Tennis Picks August 3rd (London Olympics Day 7 and Washington)

We have reached the Semi Finals of the Olympic Games meaning the winners will now be guaranteed a Medal from the Games. I am also still in a solid position of having my two main picks from the outrights still in the competition, although both are going to need to win a couple of tough matches if they are to win the tournament.

Roger Federer meets Juan Martin Del Potro tomorrow and is now just two matches away from fulfilling his dream of winning the Gold Medal and completing his career 'Golden Slam'.

In the Women's draw, Serena Williams remains the big favourite, but she meets Victoria Azarenka and is likely going to have to beat Maria Sharapova in the Final if she is to replicate her elder sister Venus and win the Gold Medal in the singles event.


Roger Federer - 3.5 games v Juan Martin Del Potro: Juan Martin Del Potro came awful close to beating Roger Federer for the first time in six meetings when he led the Swiss man by 2 sets to love at the French Open a couple of months ago, but he failed to get the job done and has now lost all five matches against Federer in 2012.

The grass courts should favour the Federer game even more and I think he has the mental edge in this match and that is why I believe he will likely earn a break in each set to cover the spread.

Del Potro has quietly moved through the draw this week, but grass is not his favourite surface and he is still to beat one of the top guys since coming back from his injury that ruled him out for around a year back in 2010.

Since beating Federer in London at the End of Year Championships in 2009, Del Potro has been comfortably beaten by the World Number 1 in four of their six matches. That makes it tough mentally for him, especially on the grass courts, and I wouldn't be surprised if Federer is a 6-3, 6-4 winner.


Serena Williams - 4.5 games v Victoria Azarenka: Serena Williams looks the pick of the Women still in this tournament and she has been serving wonderfully well this week and I think that will make the difference, again, when she plays Victoria Azarenka in this Semi Final.

I heard Virginia Wade said something along the lines of 'Azarenka is a lot better than Serena when it comes to playing off the ground' but I think she is one of the worst 'experts' out there and clearly watches around five minutes of tennis per year.

Anyone who has seen their two matches this year and their two matches last year will know that Serena has looked the dominant player in most aspects and has been the player dictating the points with her power.

Williams also looks the more likely to break serve and I think she is going to win with a little more room to spare than she did at Wimbledon last month. On that occasion, Serena would have covered this spread but got a little nervous before coming through 6-3, 7-6 to reach the Final.

The previous three matches shows that Serena has more joy when it comes to breaking serve and she has won all of those comfortably, while Williams also recorded a 6-2, 6-3 win over Azarenka here at Wimbledon in 2009.

With the way Williams is playing at the moment and the confidence she is displaying, I think she wins this one 6-3, 6-4 and will be a little less nervous when she approaches the winning line than when she got to that stage at Wimbledon last month and that should enable the cover.


MY PICKS: Roger Federer - 3.5 games @ 1.73 Ladbrokes (2 Units)
Serena Williams - 4.5 games @ 2.00 Paddy Power (2 Units)


Weekly Update: 8-7, + 2.60 Units (29 Units Staked)