EP36's Tennis Elbow

[EaglesPhan36]

Parlay: Becker (Bergamo) + Benneteau (San Jose) [-107]
Becker has looked rock solid so far through two rounds and is up against a less experienced Belgian. Becker has served well this week and saved break opps the few times he's presented them. If he continues with that, he should win out here. Benneteau against Darcis. It won't be a cake walk, but Benny is just a notch or two above Darcis on this indoor surface IMO. Darcis has had a nice run of form from the Dallas Challenger into San Jose, but I think if Benneteau serves anywhere near his usual level - he'll put Darcis under pressure and wear him down.

[RosieTheGreat]

Gross first set b/w ramos and verdasco, lets hope it doesnt get to him

[ravitri2k]

Nice win with Ramos EP. Keep up the good work!

[Mthorn]

i was just gonna pick Verdasco blindly today but read your report about his knee issue. Thanks god i did and went with Ramos instead. Great work EP!

[EaglesPhan36]

ATP Sao Paulo: Mayer +125
Been riding with Leo this tournament and going with him against Bellucci. The indoor environment has jived very well with Mayer's serve this week. He's only been broken once in two matches. Bellucci played a very uneven first match in Sao Paulo. He had some issues getting his 1st serve in, just 49% and was broken three times. Mayer is one of those guys who plays better with the more confidence he gets from each win and he should be riding high with wins over Ferrer and a good grinder vs. Chardy yesterday. I think the match yesterday could serve him well as he played the key points well and kept grinding through the match, putting pressure on Chardy and finally breaking him near the end of the 2nd set. If he can keep that mentality today and dominate with his serve, the pressure goes on Bellucci IMO.

[tevari]

On Mayer as well. Considering the tournament is in Brazil, and Bellucci's known prowess on clay, the price is just too fukkin' suspicious.

[EaglesPhan36]

Istomin may be too stupid to take advantage of a gimpy Roddick, but I'm going to try it.

ATP San Jose: Istomin +115 [0.5 units]

[EaglesPhan36]

Volandri beats Nalbandian. Had half a mind to try it, but did not. Fat Dave you silly putz.

[EaglesPhan36]

Mayer chokes trying to serve for the match. 5-5 now in the 3rd. Damn it. Bell-dooshi is probably gonna weasel his way to a win here.

[EaglesPhan36]

[crblahblah]

Mayer's hot-head doesn't propel him in positive ways. At the end he just fell apart. Was on him too and felt great for a while.

[EdwardHaney]

In about a 10 minute span I just saw Mayer get angry at the chair over a couple of obviously good calls, kick a ball boy (yes, he kicked a ball boy), lose serve while serving for the match, get angry at the chair again on another obviously good call, give an awful attempt at breaking back, and fail to hold serve to stay in the match at 5-6 by double faulting on match point.

The crowd was pretty unruly, but Mayer let it get to him. He wasn't a good pressure player before today IMO and certainly didn't help himself today.

[EaglesPhan36]

[COLOR=#000000 !important] Parlays: 20-12 [+6.77]
Totals: 1-5 [-5.05]
Dogs: 17-17 [+8.23]
Favorites: 5-5 [-1.05]
Challengers: 11-14 [-1.45]
Doubles: 2-0 [+2.10]
-----------------------
Overall Record: 55-52 [+9.51][/COLOR]

[onacloud]

Playing anything today EP?

[EaglesPhan36]

Saturday, February 18th

Parlay: Bellucci + Raonic [-132]
Finally giving in and backing Bellucci in Sao Paulo. Admittedly, I think he was very lucky to get through yesterday when Mayer choked, but in looking back at the stats, he outplayed Mayer but put himself into a poor position in the 3rd set. Now the finish line is in sight for a title shot and that should have him focused a little more. Volandri is his opponent and he scored the upset over Nalbandian who may have finally worn down from Davis Cup travel and playing back-2-back-2-back for the first time in a while. Volandri is a tricky guy, but he lacks the weapons of Bellucci and is sub .500 against lefties. The home crowd has helped rattle Bellucci's opponents this week, let's see if maybe he can't get by on talent for once. Raonic gets Harrison in San Jose. Is Harrison without a chance? No, he's beaten Raonic before. However, this quick surface is conducive to Raonic's massive service games and smashing forehand. Harrison has had a fortunate draw to get to this point and he's battled through a couple matches where he maybe shouldn't have won, but did. Bottom line here, Raonic has only offered one break opportunity this week and Harrison's serve comes and goes a little too much to compete with Raonic if Raonic's serve stays in that A+ category. Interesting note, there was a good story on Raonic withdrawing from Davis Cup last week. It all stemmed from a misread MRI. One doctor had told him he had a partial ligament tear, but it turned out to be fluid from tendonitis and as seen this week, he looks healthy and I think is out to prove a point.

ATP San Jose: Benneteau -140
I am a flat out sucker here, but Benneteau is the better player on this surface and I expected a little higher price to be hung on him quite frankly. If the books are adding value to Istomin based on beating a gimpy/frustrated Roddick, Michael Russell and a woefully out-of-form Querrey ... that's fine with me. Benneteau has proven to be a solid player on this surface and after a shaky first set last night, he destroyed Rochus. Istomin is still just under .500 on this surface and just is not consistent from set to set, match to match for me.

[beefcake]

Must say that this might be the year of the big servers EP.Isner,Raonic,even harrison,dont count out anderson either.

[EaglesPhan36]

Fed-error out in Rotterdam. Should be dropped in straights by Davydenko. He's spraying balls all over and slapping shit into the net a lot today.

[Diesel79]

yeah, fed looks like he just dont care today

[EaglesPhan36]

Federer might luck out. Broke Donkey back and it looks like Donkey's hurting some now.

[EaglesPhan36]

Nice 2nd set by Belluci, gets bageled. Almost every match with this fukker.

[Hangoverblack]

Bellucci really struggling on serve. I think in any other venue he has packed it in from exhaustion. Bet 365 in-play has him 9/2 for match

[EaglesPhan36]

Yeah I don't know why I backed that flake today, just felt like luck was on his side this tournament. Had gone against him twice and got screwed twice. Might need to add him to my no fly list. Can't win or lose going for or against the toolbag.

[EaglesPhan36]

Federer wins in 3, but did not play well. Del Potro at juicy odds tomorrow would be my choice already based on what I've seen the past two rounds.

[EaglesPhan36]

Pretty typical match for Raonic. Harrison can't touch his service games, so he wins it in a tie break. I guess the plus news in Sao Paulo is the Almagro future looks great with Volandri in there. I know Volandri has pulled off two upsets, but Almagro is so superior to him on this surface that it should have a great shot to cash.

Pinnacle has Federer at -162, Del Potro at -149. Books definitely adjusting to their play, that's about half the price I think Federer carried to open against Del Potro in their Australian Open match.

If you've got Tennis Channel, San Jose matches are on today. Benneteau-Istomin tonight.

[EaglesPhan36]

Thank you Raonic for whipping Harrison's ass in the 2nd. Hope Benny wins it later to make a solid final me thinks. Let's get it Frog boy!

[BlurredOut]

whoever doesn't have the tennis channel can find updates here: http://fr.tennistemple.com/atp/tourn...00/deroulement

hopefully Benny can regain focus

[EaglesPhan36]

Losing to Istomin = unacceptable. DelPo small for me on Sunday, nothing else.

[EaglesPhan36]

Paying to see how healthy Azarenka is today. If she is close to 100% she will clobber Stosur likely.

WTA Doha: Stosur +245

[EaglesPhan36]

Half a unit on that one above.

[EaglesPhan36]

I would say she is fine. Nice donation to the bookie to see that.

[showtiime]

I would say she is fine. Nice donation to the bookie to see that.

Yeah played the under couple games into 1st set, had to get a gauge on her movement & see if the ankle was ok, thought it would've had an effect on her somewhat, apparently not.

[Nikigreat]

Memphis outright odds came out.
I think Isner +500 is the play, I tell you because I feel you agree, don't you?

[EaglesPhan36]

Don't know yet. Just starting to look at draws now to start getting the previews ready. Will have some thoughts posted later. Almagro at least came through @ +250 to win Sao Paulo although much tougher than expected today. Find where Volandri is playing next and go against him - dude is going to be dog ass tired and isn't really a trusting sort from week to week any how.

[Nikigreat]

For the similar reasons of Volandri I will go with Melzer over Istomin in Memphis, just waiting odds to come out in my book.

[Nikigreat]

Volandri willl play Monaco in Buenos Aires.