A LITTLE DIFFERENT TODAY .....

I am reproducing today's email below, one selection has already won, the other three are still active" , the current quotes are in red and those will count as the blog selections.

FRIDAY JULY 27th

ATP TENNIS

KITZBUHEL ..... POTITO STARACE - ANDREAS SEPPI
UMAG ...... GILLES SIMON - GUILLERMO CANAS

I favour Starace in the first of these, he is very much a clay court specialist and plays 3/4 of his matches, on the surface.

He has had two nice wins over Christophe Rochus and Florian Mayer, who looked suited by the conditions here.

This will be tough, Seppi arrives in good form, having made a surprise final in Gstaad and beating Lopez and Ferrero here, although, eventually he must feel the strain of so many matches, in such a short period. .

Starace leads the h2h 2-0, both , as you might expect on clay, dropping just one set. Infact, winning his four sets, for the loss of just 7 games.

I am going to chance a little, at a big price, on the Frenchman Simon, who beat Canas in their only previous meeting 7-6 6-4 in Rome, earlier this year.

He opened here with a pleasing win over Davydenko, which proves his well being, if nothing else and his game, matches up well with his Argentine opponent.

Canas has retired twice recently, including last week in Stuttgart and there has to be concerns about lingering thigh and abdominal problems.

4 points Starace 1.83 general WON
3 points Simon 3.29 Pinnacle// 3.35 + exchanges. NOW 3.15

FRENCH LIGUE 2 .......... TROYES-GUINCAMP

Ligue 2 restarts today, which is always fun on a friday evening. It went against type last season, with the opening 5 rounds averaging 2.65 goals per game. Let's hope for the same this time round.

The hosts are widely accepted to have the most potent attacking force in the division, at least on paper.

Guincamp improved greatly in the second half of last season,they have made some changes in defence, which may take time to gel and at the other end, look to have a few goals in them too. Obviously the "over", especially with such a low goal line, for me.

5 points "over" 2 goals 1.89 asian line. NOW 1.82

U19 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP ..... SPAIN - GREECE

These two met in the group stage, when a draw suited both and it ended 0-0, with the Greeks missing a penalty. Like the senior team in Euro 2004, this young Greece side continue to be underated. Feel that this will be VERY tight and see no reason for Spain to be so short. I have to take the "outsiders" plus the draw.

4.5 points Greece +1/2 ball 1.78 asian line. NOW 1.73

Good Luck.