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Vienna/Stockholm/Moscow/Thailand - By Mappy

Plenty of comps...Plenty of Value!!

Well we just missed out last week even though our 10/1 jolly Ancic made the final as a 3/1 ON favourite we still managed to just miss out on a profit......no problem as now we have even more data on all the players and with a packed schedule we can tip up some picks!

There are three mens tournaments this week and two womens tournaments.  Below are the outright tips and a couple of first round tips.  Check back later in the week for later round tips.

BA-CA Trophy, Vienna

This hard court event has seeded Gaston Gaudio 2.  He currently lies 9th in the ATP tour race, has won 5 titles in 2005 and almost $1 million.  But, all this success has come on clay and to date in 2005 he has not been further than R16 in a hard court event.  He’s been knocked out in the 1st round of his last two hard court tournaments – including a straight sets defeat to Brian Baker (ranked 222) in the U.S. Open.  There are a number of hard court specialists in this tournament that mean Gaudio is well worth taking on here.  It would even not be that much of an upset for him to lose in the 1st round here as well and that’s why we’re taking Melzer to beat him first up.

Stockholm Open

Mario Ancic almost came up trumps for us last week in Japan, where he lost in the final despite being a 3/1 on favourite.  And we’re sticking with him this week too.  James Blake has been in great form these past few months of the hard court season.  He has a decent draw and is likely to play David Ferrer in the quarters, but don’t be surprised to see Ferrer knocked out early, as this surface does not suit him.  

Kremlin Cup, Moscow – Mens

I would say the top half of this draw will win the tournament and I feel that Youzhny @ 8 is a better bet than Davydenko @ 5.  So, we’re going with a bit of value here.  I’m generally reluctant to back Rusedski, but if you’re going to back him make sure the surface is hard and he’ll have too much for Llodra in the 1st round. 

Kremlin Cup, Moscow – Womens

Mauresmo so often bottles the big match that we’re happy to take her on most times.  And nothing is different this week.  To win she will likely have to beat 3 world class Russians and we just can’t see that happening.  Mary Pierce has been in fine form lately and if all goes well she should sail through to the semi, where if she faces Sharapova we will look to lay this bet off for a profit.

Thailand Open

It’s a bit of a surprise that Petrova has gone to Thailand with the Kremlin Open taking place at the same time.  Our only guess is that she’s desperate to win a tournament this year.  With only one other player ranked in the top 30 in the field she seems a good bet here.  And outsider worth a look is Sania Mirza. 

Results

FINAL TOTAL +19.74 pts

Old Articles:

Week 1 - US Open 2005 +13.6pts

Week 2 - Japan/Moselle 2005 -2.5pts

Week 3 - Vienna/Stockholm/Kremlin/Thailand +19.74pts

TOTAL =+30.84pts

email: mappy@calvstar.co.uk

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