Tennis Picks March 13th (Indian Wells)

So the rematch has been set- Nicolas Almagro will face Tomas Berdych just a couple of months after their blow up at the Australian Open and it will be very interesting to see how tetchy that becomes. The lack of a handshake after that match will be shown again I am sure, while we may also see if they had any further words in the locker room.

It should make for an interesting match as the Indian Wells tournament hots up with a number of solid looking matches to enjoy.

One player who won't be involved is Mardy Fish who was looking... well mardy in his loss to Matthew Ebden yesterday. I really thought he would push on from the five set win over Stanislas Wawrinka in the Davis Cup tie in Switzerland, but he has made a poor start to 2012 and could be having a letdown season after being very strong for the last couple of seasons.

Fish has Miami left on his schedule before the clay court season begins and I think his top 10 position, as well as his position as American Number 1, are both in serious doubt before the grass court season begins.


Juan Martin Del Potro - 4.5 games v Fernando Verdasco: I am going to back Juan Martin Del Potro as I think he is the superior player between the two and I think the slow nature of the courts will allow him to get more involved in Fernando Verdasco's service games and create the more opportunities to break.

Verdasco did play well in his last tournament at Acapulco, but he struggles to find the consistency in his game these days and I think Del Potro is in much the better form of the two players.

Del Potro hammered Verdasco 2 and 2 on a clay court last year and I think the conditions here will favour him to win this one in straight sets.

Nikolay Davydenko - 3.5 games v Thomaz Bellucci: This is a risky pick as Nikolay Davydenko is not the player of old, but he has shown his ability in recent weeks and I think he can take care of the streaky Brazilian who has yet to really make an impact on the Tour for a consistent period of time.

Davydenko did suffer an injury a couple of weeks ago that forced him to retire from a match with Juan Martin Del Potro, and that does concern me a little, but he is playing a player that has not had a winning record on the hard courts at this level over the last five seasons.

The Russian also beat Bellucci comfortably in their one and only meeting and I think he is going to be too consistent for him. Bellucci can get himself in trouble in his own service games, and I wouldn't be surprised to see a few breaks of serve with Davydenko just doing enough to cover the spread.

Janko Tipsarevic - 2.5 games v David Nalbandian: I think Janko Tipsarevic is one of the most under-rated players on the Tour, but he is consistently getting to the latter stages of tournaments and I think he is too strong for David Nalbandian at this stage of their careers.

Nalbandian has had a solid tournament already, but this is easily the toughest opponent he would have faced so far and I think he will struggle with the consistency needed to beat a top 10 player.

Tipsarevic would get more exposure and feel more comfortable the more he gets to the latter part of these tournaments and I think he has enough all around game to beat Nalbandian here.

Julia Goerges + 6.5 games v Victoria Azarenka: It will take a brave person to back against Victoria Azarenka this week, but I think Julia Goerges will be given just enough time on the ball on these courts to at least cause a couple of problems for the World Number 1.

It seems like a lot of games to give a player that is comfortable on the slower courts, courts that will give Goerges more of a chance to have a swing and hit through the ball.

Victoria Azarenka is one of the better defenders on Tour, and certainly has the game to extract errors from Goerges and punish her with winners, but Goerges has been in very good form recently and all this is about is keeping the match semi-close.

Azarenka has won their last two meetings, but has failed to cover this spread in both of those matches and I will look for Goerges to manage to do that again at the least.

Caroline Wozniacki - 3.5 games v Ana Ivanovic: Caroline Wozniacki has struggled to deal with the new pressure of no longer being the World Number 1, but I think she is going to be a little too solid for Ana Ivanovic who did struggle with some sort of injury yesterday in her win over Ksenia Pervak.

Wozniacki beat Ivanovic a couple of weeks ago in Dubai and I think these conditions are going to favour her and her ability to defend against a big hitter like Ivanovic... I don't expect much except the Dane to eventually grind down Ivanovic and come through in two tight sets.


MY PICKS: Juan Martin Del Potro - 4.5 games @ 2.20 Ladbrokes (2 Units)
Nikolay Davydenko - 3.5 games @ 2.00 Pinnacle (2 Units)
Janko Tipsarevic - 2.5 games @ 1.95 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Julia Goerges + 6.5 games @ 2.00 Bet Victor (2 Units)
Caroline Wozniacki - 3.5 games @ 2.00 Panbet (2 Units)


Weekly Update: 6-3, + 5.34 Units (18 Units Staked)