|
|
Paolo Rossi Joined: 1/10/2006 Posts: 1,497 Location: London  
|
Jose is back. Gulbis to beat Henman. 200 Units Tim has had it. Has not won a set on clay all season and looks completely gone at the game. Yet more woe for Tiger. Starace to Minar. 300 Units. Clay court expert in great form will not stumble against the eastern european. First round banker of the odds-on shots. Stoking Up The Fire
|
|
|
Eric Moussambani Joined: 5/26/2007 Posts: 6
|
Tipsarevic - 500 Units @ 1.461 to beat Vemic
Tipsarevic just won Zagreb one week ago and is in good form right now. With his 68-41 on clay since 2003 he is far better than Vemic who has only 41-36 stat on this surface..Tipsarevic is just better player overall in my eyes and we see that also in Ranking. He is N.80 in Entry List while Vemic only is ranked N.238. Also age speaks a bit for Tipsarevic who is still young in his 22,while Vemic is already 30 and reached almost nothing so far. Yes,he came nicely through Qualies without dropping a set but except Marach he beat nobody great who is ranked 123 but was not so good in form this year with 7-6 only on clay, Cuevas in 3rd round made nice results this year on challengers and won one some weeks ago in the States but i rate Tipsarevic as superior player. Could be some hard fight but in the end better player with better stats should prevail here.
Wozniak - 500 units @ 1.429 to beat Harkleroad
Wozniak,one of young guns made really nice job reaching Final in Fes,has great 36-16 on clay since 2004..while Harkleroad plays only 28% on clay (Hard 58% !!) and its by far not her best surface. She lost e.g. to Angelika Bachmann 5 weeks ago at challenger in Sea Island in the States (at home);before that to uprising Ditty also in 2nd round. So even at so small Tourneys she could not gain very much self-confidence which Wozniak could gain. Besides that Ashley did not play since 5 weeks and there are rumours she has problems with her coach. H2H is also on Wozniaks side with 2-1,the 2 wins both on Indoor-HC,the only win from Harkleroad on her best surface Hard,but if she already loses on the faster surfaces which are better ones from Harkleroad...
|
|
|
Wang Tao  Joined: 1/5/2006 Posts: 1,736 Location: Melbourne, Australia
|
Sick new avatar there kidd, hope it hypnotizes me into some good first up tips.
Men's Matches:
A. Clement 2.970 - 50 Units
I. Ljubicic 1.461
Good odds here I think for Arnaud, although the head to head for these guys (on clay) is all tied up at 1 a piece, Clement won the only five set match in four sets. Taking into account the home-ground advantage and Ljubicic's poor overall record in the French Open, I am willing to back the underdog in this match-up.
R. Stepanek 4.920
F. Gonzalez 1.231 - 400 Units
The great Gonzo was the excitement machine at the Aus Open this year, his game was impecable. His groundstrokes (particularly off the forehand)
are as devestating as they are beutiful, and I think he will make no mistake against Stepanek, who has quite a poor record here at Roland Garros (best effort, 3rd round). With Gonzo's current form being quite good on clay (losing to Nads in a recent final), I can't see anything but a cruisy victory for the big G here.
Women's Matches
A. Cornet 11.500 - 50 Units
V. Williams 1.077
Just a bit of a roughie here, just to test out my abilities. I think that Venus is not best suited to the clay courts, and the French girl should have some skills on the more European surface. Having said that, Venus certainly has the experience factor, but Cornet has made the second round here in the last two years, so I am going to put a very small stake on for a three-peat of that effort. Hoping that Williams will be more interested in watching her sister play than having a tilt here this year!
|
|
|
Newbie Joined: 5/27/2007 Posts: 1
|
100 units A. Clement @ 2.970
A combination of playing in front of his home crowd, being a bit of a scrapper and a lack of form from Ljubicic if the match does end up going to four or five sets Clement is a good chance for an upset.
500 units F. Gonzalez @ 1.231
Gonzalez has had good form for most of they year and has posted some good results on the clay which should see him confidently get through the first round.
|
|
|
Barack Obama  Joined: 9/20/2005 Posts: 16,516
|
"Jose99"Jose is back.
Gulbis to beat Henman. 200 Units
Tim has had it. Has not won a set on clay all season and looks completely gone at the game. Yet more woe for Tiger.
Starace to Minar. 300 Units.
Clay court expert in great form will not stumble against the eastern european. First round banker of the odds-on shots. Sorry but these rationales cannot be accepted as is, please add some detail to them. Cheers, CD 
|
|
|
MingXia Fu  Joined: 12/30/2005 Posts: 3,062 Location: Swansea, The Mighty Wales
|
Hi all, Not many good matches today so having to wait eargely for tomorrow. However my picks are: 100 Units - 1.356 Schiovne to beat MeusburgerSchiovene is a very good clay play, plays well of both sides and can hit the angles pretty well, she will be a threat as she can force play of her own serve and the ability to mix her game up pretty well (ie) coming to the net and her % return of serves is very good. She very randomly beats the top players but veryu consistentely beats lower ranked players -of which Meusburger is. 100 Units on Hidalgo to beat Warwinka @ 1.752Without doubt the worst player in the comp. Warwinka has talent but its yet undiscovered amidst all the unforced errors and poor service games. Hidaldo will have a harder opportunity if he was to play the ball but he will be given some fairly easy points on this. Hidalgo is a clay courter as well so lets face ithe will play from the back of the court and wait for the mistakes to happen. Welshy 
|
|
|
Lee Lai Shan  Joined: 2/19/2006 Posts: 389 Location: The City of Lead - SA
|
N. Lapentti 1.481 vs A. Peya 2.880
N. Lapentti to win 300 Units at 1.481
World No 65 Lapentti should be too strong for World No 98 Alexander Peya.
Lapentti reached the round of 16 at Roland Garros in 2000 and the round of 32 in 2003. He has recently played on Clay at Buenos Aires and Poertschach.
Peya does not have a good record on Clay. Of the last 5 tournaments he has played on Clay he has lost in the first round on 3 occasions.
Lapentti should be too strong here.
Y. Meusburger 3.460 vs. F. Schiavone 1.376
F. Schiavone to win 300 Units at 1.376
I am backing Schiavone here on the basis of her wonderful record at Roland Garros. She has never lost in the first round of the French Open, and has in fact made the 4th round 3 times and the quarter finals once.
Meusburger has only played at Roland Garros once, when she lost in the first round.
Schiavone has a ranking of 28 and Meusburger 96.
Schaivone's experience and form on clay clearly give her the edge here.
|
|
|
Jean Van De Velde  Joined: 3/17/2006 Posts: 75
|
R. Stepanek 4.920
F. Gonzalez 1.231 700 Units
The Chilean had a good season so far reaching the AUS Open final and the world number 5 also reached the final in Hamburg a couple of weeks ago loosing to Nadal. Last week the Chilean warmed up in the World Team Cup where he beat Blake and Söderling but lost to Argentine Chela.
The Czech on the other hand struggled to get results this year, winning just eight of his 19 matches. On Clay the world number 58 lost four of his five matches. His only success on Clay this year was against German Haas who had to retire in Hamburg.
Gonzalez beat Stepanek on Clay a couple of years ago in their only meeting and he is clear favorite to beat an out of form Czech on Sunday.
D. Safina 1.111 300 Units
Y. Fedak 8.750
The Russian is clear favorite to beat world number 109 Fedak today. Safina, currently in 11th place in the rankings performed quite well on Clay this year reaching the final in Charlston and the quarterfinals in Amelia Island, Rom and Berlin respectively. At the French Open however Safina has not the best record but last year she stormed into the quarters beating compatriot Sharapova before loosing to Kuznetzova.
The Ukrainian Fedak has a 15 to 14 record this year and got some confidence by reaching the round of last 16 in Rome as a Lucky Looser. However she got an early exit in Strassburg last week loosing to Medina in straight sets. At the French the Ukrainian was not very successful. She twice got to the second round but lost her first round match in 2005.
Safina beat Fedak in the US Open in straight sets last year and the Russian should have only little problems to move on to the second round.
|
|
|
Dougie Lampkin Joined: 1/5/2006 Posts: 39
|
Clement to beat Ljubicic - 200 units @ 2,97
Ljubicic is not in the same form as last year. He made the semis here but hardly had to play any serious players on the way. Clement is also not a big clay force but has a game to trouble Ljubicic, ie. make him rally longer. And Im sure the home crowd will help.
Gonzalez to beat Stepanek - 600 units @ 1.231
Gonzalez did very well in the previous two masters series reaching final and semifinal, losing to Nadal both times. Stepanek is nothing special as a player, and even less so on clay. He cant rally with Gonzo at all and that should be a straight set win.
|
|
|
Nigel Mansell  Joined: 11/3/2005 Posts: 627 Location: Melbourne, Australia
|
sorry running late 700 units - Schiavone @ 1.376. Top 30 ranked player vs. a player only ever played 2 grand slam events. Schiavone's experience and clay court ability should easily get her past Meusburger 200 units - A. Harkleroad @ 3.130 In what should be a reasonably close match. #84 ranking vs. #80 Unsure why Harkleroad is such a huge underdog here. Woazniak is playing in only her 2nd grand slam after being knocked out in the first round of the aust. open. Harkleroad has been ranked as high as #39 and has played 3 times before at roland garros, making the 3rd round in 2003, showing she has ability on clay. 1 unit = $10
NBA 06/07 (at 30/10) - 0-0 (+0 units)
|
|
|
Barack Obama Joined: 9/20/2005 Posts: 16,516
|
Going for two dogs to start things off as there's nothing much else I like (prices either too short or even money coin-flips).
Berlocq is hardly a world beater and his recent form has been poor (losing to no-namers/journeymen like Kristian Pless for example). However I just have to oppose Benneteau at those odds. He's just plain not good enough to ever justify being in the $1.30's. Berlocq has beaten some half decent guys like Gaudio this year and he's a better hope of winning than what these odds suggest.
Clement is tasty at nearly 2/1 and I'm willing to have a punt on him because he'll be playing in front of his home crowd against Ibby who is appalling on clay. I really think the Frenchman will grind out a win (or two) in what is possibly his last French Open.
C. Berlocq 3.640 75 units
A. Clement 2.970 150 units
|
|
|
Dougie Lampkin Joined: 3/13/2006 Posts: 33
|
200 Units @ 2.970 on A. Clement (to beat Ljubicic)
I like going for the home supported players. Arnaud is French and will definitely be ready for this match. He is ranked 42 in the world which is a lot higher than Ljubicic who is 7. But Ljubicic has been playing really poorly on clay so far this year. It is a problem for him, that someone of his ranking can not get past the 2nd round in 4 straight tournaments on clay. He is very low on confidence and Clement will be high on confidence with the home crowd.
____________
50 Units @ 3.050 on M. Johansson (to beat Groenefeld)
Same type of rationale with Groenefeld as Ljubicic. She has just been losing, and not good preparation at all. She has lost 3 straight first round matches in straight sets. I will take her opponent no matter what odds! ichaela Johansson is an up and coming Swede player. She had to qualify for the tourmanent so that means she has plenty of match practice which Groenefeld does not. She will win easily here.
|
|
|
Ingemar Stenmark  Joined: 1/17/2007 Posts: 3,272
|
Ramirez Hidalgo - 925 Units at 1.752 v S. Wawrinka Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo the super Spaniard should have no problems dealing with the Swiss pretender. Ramirez has a 2-0 head to head record with both wins coming on clay. The surface suits Ramirez game. Warwinka has played just 8 games this year and has lost 6 of them, both confidence and match fitness is low after being knocked out in round 1 of his last 3 tournaments. I expect the trend to continue and for Wawrinka to be knocked out of his 4th consectutive tournament at the 1st hurdle. Ramirez holds the edge in both game terms and pyschological terms and if The Spanish Superstar starts strongly Warwinka could well be sinker very quickly. Too Late Too Late Will Be The Cry When The Bank of Ramirez paying 75% has passed you all by Pironkova - 25 units at 21.0 v S. Willians Could write an essy on Serena, but the 1st round is where she is most vulnerable, she may have not trained properly and underestimated her opoponent and for that reason I will take her on. The Bulhgarian has never lost in the 1st round of the french open and stranger things have happened. BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
I JUST CHECKED IN THE MIRROR AND IM STILL THE PRETTIEST
|
|
|
Nadia Comanesci  Joined: 5/24/2007 Posts: 454
|
As far as im conerned the fench open starts at 11.00am paris time or 10am Uk time, that meansive just made it, by all means chuck meout if im aftertiming but i believe im not having checked out the times. First is Massu to win against Horna 500 units Going on world ranking Massu is a long way ahead of Horna and we all know how much it takes to get in the worlds top 50, it takes a considerable more consistent player than to get into the top100, we can see that in the head to heads of the players too,Massu has won considerably more between the players and that is the basis of the selection really. D. Safina to beat Y. Fedak 500 units Safina is showing she is maturing as a player now in womens tennis, as a younger player she was very inexperienced on clay but i believe that she is coming too now as a clay player, she had a decent run in the 2006 Roland Garros and i believe she is capble of the same sort of run again i just cant see a player such as Fedak standing in her way purely on world ranking and she wont cope with safina's power play! [size=12:057bc08db2]Horse Racing Lay comp Rule:- If you post on or after the official time of the race it will be voided regardless of whether the race is off or not![/size:057bc08db2]
|
|
|
Barack Obama Joined: 9/20/2005 Posts: 16,516
|
Kidd, we can leave it open until the first ball is served...
A couple mins extra might help some of the stragglers, especially given we were late in getting these prices up.
|
|
|
Barack Obama Joined: 9/20/2005 Posts: 16,516
|
"Rayman"As far as im conerned the fench open starts at 11.00am paris time or 10am Uk time, that meansive just made it, by all means chuck meout if im aftertiming but i believe im not having checked out the times.
First is Massu to win against Horna 500 units
Going on world ranking Massu is a long way ahead of Horna and we all know how much it takes to get in the worlds top 50, it takes a considerable more consistent player than to get into the top100, we can see that in the head to heads of the players too,Massu has won considerably more between the players and that is the basis of the selection really. What's your other pick?
|
|
|
Quinten Hann Joined: 8/21/2006 Posts: 14
|
just copying my picks from the other thread:
500 units on NA LI
Na Li is a powerful player who has fought her way into the top20. While clay is not her best surface, she will make it past a very out-of-form Kloesel in straight sets without many problems. I watched Kloesel play in FED Cup and she is playing with no confidence.
500 units on ALEKSANDRA WOZNIAK
Wozniak is one of the most promising juniors to recently turn pro. She had a very good showing in Morocco. While Harkleroad has a lot more experience at this level, she is another player far from her peak. While she may trouble Wozniak with her consistency, I think that Wozniak is too strong for her right now.
|
|
|
|
Guest
|