French Open starts today - some interesting matches are on offer - most of the action is on tommorow with a heap of big games on - I'll kick it off today with a few picks from both the ladies and men sides. Also I'll be increasing my units just for this event.
French Open - Mens - Round 1 Matches
10 * Julien Benneteau v Carlos Berlocq - Julien Benneteau to win @ $1.36
Benny has not been too good on the clay this year. He has struggled but in his defense some of the competition his come up against hasnt been the easiest, he lost to Ferrer, Gicquel, Youzhny and most recently Djokovic in the clay tournaments. However if you recall last years French Open - Benny was the big suprise of the tournament and it was good to see - A player ranked 95 - playing in a grand slam in his home country getting all the way to the quarters and knocking out some tough competition. Carlos has never got past the first round of the French Open. His been rather poor on the Challanger curcuit - I cant see Benny slipping up here in an important tournament considering his seeded and in front of the home crowd. 9/10
5 * Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo v Stanislas Wawrinka - Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo to win @ $1.61
Tough game to tip here - this is going to be the closest game of the day I believe. Wawrinka has struggled since returning from a knee injury he has not won a competitive singles game since the Australian Open. Ruben hasnt had the best of years on the clay - but if you look back at last year French open Ruben made it through to the round of 16 before losing out to Ivan Ljubicic - Wawrinka is no stranger to the French Open he had a good run in 2005 at the French making it through to the round of 32 after going through qualifying. But you cant come into a tournament like the French with poor form and expect to be able to progress past the 1st round. I like Ruben in this match and I expect him to get up - in 4 sets or so I believe. 7/10
7 * Nicolas Lapentti v Alexander Peya - Nicolas Lapentti to win @ $1.44
Lapentti hasnt played much tennis this year, since the Australian Open he has only played in 3 tournaments - But I still think he is quite a resonable player on the clay - I think the win he got last week at Portschach would have given him confidence going into today (Although he lost to Davydenko in the round after) - but thats what he needed was confidence leading into this tournament. - Alexander Peya is a player you normally see stuck in Qualifying or in Challangers. He hasnt shown much form on the clay - although he did get an impressive win in Zagreb against Robin Soderling very early in the year (On Carpet) I dont see him getting past Lapentti. 7/10
French Open - Mens - Round 1 Matches
10 * Julien Benneteau v Carlos Berlocq - Julien Benneteau to win @ $1.36
Benny has not been too good on the clay this year. He has struggled but in his defense some of the competition his come up against hasnt been the easiest, he lost to Ferrer, Gicquel, Youzhny and most recently Djokovic in the clay tournaments. However if you recall last years French Open - Benny was the big suprise of the tournament and it was good to see - A player ranked 95 - playing in a grand slam in his home country getting all the way to the quarters and knocking out some tough competition. Carlos has never got past the first round of the French Open. His been rather poor on the Challanger curcuit - I cant see Benny slipping up here in an important tournament considering his seeded and in front of the home crowd. 9/10
5 * Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo v Stanislas Wawrinka - Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo to win @ $1.61
Tough game to tip here - this is going to be the closest game of the day I believe. Wawrinka has struggled since returning from a knee injury he has not won a competitive singles game since the Australian Open. Ruben hasnt had the best of years on the clay - but if you look back at last year French open Ruben made it through to the round of 16 before losing out to Ivan Ljubicic - Wawrinka is no stranger to the French Open he had a good run in 2005 at the French making it through to the round of 32 after going through qualifying. But you cant come into a tournament like the French with poor form and expect to be able to progress past the 1st round. I like Ruben in this match and I expect him to get up - in 4 sets or so I believe. 7/10
7 * Nicolas Lapentti v Alexander Peya - Nicolas Lapentti to win @ $1.44
Lapentti hasnt played much tennis this year, since the Australian Open he has only played in 3 tournaments - But I still think he is quite a resonable player on the clay - I think the win he got last week at Portschach would have given him confidence going into today (Although he lost to Davydenko in the round after) - but thats what he needed was confidence leading into this tournament. - Alexander Peya is a player you normally see stuck in Qualifying or in Challangers. He hasnt shown much form on the clay - although he did get an impressive win in Zagreb against Robin Soderling very early in the year (On Carpet) I dont see him getting past Lapentti. 7/10
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