at least right?Comment
