I sent a lot of you my pre Wimbledon notes by email eight days ago and they were reproduced on here in the middle of last week ( see below).
In addition to the double staked match winner @ 1.87 that was highlighted at that time, the email also included Sharapova to win quarter 1 @ 2.375 , she is now trading at long odds on win her quarter final , Marion Bartoli in quarter 2 was highlighted as not just a value pick at 9.0, but also to "give Serena Williams trouble in the fourth round", available at 4.50 to beat Williams the younger this morning, she duly did so in straight sets and is now a best priced 2.11 to win her section. Quarter 3 did not go quite so well, but Petra Kvitova was a strong pick to win the fourth at 3.50 and is now also big odds on to do so. Massive profits can already be secured on all three, also selected was Sharapova to "beat" Serena at 2.18 and that also obliged today.
I really hope that some of you were able to take advantage of these fantastic previews which were sent almost 24 hours before the first ball was hit at the All England Club.
Good Luck.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
QUICK UPDATE TO REGULARS.....
Kindly check your inbox, I have just sent my Monday notes much earlier than originally planned, including a 1,500 word Wimbledon update and a 17.0 suggestion for tomorrow's football.
Good Luck.
Good Luck.
SUNDAY ....
TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP GOLF
LEADERBOARD:
-16 FREDDIE JACOBSON
-15 BRYCE MOLDER
-13 JAMES DRISCOLL
-12 RYAN MOORE
-12 JOHN ROLLINS
-12 BLAKE ADAMS
-12 ANDRES ROMERO
-12 WEBB SIMPSON
-12 NICK WATNEY
-11 six players
This leaderboard is packed with players who do not know how to win, cannot win or subconsiously do not want to win !
Lets take a quick look at each....
Freddie J we discussed recently, he is very gifted, but just cannot get it together on Sunday when in contention, he has not dropped a stroke all week long, but what will happen today when he does ? He has hit relatively few greens in regulation , but putted and scrambled like a dream, which cannot continue indefinitely. He is a three times runner up on tour and has yet to win in the US at all, or anywhere for eight years.
Molder has not dropped a stroke on the back nine all week and putted and driven the ball well, but he has missed 10 of 13 cuts and has very little experience at the business end of tournaments, he has only one top ten finish all season at Pebble Beach where he was firmly in contention going into the final day ( second overnight) but faded in Round 4.
Driscoll is not a winner, he has one solitary Nationwide win and that came seven years ago, he has played the closing holes the worst of all the major contenders this week and his solid looking 2010 Round 4 stats are a little misleading, with most low rounds coming when out of contention.
Moore is talented, he could win ( finally, we have found one ! ), on the downside his only previous tour success came in 2009, but at least that came in a playoff after a closing 65 and this could again be close.
Rollins wins every three years or so, so will be due sometime in the next 12 months, he has really struggled over the front nine holes this week, but if he could get it together over the opening holes today has a chance, but he has posted just two top ten's in the last 18 months and is "in contention" rusty.
Adams is basically a 35 year old rookie, with only one top ten finish to his name and has never won a professional tournament anywhere.
Romero has a single tour win at the Zurich Classic in 2008, but can also claim eight worldwide wins and now that he has passed that all important 30th birthday ** ( see below), he could be ready to go in again, he is capable of going ultra low on sunday and has several times shot sub 64 in Round 4.
Simpson has played well this season and the 25 yo already has $2m + in the bank, mainly courtesy of two second place finishes, he has yet to make the big breakthrough, but like many others, it might be easier to do so from off the pace .
Watney is the class act on the leaderboard and is a three time winner on tour, including one already in 2011, that was especially worthy of note as he broke the rule and won a month before his 30th birthday which is very rare, he came from off the pace that day and is very solid when in contention, however, he has had one bad hole on the back nine each day ( a seven at the 13th yesterday) and his driver has been letting him down this week. If he can get it going off the tee and keep his focus and any big numbers off his card, he could win a close tournament with 15 players within five strokes of the lead.
Where does this leave us ? The guys who are most likely to keep it together and win this thing are a little off the pace, but there are a number of them and someone even way off the pace could go low today and snatch this. The two leaders are bound to be nervous and despite his talent, we have seen little from Freddie J in the last decade or so to leave us to believe that he will hold on. We could lay both him and Driscoll at circa 2.84 and 5.80 on the exchanges, meaning that we have every other player going for us at a shade of odds against, which I feel is fair value. Nick Watney have five top 6 placings in just 10 PGA starts this year, or five from 8 in which he has made the cut and played the weekend, so is a solid enough pick at 2.10 for a top five finish on the exchanges, a little bigger for small money and that just about looks the best option on the golf today.
Romero is available at circa 4.0 in this market ( top 5) and that looks a shade too big about a guy I feel is getting ready to win again, he is 24.0 to win and if you twisted my arm to pick a winner, at the odds offered I guess he would be my pick.
Tough last day and I expect the leaderboard to be spinning like a fruit machine, a day to keep stakes small.
Good Luck
** Many golfers, like humans in general, struggle in the months leading up to these milestone birthdays 30, 40 , 50, they tend to underperform just before and then relax and play better once the birthday has passed and they realise that life carries on, little changes and it is not so bad after all, being just one year older ! They also tend to play better immediately following the birth of a child, especially their first.
LEADERBOARD:
-16 FREDDIE JACOBSON
-15 BRYCE MOLDER
-13 JAMES DRISCOLL
-12 RYAN MOORE
-12 JOHN ROLLINS
-12 BLAKE ADAMS
-12 ANDRES ROMERO
-12 WEBB SIMPSON
-12 NICK WATNEY
-11 six players
This leaderboard is packed with players who do not know how to win, cannot win or subconsiously do not want to win !
Lets take a quick look at each....
Freddie J we discussed recently, he is very gifted, but just cannot get it together on Sunday when in contention, he has not dropped a stroke all week long, but what will happen today when he does ? He has hit relatively few greens in regulation , but putted and scrambled like a dream, which cannot continue indefinitely. He is a three times runner up on tour and has yet to win in the US at all, or anywhere for eight years.
Molder has not dropped a stroke on the back nine all week and putted and driven the ball well, but he has missed 10 of 13 cuts and has very little experience at the business end of tournaments, he has only one top ten finish all season at Pebble Beach where he was firmly in contention going into the final day ( second overnight) but faded in Round 4.
Driscoll is not a winner, he has one solitary Nationwide win and that came seven years ago, he has played the closing holes the worst of all the major contenders this week and his solid looking 2010 Round 4 stats are a little misleading, with most low rounds coming when out of contention.
Moore is talented, he could win ( finally, we have found one ! ), on the downside his only previous tour success came in 2009, but at least that came in a playoff after a closing 65 and this could again be close.
Rollins wins every three years or so, so will be due sometime in the next 12 months, he has really struggled over the front nine holes this week, but if he could get it together over the opening holes today has a chance, but he has posted just two top ten's in the last 18 months and is "in contention" rusty.
Adams is basically a 35 year old rookie, with only one top ten finish to his name and has never won a professional tournament anywhere.
Romero has a single tour win at the Zurich Classic in 2008, but can also claim eight worldwide wins and now that he has passed that all important 30th birthday ** ( see below), he could be ready to go in again, he is capable of going ultra low on sunday and has several times shot sub 64 in Round 4.
Simpson has played well this season and the 25 yo already has $2m + in the bank, mainly courtesy of two second place finishes, he has yet to make the big breakthrough, but like many others, it might be easier to do so from off the pace .
Watney is the class act on the leaderboard and is a three time winner on tour, including one already in 2011, that was especially worthy of note as he broke the rule and won a month before his 30th birthday which is very rare, he came from off the pace that day and is very solid when in contention, however, he has had one bad hole on the back nine each day ( a seven at the 13th yesterday) and his driver has been letting him down this week. If he can get it going off the tee and keep his focus and any big numbers off his card, he could win a close tournament with 15 players within five strokes of the lead.
Where does this leave us ? The guys who are most likely to keep it together and win this thing are a little off the pace, but there are a number of them and someone even way off the pace could go low today and snatch this. The two leaders are bound to be nervous and despite his talent, we have seen little from Freddie J in the last decade or so to leave us to believe that he will hold on. We could lay both him and Driscoll at circa 2.84 and 5.80 on the exchanges, meaning that we have every other player going for us at a shade of odds against, which I feel is fair value. Nick Watney have five top 6 placings in just 10 PGA starts this year, or five from 8 in which he has made the cut and played the weekend, so is a solid enough pick at 2.10 for a top five finish on the exchanges, a little bigger for small money and that just about looks the best option on the golf today.
Romero is available at circa 4.0 in this market ( top 5) and that looks a shade too big about a guy I feel is getting ready to win again, he is 24.0 to win and if you twisted my arm to pick a winner, at the odds offered I guess he would be my pick.
Tough last day and I expect the leaderboard to be spinning like a fruit machine, a day to keep stakes small.
Good Luck
** Many golfers, like humans in general, struggle in the months leading up to these milestone birthdays 30, 40 , 50, they tend to underperform just before and then relax and play better once the birthday has passed and they realise that life carries on, little changes and it is not so bad after all, being just one year older ! They also tend to play better immediately following the birth of a child, especially their first.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
THURSDAY.....
Below are my notes for the first three days of Wimbledon, about half of you received the Monday email on Sunday afternoon, so I have no problems reproducing it here. Some of the notes still have value and are worthwhile reading.
MONDAY JUNE 20TH
I am leaving the Irish football alone today, but will definitely return to it at the end of this week with the next round of matches.
Only Wimbledon in this email, I am going to the Championships twice this week, got a "free" ticket for today and with the family on wednesday, so am hoping to get plenty of ideas to see us through the fortnight.
I am more interested in the Ladies Singles, so will get the Mens event out of the way first. It is very difficult to see beyond the big four and quotes of circa 3.25 for a repeat of all meeting in the semi-finals, like they did in Paris might seem skinny, but are perfectly valid, with very few real dangerous floaters in the draw, Tomas Berdych made the final last year and is the most likely to cause an upset, he is in the same quarter as Rafael Nadal and with Kohlschreiber, Del Potro and a couple of others potentially likely to do some damage, the French Open champion has definitely the worst of the draw. Having said that, Berdych is not in the same shape coming into this event. Jo Wilfred Tsonga is in Roger Federer's section, Soderling in with Djokovic and Roddick in the same quarter as Murray, but that is about it. No upsets here for me and at least three, quite possibly four of the big names making their predicted mark.
Rain forecast today, but centre court play will not be interupted and one match there, between Radek Stepanek and Fernando Verdasco is of interest. Stepanek leads the series 3-2 and won their only meeting on the surface here in 2006 in five close sets. The 32 year old Stepanek is in the twilight of a pretty solid career and in decent form, posting grass court wins over Tsonga and Ljubicic in recent weeks and taking a set off Rafa at Queens Club. Verdasco is gritty and has had a whole series of big serving battles with Ancic, Karlovic ( twice), Stepanek and Roddick on grass. Really hard to split these two, Stepanek looks a shade big at 2.50 but the spaniard is better on the surface than he is given credit for and beat Nalbandian and Mahut at Queens before losing to Roddick and the US player was not the same one who lost tamely to Murray in the final that day ! I like this to go to a minimum four sets and am strongly in the "over" camp, only Unibet have posted as I type, 1.87 "over" 39.5 games, which I am very keen on, if similar is available elsewhere that would have to be a double stake 2 unit selection. WON
Onto the Ladies, Venus and Serena Williams have won nine of the last eleven titles between them and at least one of them seems sure to put in a big run again, but they have played very little tennis ( almost none) in the last 12 months and it would be a sorry indictment of the women's game were either to win, but it could happen ! However, Serena is fast approaching 30 and Venus was 31 last Friday and this year, at least for the time being I have to look elsewhere.
Let's take a run through the quarters, starting from the top, world number one Caroline Wozniacki is not my favourite player as you might have guessed and I normally look to oppose her in the bigger events, against the better players. In her favour, she has won at Eastbourne in the past and did take a Girls Singles title at Wimbledon in 2006. Also there are no real dangers in her 16, so a chance to really play herself in, however, I do not think she is up to winning a grand slam at present and in the bottom half of her section are Sam Stosur, who was very disappointing at Roland Garros and Maria Sharapova who was not ! The Russian superstar, the biggest earner in woman's sport, changed coaches and racquets earlier this year and remodelled her service action, all changes have gone well and she was a shock winner in Rome without dropping a set and semi finalist at RG, for a player who turns about as fast as an oil tanker, they were fantastic performances and will have given her great confidence coming into an event which suits her game much better and which she has won previously.She withdrew from Birmingham, so no warm up event, but that might be just as well after the rigours of the clay court season, she starts against Ana Chakvetadze whom she leads 7-0 all in straight sets, so that should get her nicely primed, but at a top priced 2.375, it is hard to put her up as a selection to win the quarter, there is not much value in that skinny quote, but she would be my pick.
Quarter 2 has a whole host of dangerous players in it, Li Na , Serena, Ivanovic, Radwanska, Marion Bartoli and several others, it is a very tough section. Given her lack of tennis, Serena is a very short price to come out top and at circa 9.0 Bartoli, who loves the surface and added a grass court title at Eastbourne last week to her CV, which is even more impressive considering her big run in Paris, is a far more attractive quote and could give Williams big problems in the fourth round.
The third section is arguably the most interesting including the resurgent Jelena Dokic back inside the top 50 for the first time in years following a final appearance in Holland on grass last week meeting Francesca Schiavone, who is not comfortable on the surface in the opening round. Dokic was a semi finalist here as an 18 yo and the previous year,as a 17 yo qualifier beat world number one Martina Hingis 6-2 6-0 in what many consider the biggest tennis upset of all time. That is a long time ago of course, but she is still three year younger than the italian and clearly happier on grass. Schiavone admitted to being very flat and lacking in energy at Eastbourne and I think she will struggle to get her intensity back in the damp conditions in London at present.Dokic leads the h2h 3-0 including a win in Kuala Lumpur this year and at 2.25 + to beat the number six seed, is a very tempting bet and my second selection of the opening day. LOST in three close sets
Also in this group of 32 are Andrea Petkovic who is having a great year and whilst she has no real history here, she has gone deepish in the other three slams and could be dangerous, the lower half is packed full of potential, with last year's quarter finalist Kaia Kanepi who won seven matches in this tournament after coming through qualifying, the hugely gifted Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who is a certain future slam winner IMO, Daniela Hantuchova and another big talent in Victoria Azarenka. Pavlyuchenkova is a player I want to keep on my side, it is a shame we didn't see more of her at Eastbourne, she lost early to Jovanovski who was battle hardened after coming through qualification and the Russian was sluggish, but is "really looking forward to Wimbledon". This is a learning section, if pushed AP at cica 9.0 + would be my choice, we might never see quotes like that to win a section in a slam again after this year and at 50-1 she is a dark horse who could go well, but will be vunerable in the opening round or two.
Talking of dark horses, I might have found one in Vitalia Diatchenko who meets Hantuchova today and is available at 7.50 + to win the match. The 20 yo Russian has come through qualification without losing a set so will be at home on grass and has recently moved to Ireland for training, so will be used to the rain and signed two sponsorship deals, which is good news for a player no one has heard of. You know that I like Hantuchova and she has both won and lost when we wanted her to recently, which is great, but consistency is not her strong point and she might not be 100% fit today, she had to withdraw last week with an abdomen injury and said this ...."It happened at 3-0 in the first set. I was running for a wide backhand and felt a sharp pain, and it was just getting worse and worse from then. I'll hope for some magic and get as much treatment as I can. I'm seeing the doctor now and as soon as I go to Wimbledon I'll work with the physios. I'll try to do something to be able to be ready for Monday.
Such massive odds are surely worth a try under the circumstances. Diatchenko took the first set and lost the second in a tie break
Last up is the fourth quarter, which has Venus , Jelena Jankovic and Mad Vera in the bottom half and apart from Svetlana Kuznetsova, who disappointed big time at Roland Garros, only last year's semi finalist Petra Kvitova in the top section. Kvitova did us a good favour last week and is more and more at home on grass, she has a lot of ranking points to defend, so will be desperate to go deep again and looks a better player this time round. I would only be concerened if she had to play a Venus Williams who had dispelled all fitness doubts and the american has a lot of tough hurdles to overcome before the quarters and I feel that at circa 3.50 Kvitova can repeat and make the last four once again.
Finally, Pinnacle Sports have a big looking 2.18 for Sharapova to go further than Serena Williams, I much prefer the section the Russian player is in and would make her odds on to win this bet, despite being Serena's biggest fan.
Good Luck.
TUESDAY JUNE 21ST
No highlighted selection for me today, but I do have two matches to discuss, where I feel both outsiders are a little big.
Angelique Kerber - Laura Robson
Two left handed players is going to make for a very interesting match up. I am at Wimbledon today and just saw Robson and was shocked, she has sprouted up and must be six foot, maybe a little taller. One journalist told me that this growth spurt, as much as some early season injury problems was why her career had stalled. Robson won Junior Wimbledon in 2008 when she was the youngest girl in the tournament, a tremendous achievement, she also played two Australian Open finals as a Junior, but probably turned pro too soon and her ATP career has yet to take off. However, she is still only 17 years old and has time on her side, last week she sacked her french coach after serving 13 double faults in a defeat in Holland, which must have been a fun conversation !
Robson has a big serve, which is a dangerous weapon here if she can keep the df's at bay and an all round game perfect for modern day grass court play, the two met in a challenger on an indoor hardcourt when Robson was just 14 and the German won a really close three set battle, this is a match, a fit, confident Robson would win with a degree of comfort IMO on this surface, but she is far from that. However, the crowd will be behind her and if she can come close to the level which almost saw her eliminate Jelena Jankovic here last year, she can go close and at circa 2.625 she is certainly the only one I could bet in this match, but she does have problems. ROBSON WON
Sanja Mirza - Virginie Razzano
Mirza has a few grass court wins under her belt, but despite being a huge star in India, is pretty much a journeywoman player, who tends to beat whom she should beat and loses when she meets a higher ranked player, she is also becoming more and more a doubles specialist. She has played a lot of clay court tennis recently ( by her normal standards) and has complained about coming to terms with grass for such a short season under the circumstances, she lost twice to Tamira Paszek on grass in teh last fortnight and she is no force on the surface and Razzano would win this IMO if her head was in the right place. However, her fiancee died recently from a brain tumour and despite continuing to play, it is hard to know how long it will take her to get over such a traumatic experience. In 2009 the frenchwoman made the final in Eastbourne and the 4th round here, beating Bartoli , Dementieva and the older Radwanska sister in the process, an impressive bunch of scalps on any surface, but especially grass. She got her ranking as low as 16 after that, which shows her potential and at 2.50 +.. 2.625 in a place she looks big, but who knows what her mental state will be. RAZZANO WON
Robson and Razzano probably need to stay in touch with their opponent early, if they do, a return to the scene of her biggest triumph and a chance to lose herself for a couple of hours respectively, might bring out the best in them.
Wednesday looks a much better betting day.
Good Luck.
WEDNESDAY JUNE 22ND
Wimbledon tennis has been pretty good so far, Jelena Dokic was well on top for most of her game against Francesca Sciavone and I would be keen to bet her again today, if they were to replay that match this afternoon. Diatchenko, who was a massive 8.0 + took the first set and only lost the second in a very close tie break, the Russian youngster had a huge 19 break points in that match and I would not rush to back Daniela Hantuchova until she has 100% proved her well being. Virginie Razzano won and the Stepanek-Verdasco match up went "over" with ease, so we have been pretty much spot on across the board so far, with not too much luck. The Laura Robson match has been held over until today.
Not much to take my fancy on the Ladies today, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won her first round match but it was a bit laboured, she faces a tough second round match with Nadia Petrova today, if Nastia had one more match on the surface under her belt I would be very tempted to take the -3 games with Pinnacle Sport for her to cover the handicap at circa 2.0, but as I explained in my pre tournament notes, she will be vunerable through the opening round or two, after which I expect her to be strong. Having said that, Petrova at 29 yo is not getting any better and lost to a clearly out of sorts Samantha Stosur in straight sets at Eastbourne in the first round. I would not put any of you off taking a little on this handicap bet, but I will take a watching brief, we will know a lot more about Nastia on grass after today, but whatever happpens, we will make money on her on hardcourts this summer.
I like the "over" games in the Rainer Schuettler - Feliciano Lopez match. Schuettler is very much in the twilight of his career at 35 years old, but made the semis here as recently as 2008, he had a straight sets win over the seeded Thomaz Belluci in the first round, making few errors and serving well, especially on second serve, he is very shrewd and had good tactics really going after the brazilian on second serve returns. Lopez is a two time quarter finalist here and sereved really well at Queens, he dropped only five points on first serve and gave up no break points in his first round defeat of Berrer, so this match will be all about the serve and I feel we will see plenty of free points. Lopez's last six matches on the surface have seen every first set go to 10 + games, with four going to at least 12 games, something similar is surely on the cards today and will set up the "over" bet nicely. The two have met once previously at the All England Club, way back in 2002 when they played out a four set 42 game match, their most recent outdoor fast court meeting ( last year) also went the distance in three close sets. Lopez should progress, but in four sets at least.... 1.5 units "over" 39 games 1.847 Pinnacle. WON
Good Luck.
MONDAY JUNE 20TH
I am leaving the Irish football alone today, but will definitely return to it at the end of this week with the next round of matches.
Only Wimbledon in this email, I am going to the Championships twice this week, got a "free" ticket for today and with the family on wednesday, so am hoping to get plenty of ideas to see us through the fortnight.
I am more interested in the Ladies Singles, so will get the Mens event out of the way first. It is very difficult to see beyond the big four and quotes of circa 3.25 for a repeat of all meeting in the semi-finals, like they did in Paris might seem skinny, but are perfectly valid, with very few real dangerous floaters in the draw, Tomas Berdych made the final last year and is the most likely to cause an upset, he is in the same quarter as Rafael Nadal and with Kohlschreiber, Del Potro and a couple of others potentially likely to do some damage, the French Open champion has definitely the worst of the draw. Having said that, Berdych is not in the same shape coming into this event. Jo Wilfred Tsonga is in Roger Federer's section, Soderling in with Djokovic and Roddick in the same quarter as Murray, but that is about it. No upsets here for me and at least three, quite possibly four of the big names making their predicted mark.
Rain forecast today, but centre court play will not be interupted and one match there, between Radek Stepanek and Fernando Verdasco is of interest. Stepanek leads the series 3-2 and won their only meeting on the surface here in 2006 in five close sets. The 32 year old Stepanek is in the twilight of a pretty solid career and in decent form, posting grass court wins over Tsonga and Ljubicic in recent weeks and taking a set off Rafa at Queens Club. Verdasco is gritty and has had a whole series of big serving battles with Ancic, Karlovic ( twice), Stepanek and Roddick on grass. Really hard to split these two, Stepanek looks a shade big at 2.50 but the spaniard is better on the surface than he is given credit for and beat Nalbandian and Mahut at Queens before losing to Roddick and the US player was not the same one who lost tamely to Murray in the final that day ! I like this to go to a minimum four sets and am strongly in the "over" camp, only Unibet have posted as I type, 1.87 "over" 39.5 games, which I am very keen on, if similar is available elsewhere that would have to be a double stake 2 unit selection. WON
Onto the Ladies, Venus and Serena Williams have won nine of the last eleven titles between them and at least one of them seems sure to put in a big run again, but they have played very little tennis ( almost none) in the last 12 months and it would be a sorry indictment of the women's game were either to win, but it could happen ! However, Serena is fast approaching 30 and Venus was 31 last Friday and this year, at least for the time being I have to look elsewhere.
Let's take a run through the quarters, starting from the top, world number one Caroline Wozniacki is not my favourite player as you might have guessed and I normally look to oppose her in the bigger events, against the better players. In her favour, she has won at Eastbourne in the past and did take a Girls Singles title at Wimbledon in 2006. Also there are no real dangers in her 16, so a chance to really play herself in, however, I do not think she is up to winning a grand slam at present and in the bottom half of her section are Sam Stosur, who was very disappointing at Roland Garros and Maria Sharapova who was not ! The Russian superstar, the biggest earner in woman's sport, changed coaches and racquets earlier this year and remodelled her service action, all changes have gone well and she was a shock winner in Rome without dropping a set and semi finalist at RG, for a player who turns about as fast as an oil tanker, they were fantastic performances and will have given her great confidence coming into an event which suits her game much better and which she has won previously.She withdrew from Birmingham, so no warm up event, but that might be just as well after the rigours of the clay court season, she starts against Ana Chakvetadze whom she leads 7-0 all in straight sets, so that should get her nicely primed, but at a top priced 2.375, it is hard to put her up as a selection to win the quarter, there is not much value in that skinny quote, but she would be my pick.
Quarter 2 has a whole host of dangerous players in it, Li Na , Serena, Ivanovic, Radwanska, Marion Bartoli and several others, it is a very tough section. Given her lack of tennis, Serena is a very short price to come out top and at circa 9.0 Bartoli, who loves the surface and added a grass court title at Eastbourne last week to her CV, which is even more impressive considering her big run in Paris, is a far more attractive quote and could give Williams big problems in the fourth round.
The third section is arguably the most interesting including the resurgent Jelena Dokic back inside the top 50 for the first time in years following a final appearance in Holland on grass last week meeting Francesca Schiavone, who is not comfortable on the surface in the opening round. Dokic was a semi finalist here as an 18 yo and the previous year,as a 17 yo qualifier beat world number one Martina Hingis 6-2 6-0 in what many consider the biggest tennis upset of all time. That is a long time ago of course, but she is still three year younger than the italian and clearly happier on grass. Schiavone admitted to being very flat and lacking in energy at Eastbourne and I think she will struggle to get her intensity back in the damp conditions in London at present.Dokic leads the h2h 3-0 including a win in Kuala Lumpur this year and at 2.25 + to beat the number six seed, is a very tempting bet and my second selection of the opening day. LOST in three close sets
Also in this group of 32 are Andrea Petkovic who is having a great year and whilst she has no real history here, she has gone deepish in the other three slams and could be dangerous, the lower half is packed full of potential, with last year's quarter finalist Kaia Kanepi who won seven matches in this tournament after coming through qualifying, the hugely gifted Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who is a certain future slam winner IMO, Daniela Hantuchova and another big talent in Victoria Azarenka. Pavlyuchenkova is a player I want to keep on my side, it is a shame we didn't see more of her at Eastbourne, she lost early to Jovanovski who was battle hardened after coming through qualification and the Russian was sluggish, but is "really looking forward to Wimbledon". This is a learning section, if pushed AP at cica 9.0 + would be my choice, we might never see quotes like that to win a section in a slam again after this year and at 50-1 she is a dark horse who could go well, but will be vunerable in the opening round or two.
Talking of dark horses, I might have found one in Vitalia Diatchenko who meets Hantuchova today and is available at 7.50 + to win the match. The 20 yo Russian has come through qualification without losing a set so will be at home on grass and has recently moved to Ireland for training, so will be used to the rain and signed two sponsorship deals, which is good news for a player no one has heard of. You know that I like Hantuchova and she has both won and lost when we wanted her to recently, which is great, but consistency is not her strong point and she might not be 100% fit today, she had to withdraw last week with an abdomen injury and said this ...."It happened at 3-0 in the first set. I was running for a wide backhand and felt a sharp pain, and it was just getting worse and worse from then. I'll hope for some magic and get as much treatment as I can. I'm seeing the doctor now and as soon as I go to Wimbledon I'll work with the physios. I'll try to do something to be able to be ready for Monday.
Such massive odds are surely worth a try under the circumstances. Diatchenko took the first set and lost the second in a tie break
Last up is the fourth quarter, which has Venus , Jelena Jankovic and Mad Vera in the bottom half and apart from Svetlana Kuznetsova, who disappointed big time at Roland Garros, only last year's semi finalist Petra Kvitova in the top section. Kvitova did us a good favour last week and is more and more at home on grass, she has a lot of ranking points to defend, so will be desperate to go deep again and looks a better player this time round. I would only be concerened if she had to play a Venus Williams who had dispelled all fitness doubts and the american has a lot of tough hurdles to overcome before the quarters and I feel that at circa 3.50 Kvitova can repeat and make the last four once again.
Finally, Pinnacle Sports have a big looking 2.18 for Sharapova to go further than Serena Williams, I much prefer the section the Russian player is in and would make her odds on to win this bet, despite being Serena's biggest fan.
Good Luck.
TUESDAY JUNE 21ST
No highlighted selection for me today, but I do have two matches to discuss, where I feel both outsiders are a little big.
Angelique Kerber - Laura Robson
Two left handed players is going to make for a very interesting match up. I am at Wimbledon today and just saw Robson and was shocked, she has sprouted up and must be six foot, maybe a little taller. One journalist told me that this growth spurt, as much as some early season injury problems was why her career had stalled. Robson won Junior Wimbledon in 2008 when she was the youngest girl in the tournament, a tremendous achievement, she also played two Australian Open finals as a Junior, but probably turned pro too soon and her ATP career has yet to take off. However, she is still only 17 years old and has time on her side, last week she sacked her french coach after serving 13 double faults in a defeat in Holland, which must have been a fun conversation !
Robson has a big serve, which is a dangerous weapon here if she can keep the df's at bay and an all round game perfect for modern day grass court play, the two met in a challenger on an indoor hardcourt when Robson was just 14 and the German won a really close three set battle, this is a match, a fit, confident Robson would win with a degree of comfort IMO on this surface, but she is far from that. However, the crowd will be behind her and if she can come close to the level which almost saw her eliminate Jelena Jankovic here last year, she can go close and at circa 2.625 she is certainly the only one I could bet in this match, but she does have problems. ROBSON WON
Sanja Mirza - Virginie Razzano
Mirza has a few grass court wins under her belt, but despite being a huge star in India, is pretty much a journeywoman player, who tends to beat whom she should beat and loses when she meets a higher ranked player, she is also becoming more and more a doubles specialist. She has played a lot of clay court tennis recently ( by her normal standards) and has complained about coming to terms with grass for such a short season under the circumstances, she lost twice to Tamira Paszek on grass in teh last fortnight and she is no force on the surface and Razzano would win this IMO if her head was in the right place. However, her fiancee died recently from a brain tumour and despite continuing to play, it is hard to know how long it will take her to get over such a traumatic experience. In 2009 the frenchwoman made the final in Eastbourne and the 4th round here, beating Bartoli , Dementieva and the older Radwanska sister in the process, an impressive bunch of scalps on any surface, but especially grass. She got her ranking as low as 16 after that, which shows her potential and at 2.50 +.. 2.625 in a place she looks big, but who knows what her mental state will be. RAZZANO WON
Robson and Razzano probably need to stay in touch with their opponent early, if they do, a return to the scene of her biggest triumph and a chance to lose herself for a couple of hours respectively, might bring out the best in them.
Wednesday looks a much better betting day.
Good Luck.
WEDNESDAY JUNE 22ND
Wimbledon tennis has been pretty good so far, Jelena Dokic was well on top for most of her game against Francesca Sciavone and I would be keen to bet her again today, if they were to replay that match this afternoon. Diatchenko, who was a massive 8.0 + took the first set and only lost the second in a very close tie break, the Russian youngster had a huge 19 break points in that match and I would not rush to back Daniela Hantuchova until she has 100% proved her well being. Virginie Razzano won and the Stepanek-Verdasco match up went "over" with ease, so we have been pretty much spot on across the board so far, with not too much luck. The Laura Robson match has been held over until today.
Not much to take my fancy on the Ladies today, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova won her first round match but it was a bit laboured, she faces a tough second round match with Nadia Petrova today, if Nastia had one more match on the surface under her belt I would be very tempted to take the -3 games with Pinnacle Sport for her to cover the handicap at circa 2.0, but as I explained in my pre tournament notes, she will be vunerable through the opening round or two, after which I expect her to be strong. Having said that, Petrova at 29 yo is not getting any better and lost to a clearly out of sorts Samantha Stosur in straight sets at Eastbourne in the first round. I would not put any of you off taking a little on this handicap bet, but I will take a watching brief, we will know a lot more about Nastia on grass after today, but whatever happpens, we will make money on her on hardcourts this summer.
I like the "over" games in the Rainer Schuettler - Feliciano Lopez match. Schuettler is very much in the twilight of his career at 35 years old, but made the semis here as recently as 2008, he had a straight sets win over the seeded Thomaz Belluci in the first round, making few errors and serving well, especially on second serve, he is very shrewd and had good tactics really going after the brazilian on second serve returns. Lopez is a two time quarter finalist here and sereved really well at Queens, he dropped only five points on first serve and gave up no break points in his first round defeat of Berrer, so this match will be all about the serve and I feel we will see plenty of free points. Lopez's last six matches on the surface have seen every first set go to 10 + games, with four going to at least 12 games, something similar is surely on the cards today and will set up the "over" bet nicely. The two have met once previously at the All England Club, way back in 2002 when they played out a four set 42 game match, their most recent outdoor fast court meeting ( last year) also went the distance in three close sets. Lopez should progress, but in four sets at least.... 1.5 units "over" 39 games 1.847 Pinnacle. WON
Good Luck.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
UPDATE ....
Please check your inbox if you are on my occasional mailing list, about half of you have just been sent my notes for the opening day at Wimbledon, which includes selections at odds of 2.25 and 1.87 ( double stake) and suggestions at odds of 7.50, 9.0 ( twice), 2.18, 3.50 and 51.0 !
It runs to some 1700 words and is an entertaining read if I do say so myself.
Good Luck.
It runs to some 1700 words and is an entertaining read if I do say so myself.
Good Luck.
SUNDAY ....
I have been a big supporter of Granada in the last six weeks or so and wrote my first blog post about them early last month ( see link), they were still available to win the playoffs at circa 3.50 a little over a week ago and got the job completed with a 1-1 draw at Elche last night. That means La Liga next season and visits from Barcelona and Real Madrid for a team that were playing 4th tier football just five years ago and I hope that some of you got involved and won a little money.
A few basic words about today's action .....
The Concacaf Gold Cup continues tonight, the USA have failed to impress so far, but almost always play Mexico in the final regardless of what happens en route, they also have a fantastic record against Jamaica who are admittedly playing well, never having lost in 17 previous meetings. However, the US have been priced very short and a word of caution, both Landon Donavan and Clint Dempsey were allowed to leave camp and attend weddings yesterday, flying back late last night and we are not talking short distances, the game is in Washington and the weddings were in California and Texas respectively, that is a lot of air miles for a one day trip, regardless of whether you are flying in a private jet or not !
US Open Golf: Rory McIlroy is playing out of his skin and is getting expensive to oppose. I do not like to "chase" money, but I have to go against him again today, he holds an eight shot lead going into the last 18 holes and will be delighted to win the tournament, which would be his first major, by half that margin, or even less. He blew a huge lead at Augusta and I don't care how well he is playing and he is, he would not be normal if he wasn't really worried about a repeat and I feel he will be very conservative today. YE Yang was very solid yesterday but little dropped for him putting wise, he is still in second place and if you did not take the 5.0 yesterday for him without McIlroy, I would suggest getting involved today in that market, he is circa 5.20 ( one unit) on the exchanges and that is a good price for someone who virtually admitted he is only playing for second spot. Other "contenders" like Lee Westwood are loathe to give up on the win and might be forced to gamble a little too much on a dangerous golf course.
Of the top ten, Westwood has played the closing holes best of all, being five under for the last five holes, Jason Day is two over and Freddie Jacobsen three over over the same sequence of holes. Westwood is paired with Day and several companies are bound to be betting in running, which could be interesting
Robert Garrigus and Jacobsen are the worst Round 4 players amongst the top ten challengers and are paired together too, this is Garrigus first major and he could be nervous, but probably harbours no dreams of winning this and would be happy with a top 3 place, he is two under for the last five holes, five strokes better than the swede and could also be worthwhile watching "in running", if that option is available. I also think he is decent value to beat Jacobsen in his two ball at 2.25, FJ far too often undoes good early work at the business end of tournaments.
A few basic words about today's action .....
The Concacaf Gold Cup continues tonight, the USA have failed to impress so far, but almost always play Mexico in the final regardless of what happens en route, they also have a fantastic record against Jamaica who are admittedly playing well, never having lost in 17 previous meetings. However, the US have been priced very short and a word of caution, both Landon Donavan and Clint Dempsey were allowed to leave camp and attend weddings yesterday, flying back late last night and we are not talking short distances, the game is in Washington and the weddings were in California and Texas respectively, that is a lot of air miles for a one day trip, regardless of whether you are flying in a private jet or not !
US Open Golf: Rory McIlroy is playing out of his skin and is getting expensive to oppose. I do not like to "chase" money, but I have to go against him again today, he holds an eight shot lead going into the last 18 holes and will be delighted to win the tournament, which would be his first major, by half that margin, or even less. He blew a huge lead at Augusta and I don't care how well he is playing and he is, he would not be normal if he wasn't really worried about a repeat and I feel he will be very conservative today. YE Yang was very solid yesterday but little dropped for him putting wise, he is still in second place and if you did not take the 5.0 yesterday for him without McIlroy, I would suggest getting involved today in that market, he is circa 5.20 ( one unit) on the exchanges and that is a good price for someone who virtually admitted he is only playing for second spot. Other "contenders" like Lee Westwood are loathe to give up on the win and might be forced to gamble a little too much on a dangerous golf course.
Of the top ten, Westwood has played the closing holes best of all, being five under for the last five holes, Jason Day is two over and Freddie Jacobsen three over over the same sequence of holes. Westwood is paired with Day and several companies are bound to be betting in running, which could be interesting
Robert Garrigus and Jacobsen are the worst Round 4 players amongst the top ten challengers and are paired together too, this is Garrigus first major and he could be nervous, but probably harbours no dreams of winning this and would be happy with a top 3 place, he is two under for the last five holes, five strokes better than the swede and could also be worthwhile watching "in running", if that option is available. I also think he is decent value to beat Jacobsen in his two ball at 2.25, FJ far too often undoes good early work at the business end of tournaments.
However, my best bet of the day has to be Yang to beat McIlroy, he is odds against with the tie no bet option and up to 2.625 with the tie ( 1.5 units), you might find bigger later in the day. Unless the Ulsterman picks up a shot or two early , he is surely going to get increasingly cautions through his round and could easily find himself in a position where he is "happy" to finish bogey, bogey, bogey and still ease home, why take too many chances , with such a huge prize on offer ?
Good Luck.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
TUESDAY ....
WTA TOUR EASTBOURNE TENNIS
Some very interesting match ups at this early stage of the tournament and I would like to briefly talk about four of them....
Going to start with Kaia Kanepi verses Francesca Schiavone, grass is not really the italian's surface, she is just about 50-50 lifetime on grass and lost in the first round at both Eastbourne and Wimbledon last year to Cirstea and Dushevina taking just one set in the process. Both are inferior to the tall big serving estonian on the surface and with Schiavone once again coming here after another emotional roller coaster ride at Roland Garros and a very tough fortnight and with no ranking points to defend, in what is a low ranking warm up event, for a tournament she probably feels she has no chance in, quite why the french finalist has been made favourite is something of a mystery. Kanepi won 12 matches on grass last year winning through qualifying at both Birmingham and Wimbledon, losing in the quarter finals in each, she has recently changed coach and is I understand very comfortable with the new arrangement and feels her game has improved. Schiavone holds a 3-1 lifetime h2h lead, but they have never met on the surface and the only recent meeting which game on a fast indoor court, went the distance and to 34 tough games, there should be plenty of "free" service points on offer for Kanepi, who was bombing them down in the early rounds of Roland Garros and all in all she is much better suited to playing on the green stuff.
1.5 units Kaia Kanepi to win 2.10 +
Serena Williams makes her return today and faces Tsvetana Pironkova. Williams has not played since winning Wimbledon last year and is bound to be a little rusty after 12 months at home, her sister also made her long awaited comeback yersterday and took three long sets to dispose of Andrea Petkovic and Venus had "only" been out since January. A fit Serena would blow the bulgarian off court, but might want to ease herself in and play a few games today, the weather forecast is nice and sunny and conditions should be perfect down in Eastbourne. Pironkova is having a terrible year ( 4-16), but made the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year, beating Venus and Bartoli two of the strongest players on tour on grass, both in straight sets enroute and gave up just a combined seven break points in the process, earning 24 herself, with Tsvetana serving at a similar speed and level to Venus which is just about as good as it gets. Obviously she is no mug on the surface and will never get a better opportunity to push possibly the greatest player of all time, definitely the best ever athlete on tour."Over" games look to have been priced pretty low to me.
1.5 units "Over" 20 games 1.90 +
I was terribly impressed with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at Roland Garros, she looks a certain future Grand Slam winner in waiting, whether that will come on grass I do not know, but we will know more after this week and I would love to watch her game with qualifier Bojana Jovanovski this afternoon. The young Serbian will be battle hardened with three rounds of qualification under her belt and should give the ultra talented AP a good run out.
Lucie Safarova must be unhappy to be facing Marion Bartoli at this early stage, the frenchwoman was thrilled by her surprise run to the semi finals in Paris and was originally treating her national open as more of a warm up event for the grass court season, her highlight of the year. Safarova rarely comes to the UK and is 4-7 here on grass, with only one victory of note and that coming against a very young Pavlyuchenkova who is still only 19 btw. Only danger for Bartoli is that her extended run at Roland Garros might have held up her preparation for grass, so I would not rush to take 1.35, but she really ought to win this.
All in all a fine day's action and a lot to learn, hopefully it will be possible to watch most of these and I will try to update my notes tomorrow.
Good Luck.
Some very interesting match ups at this early stage of the tournament and I would like to briefly talk about four of them....
Going to start with Kaia Kanepi verses Francesca Schiavone, grass is not really the italian's surface, she is just about 50-50 lifetime on grass and lost in the first round at both Eastbourne and Wimbledon last year to Cirstea and Dushevina taking just one set in the process. Both are inferior to the tall big serving estonian on the surface and with Schiavone once again coming here after another emotional roller coaster ride at Roland Garros and a very tough fortnight and with no ranking points to defend, in what is a low ranking warm up event, for a tournament she probably feels she has no chance in, quite why the french finalist has been made favourite is something of a mystery. Kanepi won 12 matches on grass last year winning through qualifying at both Birmingham and Wimbledon, losing in the quarter finals in each, she has recently changed coach and is I understand very comfortable with the new arrangement and feels her game has improved. Schiavone holds a 3-1 lifetime h2h lead, but they have never met on the surface and the only recent meeting which game on a fast indoor court, went the distance and to 34 tough games, there should be plenty of "free" service points on offer for Kanepi, who was bombing them down in the early rounds of Roland Garros and all in all she is much better suited to playing on the green stuff.
1.5 units Kaia Kanepi to win 2.10 +
Serena Williams makes her return today and faces Tsvetana Pironkova. Williams has not played since winning Wimbledon last year and is bound to be a little rusty after 12 months at home, her sister also made her long awaited comeback yersterday and took three long sets to dispose of Andrea Petkovic and Venus had "only" been out since January. A fit Serena would blow the bulgarian off court, but might want to ease herself in and play a few games today, the weather forecast is nice and sunny and conditions should be perfect down in Eastbourne. Pironkova is having a terrible year ( 4-16), but made the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year, beating Venus and Bartoli two of the strongest players on tour on grass, both in straight sets enroute and gave up just a combined seven break points in the process, earning 24 herself, with Tsvetana serving at a similar speed and level to Venus which is just about as good as it gets. Obviously she is no mug on the surface and will never get a better opportunity to push possibly the greatest player of all time, definitely the best ever athlete on tour."Over" games look to have been priced pretty low to me.
1.5 units "Over" 20 games 1.90 +
I was terribly impressed with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at Roland Garros, she looks a certain future Grand Slam winner in waiting, whether that will come on grass I do not know, but we will know more after this week and I would love to watch her game with qualifier Bojana Jovanovski this afternoon. The young Serbian will be battle hardened with three rounds of qualification under her belt and should give the ultra talented AP a good run out.
Lucie Safarova must be unhappy to be facing Marion Bartoli at this early stage, the frenchwoman was thrilled by her surprise run to the semi finals in Paris and was originally treating her national open as more of a warm up event for the grass court season, her highlight of the year. Safarova rarely comes to the UK and is 4-7 here on grass, with only one victory of note and that coming against a very young Pavlyuchenkova who is still only 19 btw. Only danger for Bartoli is that her extended run at Roland Garros might have held up her preparation for grass, so I would not rush to take 1.35, but she really ought to win this.
All in all a fine day's action and a lot to learn, hopefully it will be possible to watch most of these and I will try to update my notes tomorrow.
Good Luck.
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
TAKEN FROM WEDNESDAY NOTES ....
QUEENS CLUB TENNIS
Two matches to discuss Kevin Anderson - Donald Young and Andy Murray- Xavier Malisse, I think these are ideal for the "new" format, in which I can talk about events/ideas without the pressure of putting up a selection, if these thoughts coincide with your own, then maybe you will want to get involved.
Anderson and Young have met seven times previously, six were on fast courts, although none on grass, Young won the first three and Anderson the last four, five went the distance and at least one set contained a tie break in each. Anderson had a fine opening round win over Karlovic in which he didn't allow his huge serving opponent a single break point, given how quick the courts are here this year, that was very impressive.
Young lost his way and was, perhaps, a victim of too much hype, he was going to be the saviour of US tennis and turned pro at a very young age, too young and has struggled to retain a place in the top 100, however, he is still only 21 years old and a lot of these US players mature a little later than their european and south american counterparts. He was the youngest male to ever win a junior grand slam title and also won the junior championship at Wimbledon in 2007, that comes a something of a shock, as before labouring past Andreas Haider- Maurer in the first round on Monday in 31 games, he was 0-5 on grass in London on the ATP tour. Having said that, a win is a win and he might take heart from both that and a recent defeat of Andy Murray in Indian Wells, his first really big win over a top ranked player.
Anderson should win and is very short odds, but these two know each other well and I don't doubt that Young has more room for improvement, he could keep this close and "over" games or the South African to win in three sets at circa 4.33 ( bigger on the exchanges for tiny stakes) makes some appeal.
Murray is still struggling a little with his injury and with Wimbledon just around the corner, will not take any chances, he was said not to be moving well in practice on Monday, but did play doubles with his brother yesterday, which he would not have done if the ankle was a major concern ( they actually lost to Malisse and his partner in straight sets), he will wear strapping and take some medication before playing this afternoon. Malisse is another player who lost his way and has not always appeared the most committed on tour, but is talented, seems re-dedicated over the last 12 months and has got himself back into the top 50. He is a former Wimbledon semi-finalist and has gone deep here a couple of times, including last year when he beat Novak Djokovic en route to the quarter finals. He is fully capable of taking advantage of any weakness in Murray's game and looks on the big side @ 6.60, I would definitely urge caution if thinking of taking skinny odds about the british number one.
Good Luck.
Two matches to discuss Kevin Anderson - Donald Young and Andy Murray- Xavier Malisse, I think these are ideal for the "new" format, in which I can talk about events/ideas without the pressure of putting up a selection, if these thoughts coincide with your own, then maybe you will want to get involved.
Anderson and Young have met seven times previously, six were on fast courts, although none on grass, Young won the first three and Anderson the last four, five went the distance and at least one set contained a tie break in each. Anderson had a fine opening round win over Karlovic in which he didn't allow his huge serving opponent a single break point, given how quick the courts are here this year, that was very impressive.
Young lost his way and was, perhaps, a victim of too much hype, he was going to be the saviour of US tennis and turned pro at a very young age, too young and has struggled to retain a place in the top 100, however, he is still only 21 years old and a lot of these US players mature a little later than their european and south american counterparts. He was the youngest male to ever win a junior grand slam title and also won the junior championship at Wimbledon in 2007, that comes a something of a shock, as before labouring past Andreas Haider- Maurer in the first round on Monday in 31 games, he was 0-5 on grass in London on the ATP tour. Having said that, a win is a win and he might take heart from both that and a recent defeat of Andy Murray in Indian Wells, his first really big win over a top ranked player.
Anderson should win and is very short odds, but these two know each other well and I don't doubt that Young has more room for improvement, he could keep this close and "over" games or the South African to win in three sets at circa 4.33 ( bigger on the exchanges for tiny stakes) makes some appeal.
Murray is still struggling a little with his injury and with Wimbledon just around the corner, will not take any chances, he was said not to be moving well in practice on Monday, but did play doubles with his brother yesterday, which he would not have done if the ankle was a major concern ( they actually lost to Malisse and his partner in straight sets), he will wear strapping and take some medication before playing this afternoon. Malisse is another player who lost his way and has not always appeared the most committed on tour, but is talented, seems re-dedicated over the last 12 months and has got himself back into the top 50. He is a former Wimbledon semi-finalist and has gone deep here a couple of times, including last year when he beat Novak Djokovic en route to the quarter finals. He is fully capable of taking advantage of any weakness in Murray's game and looks on the big side @ 6.60, I would definitely urge caution if thinking of taking skinny odds about the british number one.
Good Luck.
TAKEN FROM TUESDAY NOTES ....
The closest I could come to a bet was the"over" in Panama - Guadelope, the pair met in the competition two years ago at this satge, with Guadelope winning 2-1. There was some very naive defending on both sides that day and whilst Panama were the better team and will doubtless be out for some revenge, they were troubled by the long range shooting and pace of their opponents. Tough group here, with Canada and the US seemingly booked for the next stage, so surely both will come looking for the three points.
SPAIN LIGA ADELANTE PLAY-OFFS
The "Segunda" play-offs get underway tomorrow ( wednesday) when Celta entertain Grenada, Elche travel to Valladoid the next night, with the return legs played over the weekend. Only three points separated these four during the regular season, but I have already thrown my hat firmly into the Granada camp and I remain confident, my original post is reproduced below.
Granada ended the year much stronger than Celta collecting 13 points more in the second half of the campaign and only lost one of six regular season starts against their play-off rivals, that came early season at home to Valladoilid and gained revenge with a 3-2 victory in the return fixture. They drew both meetings with Celta and would doubtless accept that result again in what is sure to be a tight first leg. Hosts have won only nine home games all season the fewest in the top half of the table and conceded 23 home goals, the most amongst the top seven. Eight of those nine wins came in their first 12 starts and they are 1-3-5 on home soil since early February. Feel this is a good fixture for Granada, really like them to win the playoofs and therefore have to be pleased getting a full half ball start at Celta and we have to take some of that !
Granada +0.5 ball 1.87 ( Wednesday)
Good Luck.
SPAIN LIGA ADELANTE PLAY-OFFS
The "Segunda" play-offs get underway tomorrow ( wednesday) when Celta entertain Grenada, Elche travel to Valladoid the next night, with the return legs played over the weekend. Only three points separated these four during the regular season, but I have already thrown my hat firmly into the Granada camp and I remain confident, my original post is reproduced below.
Granada ended the year much stronger than Celta collecting 13 points more in the second half of the campaign and only lost one of six regular season starts against their play-off rivals, that came early season at home to Valladoilid and gained revenge with a 3-2 victory in the return fixture. They drew both meetings with Celta and would doubtless accept that result again in what is sure to be a tight first leg. Hosts have won only nine home games all season the fewest in the top half of the table and conceded 23 home goals, the most amongst the top seven. Eight of those nine wins came in their first 12 starts and they are 1-3-5 on home soil since early February. Feel this is a good fixture for Granada, really like them to win the playoofs and therefore have to be pleased getting a full half ball start at Celta and we have to take some of that !
Granada +0.5 ball 1.87 ( Wednesday)
Good Luck.
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