GONZALEZ - HAAS

I just cannot go along with the odds for this men's semi-final.

Gonzalez has been very impressive in straight sets wins over Blake and Nadal, but he was a big outsider in both of those and now he is a heavy favourite. This is his first ever apperance in a grand slam last 4 and he is known to get nervous at times, as indeed does his opponent.

He has had a day off, which will have allowed everything to sink in and I just wonder which Fernando will turn up, the one who destroyed Nadal, or the one taken to a deciding set by Juan Martin Del Potro ( who ?).

This is Haas' third semi-final in Melbourne and he will be pleased that all the pressure is now on the Chilean. Tommy came close to taking out Federer here last year, creating plenty of break points and losing in a tight, 5th set.

Not sure that Gonzalez can maintain the same level for a third straight round, in his "good" matches he has won 60% of points on his second serve, when that has dipped, he has struggled a little, I am expecting a dip in form, or the palms to get a little sweaty.

To be honest, the odds for Haas are a bit of a joke, they are 12% higher than for his win over Davydenko. Haas did have some treatment in his win over the Russian, but claims to be OK, some cynics thought that was "tactical" anyway. Think we might see a few "tricks" here , Gonzalez likes to play very quickly at times, it was surprising that Nadal didn't try to really slow things down, we might see some of that tonight.

I have to back the German and suggest you do too.

4 points Haas to beat Gonzalez 3.05 Betfair.

Good Luck.