Tennis
2008-06-26 - Wimbledon- Day 4 vs
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Arnaud Clement v Benjamin BeckerClement came through a long tough match against fellow veteran Jonas Bjorkman in round 1 but managed to win in 4 sets. Clement's career is beginning to wind down and he has had a tough year but has started performing recent weeks with 2 Quarter Final appearances in grass court tournaments, one on the main tour and one on the Challenger circuit, and he should have some confidence coming into one of his favoured surfaces.
Clement has struggled at Wimbledon in recent seasons and has failed to progress beyond the 2nd round in the last 6 appearances here after making consecutive 4th round appearances. However, defeats to Mahut, Nalbandian and Joachim Johansson are nothing to be ashamed of.
My opinions on Becker have been clear in that I dont think his performance against Davydenko is a clear indication of his form. Davydenko seemed uninterested in competing whole heartedly at this years Wimbledon, opting to play a clay tournament instead of one on grass last week. Becker is still the same player that failed to make it beyond the 1st round in any of his last 6 Grand Slam appearances.
He does have a number of wins on grass on his career but the vast majority have come in qualification rather than during the main draw.
Clement and Becker have met 3 times before with Clement leading 2-1 in the series. They met last week in a grass tournament in Holland and it was Clement who came through in 3 sets.
I think the prices are completely factoring in their 1st round results and see value in Clement. I think if this was a 1st round match, Clement would be the favourite here.
Andy Roddick v Janko Tipsarevic
Roddick is one of my outright bets this year, and he did not really disappoint against the talented Eduard Schwank in the 1st round, coming through with a straight sets victory. The early exit of Davydenko has strengthened his position in aiming to make the Semi Finals here for the first time since 2005.
Last year Roddick was disappointed to blow a 2 set lead against Richard Gasquet in the Quarter Finals and he has been struggling with shoulder issues recently. However, he said it feels good after his first match this week.
Tipsarevic beat Thierry Ascione easily in the 1st round and will look to replicate his 4th round achievement from last season. He prepared for this event by reaching the 3rd round at the Artois Championships before losing a 3 set match to countryman Novak Djokovic, and followed that up with a failure to qualify for Nottingham.
Tipsarevic has a decent serve and good ground strokes and will be a real threat to Andy Roddick here. They have met at Wimbledon previously and Roddick came through in 4 sets 2 years ago.
The bookies seem to be giving too many games to Tipsarevic who could easily keep the score close as Schwank did in the last round against Roddick and there is always a possibility that we will be looking at a 4 set match.
Keep an eye on the forum for updated picks
BEST BETTING TIP :
Clement win @ 2.15 (Bodog)Tipsarevic + 7.5 games
Roddick to win 3-1 in sets @ 3.6 (Centrebet)
