EP36's Tennis Talk

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-08-10, 02:21 AM

SUNDAY CHALLENGER PARLAY: HAASE + BERANKIS [+128]
Haase has been very good this week at the San Marino Challenger. He took out a two time champ in Potito Starace in straight sets last round who was in solid form on the ATP level prior to this event. Volandri is a capable player who has won this title before, but in looking at his week, his serve numbers are troubling. Despite getting in 80+ percent of his 1st serves, he's winning 50-60% of his points tops on that serve. Haase has a better serve and is in good form with this being his second straight semifinal or better performance on clay Challengers. He seems primed for a title. Berankis is younger than Lester Cook, but I think already a more complete player. He has dismantled his last two opponents with a fierce serve. Cook has done enough against inferior competition, but the feeling is that if Berankis plays his A or B game, he's better than Cook.

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-08-10, 03:16 PM

Haase won. Looks like the Vancouver tournament is being shifted indoors due to rain. Men's semis begin after doubles finals which are supposed to start any time now according to the website. Means Berankis is probably going to play somewhere around 5:45pm ET or 6.

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-08-10, 04:59 PM

Took Ag-Rad at +255 after the 1st set just as a matter of principle.

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-08-10, 05:52 PM

ROGERS CUP

NADAL QUARTER
Even though he's been off since Wimbledon, this quarter shapes up well for Rafa. Querrey, Roddick & Cilic are the other seeds here. Roddick is all out of sorts. Querrey's motivation will be interesting here. What I saw from Cilic against Nalbandian shows me he's still not quite ready to be a factor. This really is Nadal's to lose.

MURRAY QUARTER
Murray's draw is tough. He'll likely get Malisse in the 2nd round and faces the prospects of Lopez, Gonzalez, de Bakker or Monfils just to get to the QFs. In the bottom portion, Soderling is the seed. Dangerous David Nalbandian is in this quarter, but he could burn out after his brilliant Washington DC run. If Nalbandian can keep it together, the winner of a potential Soderling-Nalbandian match to me looks like the likely semifinalist from this quarter. Keep in mind Murray has a great record here too though at 13-3 and is the defending champ.

FEDERER QUARTER
Federer has a nice draw in his portion. Falla and Llodra won't pose that big a threat to him, so he should make the quarters easily if his game is working well. Almagro would be the biggest test. Up top, it's Berdych. Interesting floaters in Gasquet, Youzhny and Simon. Berdych looked real rusty in Washington. Still, you'd expect him to improve in his 2nd tournament back on hard courts and that could give him an edge over Federer.

DJOKOVIC QUARTER
Djokovic, Davydenko, Verdasco and Melzer are the seeds. This draw looks wide open with Djokovic not having played a hard court match this summer. Davydenko and Verdasco looked out of form in their recent play, while Melzer looks like he may be wearing down. Intriguing guys here like Baghdatis, Chardy and Stepanek. Djokovic should make a run to the QFs here, but this one looks the best bet for a longshot to advance.

Interesting factoid here, a top 3 seed has won this tournament each of the last six years. That means Nadal, Federer and Djokovic would be the best bets if you follow that trend.

First Round Crackers
Tipsarevic-Kohlschreiber: This could be a good spot to fade Tipsy. Lots of tennis played in the last three weeks.

Lopez-de Bakker: Should be a couple tight sets here and big serves.

Ferrer-Nalbandian: If Nalbandian is going to be worn out from Washington, Ferrer isn't a great guy to play with his great defensive skills.

Simon-Youzhny: Simon showed some flashes and Youzhny can be worked into errors. Youzhny can also win this if he avoids those.

Baghdatis-Chardy: This is going to burn bettors one way or the other. Avoiding this one at all costs.

Hanesuc-Raonic: Only listed this because Raonic is a Canadian who has done well at the Challenger level recently. Could be an upset.

NADAL +250
SODERLING +1000
BERDYCH +1600

Not booking just yet, but those are ones I am looking at right now.

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-08-10, 06:11 PM

And now a unit on Kuznetsova at +110. Guaranteed profit, but go Ag-Rad.

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-08-10, 07:18 PM

Berankis completes the parlay with a straight sets win over Cook.

**beefcake** · 08-08-10, 08:22 PM

coco V loos like a great play vs pet tommorrow.

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-08-10, 09:19 PM

Too many Toronto matches, won't be touching WTA early in the week probably. Wish they had a line for the Vancouver Challenger final. Sela vs. Berankis. Both playing their 2nd match today. Sela has played three set matches all week, would have taken Berankis maybe at plus money depending on the price.

**Ruff** · 08-08-10, 11:08 PM

Originally posted by EaglesPhan36

SUNDAY CHALLENGER PARLAY: HAASE + BERANKIS [+128]
Haase has been very good this week at the San Marino Challenger. He took out a two time champ in Potito Starace in straight sets last round who was in solid form on the ATP level prior to this event. Volandri is a capable player who has won this title before, but in looking at his week, his serve numbers are troubling. Despite getting in 80+ percent of his 1st serves, he's winning 50-60% of his points tops on that serve. Haase has a better serve and is in good form with this being his second straight semifinal or better performance on clay Challengers. He seems primed for a title. Berankis is younger than Lester Cook, but I think already a more complete player. He has dismantled his last two opponents with a fierce serve. Cook has done enough against inferior competition, but the feeling is that if Berankis plays his A or B game, he's better than Cook.

Nice hit EP

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-08-10, 11:19 PM

Not gonna be any scoreboards for some of these Challengers for in-play updates, but I wanted to try this one.

MONDAY CHALLENGER PLAY

KRAVCHUK -105
Back to the well with the Russian here. He's been in good form on hard courts at the Challenger level. He lost a tough, tight, two set match to eventual Segovia Champ, Gimeno-Traver last week. He draws Bautista-Agut for the third time this season. They've split their first two meetings with both going 3 sets. Bautista won in Spain in July in the last meeting. The feeling here for me is that Bautista-Agut's only success on hard courts has come in his home country. This Challenger is in Turkey and it's probably going to be all about the serve. I think Kravchuk's is better, but he has to bring the consistency with it.

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-08-10, 11:20 PM

Originally posted by EaglesPhan36

NADAL +250
SODERLING +1000
BERDYCH +1600

Gonna stick with these after looking everything over.

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-08-10, 11:38 PM

RAONIC +138
The Canadian wildcard draws Hanescu here. Several things going against Hanescu in my opinion. #1, he has yet to get back on hard courts, so this is his first match-up on this surface since the Spring. He does not prefer this surface either with just 5 matches on hard courts in 2010. #2, his form since the Wimbledon spitting incident has been 0 for 3 on his preferred clay surface. #3, he's a 35% winner on hard courts in his career. Raonic, the 21 year old, has been playing hard court Challengers in Canada the last two weeks with some decent results. Last week, he flopped against Kendrick, but that can be excused after making the final of the Granby event the week before. In that tournament, he flashed a serve that can produce at a high rate if he gets his 1st serve in. He may be young, but he's more talented than Hanescu on this surface me thinks.

**ToNyyy** · 08-09-10, 12:01 AM

Any opinion on the games at 1:30 ?

**tommygun** · 08-09-10, 03:37 AM

Querrey to beat Russell for me, Although not the greatest odds.

Combine Querrey with Bartoli for a nice small tidy parlay

**HeeeHAWWWW** · 08-09-10, 04:42 AM

Keep an eye on llodra-giraldo odds, if llodra is injured it always leaks :-)

**paciophobia** · 08-09-10, 04:53 AM

nice hit on the haase berankis parlay!

haase line was the roughest ive seen all time rofl.

**Mirar Baseball** · 08-09-10, 05:21 AM

Originally posted by EaglesPhan36

SUNDAY CHALLENGER PARLAY: HAASE + BERANKIS [+128]

ship it!

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-09-10, 08:25 AM

SIMON-YOUZHNY OVER 23.5 [+113]
Why you would want to bet a side in this one is beyond me. Youzhny is getting back on hard courts for the first time since the Spring, while for me, the jury is still out on how Gilles Simon's fitness/form are currently. He rolled Igor Kunitsyn last week in straights and then pounded and unispired Andy Roddick before losing to Nalbandian in 3. That might indicate Simon is close to fit and ready to at least be a steady contributor on tour again, but I've been fooled by too many players in thinking this way. I'll wait to see how he responds this week. The head-2-head seems to be the talk of the town with the Russian owning a 5-0 advantage, many of those results are two years or older. Still, Simon I believe has stated Youzhny is one of the most difficult players for him to play - not exactly inspiring heading into this match. However, with Youzhny having to switch surfaces here from clay to hard courts, it could take him a set to do it. That's why I'm siding with the over here because I believe this is a 3 setter.

**ToNyyy** · 08-09-10, 08:29 AM

EP36, how do I find the Samarkland results for earlier this morning? What s ite?

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-09-10, 08:43 AM

I haven't found any. Livescorehunter.com listed below posts the results after they are done. You may also be able to get the results off the tournament websites once they are complete if they actually update them well. Otherwise, it's a crapshoot.

Tennis LiveScores / Live Streaming

http://livescorehunter.com/Livescores/Livescore-Tennis.html

LiveScoreHunter offers live scores, results and live video streaming links of all tennis events. ATP, WTA, Challengers, ITF and more free online scores.

**Tsonga** · 08-09-10, 08:52 AM

Originally posted by EaglesPhan36

RAONIC +138
The Canadian wildcard draws Hanescu here. Several things going against Hanescu in my opinion. #1, he has yet to get back on hard courts, so this is his first match-up on this surface since the Spring. He does not prefer this surface either with just 5 matches on hard courts in 2010. #2, his form since the Wimbledon spitting incident has been 0 for 3 on his preferred clay surface. #3, he's a 35% winner on hard courts in his career. Raonic, the 21 year old, has been playing hard court Challengers in Canada the last two weeks with some decent results. Last week, he flopped against Kendrick, but that can be excused after making the final of the Granby event the week before. In that tournament, he flashed a serve that can produce at a high rate if he gets his 1st serve in. He may be young, but he's more talented than Hanescu on this surface me thinks.

worth a shot...i've thought about this one.

**ronaldo922** · 08-09-10, 09:10 AM

how long does it normally take to find out about challenger match results. im waiting on a samarkand challenger as well.

**ToNyyy** · 08-09-10, 09:12 AM

Who you played ronaldo?

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-09-10, 09:22 AM

PARLAY: FALLA + ISTOMIN [+186]
Definitely some risk involved here, but a good reward potentially. Falla draws Chela to open in Toronto. Reasons to like Falla as he has played fairly well on hard courts in the past two weeks, while Chela is transitioning off clay this week. Chela did beat Falla on a hard surface in qualis in Sydney in January, but that's a long time ago. Falla beat him in clay in May on the preferred surface for both. I think Falla will take advantage of the surface switch for Chela here and continue his recent good run. Istomin draws Benneteau and has the advantage of playing qualis in Toronto. He outlasted Devvarman in a third set tie break to get into the main draw. Benneteau got his feet wet on hard courts in Washington, losing to Malisse. He has lost his last 5 on hard courts in 2010. Edge to Istomin here if he serves well.

**Wilforth** · 08-09-10, 09:28 AM

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-09-10, 10:47 AM

Looks like Monday is going to pound the old wallet in the wrong direction if things don't turn around. Slow start to say the least.

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-09-10, 11:05 AM

GOVORTSOVA +4.5 [-112]
Govortsova doesn't really look the part of a hard court player capable of upsetting someone like Peer who plays well on the surface, but the head-2-head is hard to ignore here. Govortsova is 3-1 lifetime vs. Peer with all the meetings on hard courts. Even her lone loss last year fit within the handicap. Peer has been up & down on this summer hard court swing and she's rarely blowing people off the court. From the outside looking in, this just appears to be a case of one player [Govortsova] knowing how to battle the other.

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-09-10, 11:15 AM

Well 0 fer 2, parlay done early with Falla flat. Raonic competitive, but not good enough to beat Hanescu which is sad. I hate that MF. Maybe that Challenger score will be posted in the next decade. Pretty sure that match has been over for quite some time.

Maybe things will turn around with these next two plays.

**beefcake** · 08-09-10, 11:17 AM

Better outcomes are forthcoming .I can feel it!

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-09-10, 11:32 AM

I'm hoping that Challenger won early. Should have faded Gasquet like I wanted to, but I didn't trust Stakhovsky on the surface even if Gasquet was injured. Sheesh.

**beefcake** · 08-09-10, 11:34 AM

Any of the 8 Challenger finalists/winners playing today for fade material,ive been so busy havent had time to check.

**beefcake** · 08-09-10, 11:37 AM

Sorry meant 12!!

**EaglesPhan36** · 08-09-10, 11:38 AM

I did not notice any of them if they did. Alright Youzny-Simon coming up now. Need to grab this total damn it.

**beefcake** · 08-09-10, 11:47 AM

mannariano plays the Tuna Man today in turkey,perfect set up for the wildcard!

Recouderec plays ungur,he could get smoked..

Berankis has to play witten,tough travel from vancouver to Bing..!

Mello plays the italian..

van de plays zampieri

volandri plays galvani

crivoi plays paire

looks like haase,seppi,G-traver,sela and skugor took the week off..

**lasker** · 08-09-10, 12:10 PM

I also wanted to fade Gasquet but didn't pull the trigger. Do you know of a good site to check current tennis injuries? I can't seem to find one