Court's In Session: Week of 9.22.08
1st match probably goes off in the wee hours around 2-3am ET. Second match will be an early morning kicker at maybe 8 am on Tuesday.
ATP - Thailand Open 9.23
Stadler +160 vs. Benneteau
When Benneteau is right, he can be a threat. That being said, there is absolutely zero value with Benneteau at this price IMO (-200). He has been in putrid form for most of the year & you have to question his fitness/desire at this point. He hasn't won a match since June & that was on grass. Stadler won't be mistaken for a top flight player, but he's at least been on-court recently & winning some. He got thru the qualis here with a couple wins & played well here last year pushing Ivo Karlovic to 3 sets in the Round of 16. Even if Benneteau somehow finds some form out of the blue, Stadler should be able to stick with him and make this a close match. The price is right.
WTA - China Open 9.23
Zheng +145 vs. Radwanska
Good value here on Zheng who has enjoyed a good run since Wimbledon despite not playing a ton of tennis. That may be to her advantage though with fresh legs + confidence from making the semis last week in Bali & taking Jankovic to 7-5, 7-5 in her loss at the US Open in the 3rd round. Radwanska played in Tokyo last week & looked like she would be hard to beat after easing past Sugiyama & Bartoli. Nadia Petrova ridiculed her though after Radwanska had beaten her twice previously. The key for Radwanska seems simple as shown in her last two losses to Petrova & Venus Williams at the US Open. 2nd serve. She has been under 25% in those losses where she is close to 46% otherwise on the year. Zheng suffered the same fate, so perhaps the 2nd serve points are just as key for her. Radwanska has beaten Zheng twice, including a 3 setter in Dubai back in February. That was in the qualis & Radwanska was definitely the "in-form" player of the two after her great start to the season. Zheng has the added bonus of playing in her home country & on a court where she might have an edge having played here before. My thinking is Radwanska might be a little gassed from a full year of tennis (19 tourneys), while Zheng (12 tourneys) has picked her spots & with fresher legs & the home crowd looks like a nice price here to me.
ATP - Thailand Open 9.23
Stadler +160 vs. Benneteau
When Benneteau is right, he can be a threat. That being said, there is absolutely zero value with Benneteau at this price IMO (-200). He has been in putrid form for most of the year & you have to question his fitness/desire at this point. He hasn't won a match since June & that was on grass. Stadler won't be mistaken for a top flight player, but he's at least been on-court recently & winning some. He got thru the qualis here with a couple wins & played well here last year pushing Ivo Karlovic to 3 sets in the Round of 16. Even if Benneteau somehow finds some form out of the blue, Stadler should be able to stick with him and make this a close match. The price is right.
WTA - China Open 9.23
Zheng +145 vs. Radwanska
Good value here on Zheng who has enjoyed a good run since Wimbledon despite not playing a ton of tennis. That may be to her advantage though with fresh legs + confidence from making the semis last week in Bali & taking Jankovic to 7-5, 7-5 in her loss at the US Open in the 3rd round. Radwanska played in Tokyo last week & looked like she would be hard to beat after easing past Sugiyama & Bartoli. Nadia Petrova ridiculed her though after Radwanska had beaten her twice previously. The key for Radwanska seems simple as shown in her last two losses to Petrova & Venus Williams at the US Open. 2nd serve. She has been under 25% in those losses where she is close to 46% otherwise on the year. Zheng suffered the same fate, so perhaps the 2nd serve points are just as key for her. Radwanska has beaten Zheng twice, including a 3 setter in Dubai back in February. That was in the qualis & Radwanska was definitely the "in-form" player of the two after her great start to the season. Zheng has the added bonus of playing in her home country & on a court where she might have an edge having played here before. My thinking is Radwanska might be a little gassed from a full year of tennis (19 tourneys), while Zheng (12 tourneys) has picked her spots & with fresher legs & the home crowd looks like a nice price here to me.
) but I watched Roddick-Evans. I think he didn't play well and the main reason why he beat Evans so easily was because Evans played crap. He (Evans) had about 20 unforced errors while Roddick had only 1 (?) winner or so (good chance I mixed something up with the Ferrer-Sela-match). There was just one thing, which was really good about Roddick's game today: his service. Ferrero meanwhile beat Verdasco in straight sets which btw really suprised me. So I wouldn't count on Roddick on beating Ferrero in straight sets.
) on Ferrero, the price for Roddick doesn't seem right to me for what he showed against Evans. Andy also said in an interview, that he felt the jetlag, so I think, it's gonna be tighter than the odds are saying.