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Tennis Plays 05-01 Night Card

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Tennis Plays 05-01 Night Card

andre gomes
Tue, Jan 5 2010 12:45 PM
  • Comments 13

4 Plays for tonight:

 

WTA Auckland - Maria Kirilenko vs Kaia Kanepi

This wasn't the match everybody was expecting to watch, as Na Li was the overwhelming favorite to beat Kaia Kanepi yesterday, but an absolute no show of the Chinese player allowed Kanepi to win her second match since May, however Kanepi's poor play is still there. Maybe not as bad as it was a couple of months ago, but still far from possessing the necessary tennis to beat an in-form Kirilenko in here.

Maria Kirilenko, after a slump in the beginning of 2009, really stepped it up last Summer and finished the season quite well, with some caliber wins against players like Agnieszka Radwanska (x2) and Aleksandra Wozniak.  And it looks like she is not slowing down this season, as she entered 2010 with a very easy win over Tatjana Malek by 6-2 6-3, a tricky match for Kirilenko, as Malek is actually quite talented and is currently one place away from entering the Top 70. Kirilenko served very well and with her good baseline skills, especially with her forehand, she dominated the rallies and conquered an easy win.

Now facing Kanepi, Kirilenko has the right game plan to make the Estonian player struggle and it's not a surprise to see that Kirilenko defeated her twice on hardcourt back in 2008, when Kanepi was on her best form ever. Kirilenko serves quite well and her ability to hit the ball well from the baseline, always moving a lot her opponents, will put Kanepi on a pretty defensive position, where the Estonian player due to her lack of lateral movement will certainly struggle. Even though Kanepi played a bit better yesterday and looked also more fit than usual, Kirilenko is the in-form player of the two and I expect the Russian player to use her baseline game full of variety to beat Kanepi, who will end up hitting a lot of errors when she gets in disadvantage in the scoreboard. The spread for this game would be acceptable if both players were at her best and in the same form, which isn't the case, and so I'll be taking Kirilenko minus the games in here.

Pick: 1 unit (Single Dime) on Maria Kirilenko (-2,5 Games) @ -135 on 5Dimes



WTA Auckland - Dominika Cibulkova vs Aravane Rezai

This is the most interesting match of the round in Auckland today, as it will be put head to head two Top 30 players, with potential to climb a lot more in the rankings. Aravane Rezai has finally found some stability on her game and she has been using that to keep winning and climbing in the rankings, however Cibulkova is a tough matchup for her and I don't expect the French player to be able to cope with the variety of Cibulkova's game and especially with the ability of the Slovakian player to return every single ball to the other side of the court.

Dominika Cibulkova began the 2010 season absolutely fired up and she saw herself being up by 6-0 3-0 on her first round match against Alexandra Dulgheru, before hitting the brakes a bit and win the match by 6-0 6-3. Cibulkova looked extremely well on court, with her game as accurate as ever and punishing Dulgheru's serve at every opportunity. Her defensive game was impressive as always and that's what it will give her the win in today's match against the super aggressive but inconsistent Rezai.

It's a fact that Rezai isn't as inconsistent as she once was, but the French player still goes for her shots too much, causing her to hit a lot of unforced errors against great defensive players like Cibulkova. In fact, that is easily proved as a fact, considering Rezai's last two defeats were against Cornet and Strycova, two players with very little weapons but their baseline consistency and defensive games. I expect Rezai to get frustrated a lot of times in today's baseline rallies, with Cibulkova always returning her attacks with deep and well angled shots, getting Rezai out of position a lot of times. Even though Rezai has improved a lot over the past six months, Cibulkova is still the better player and on this matchup, I have no doubts in taking the Slovakian player to win in here.

Pick: 1 unit (Single Dime) on Dominika Cibulkova ML @ -130 on 5Dimes



WTA Brisbane - Daniela Hantuchova vs Agnes Szavay

Both players have lived better moments, that's for sure. However, I believe Hantuchova is actually slowly coming back to a level close to her best, while Szavay continues to struggle a lot in finding her best level, the only that made her a contender for the big titles back in 2007.

After being thrown out of the Top 40 over the last Spring, Daniela Hantuchova is slowly coming back to her best level and she is just now four spots away from returning to the Top 20. Even though she isn't the consistent Top 10 player she once was anymore, Hantuchova is 19-10 on her last 29 matches, with two fourth rounds in Wimbledon and in the US Open, a proof that she isn't playing that bad. Also already on this tournament, she defeated Ekaterina Ivanova in the first round by 6-1 6-7 6-1, in a match where she used her great first serve to hold serve quite comfortably (got broken just once in 14 service games) and then she used her great forehand to attack Ivanova's serves and control the points quite easily. That's what I expect her to do in here against a slumping Szavay.

Agnes Szavay was able to defeat Shuai Peng in the first round of this tournament, however we can't say she was impressive. She was broken 4 times and won only 58% of the points played on her serve, which used to be one of her main weapons. She was able to take advantage from the errors of Peng, who was very poor the whole match, but now against a much more dangerous Hantuchova, I don't expect Szavay to be able to do that, especially when Hantuchova possesses a good first serve that will put her out of trouble most of the times. Szavay is just 2-7 on her last 9 matches, with one of her wins being via retirement and I don't expect her to be able to cope with Hantuchova's aggression on this match. It's a fact that Szavay has won both matches between the two players, but that was when Szavay was a contender to enter the Top 10 and not someone who is now barely the Top 40 and with the tendency of falling in the rankings even more. I expect Hantuchova to have no problems in winning each set by at least one break of difference and so, I'll be taking her minus the games in here.

Pick: 1 unit (Single Dime) on Daniela Hantuchova (-2,5 Games) @ -120 on 5Dimes

 


ATP Brisbane - Thomaz Bellucci vs Harel Levy

I've faded both players in the first round of this tournament and sadly, I lost both selections and that's why they will be playing today's match. However, while Bellucci proved that he is already playing very well, Levy didn't have to do absolutely nothing, as Llodra decided to tank the match and lose it by 6-2 6-0 in 40 minutes. The difference between both players in terms of talent is huge, but the linemakers didn't put that in account in the line for this matchup.

Thomaz Bellucci is now a steady Top 40 player and even though I don't see him climbing a lot more in the rankings, I believe he will be a legitimate Top 50 player in the next few years. He is a very aggressive player, with a good serve and very powerful ground strokes, being able to overpower a lot of players on a fast surface like this one. He served 12 aces against Chela and even though the Argentinian played quite well in that match, Bellucci pounded Chela's serve with aggressive returns and that's what I expect to see in here, as Levy possesses an even worse serve than Chela.

Harel Levy is a journeyman, barely inside the Top 120, who had the luck of being the last player entering directly in the main draw of this tournament and then had also the luck of facing a player who decided to tank the match in the first round. But now his luck is over. Levy has no weapons to counter Bellucci's firepower and unless the Brazilian pulls out a horrible performance, full of unforced errors, Levy will be getting blown out of the court today by Bellucci's powerful game. The Israeli won't be able to do much today and I expect Bellucci to win at least each set with a break of difference. Take Bellucci minus the games in here.

Pick: 1 unit (Single Dime) on Thomaz Bellucci (-3,5 Games)

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