Tennis Picks August 9th (Toronto and Montreal)

It hasn't been a good week so far, but a lot of that has been down to the fact that the uncertainty of participation has trickled down into the performances of some of the players.

Juan Martin Del Potro and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga both were beaten in the Second Round, their first matches since the Olympics, while Andy Murray needed some treatment from the trainer at courtside in his win.

I said at the beginning of the week that I would not be surprised if we see a first time winner of the Masters and I still think that could be the case with the major players perhaps looking ahead to Cincinnati and getting ready for the US Open.

Novak Djokovic looks the exception as he has a very nice draw although with a really tough looking test against Sam Querrey today.


Marin Cilic v Janko Tipsarevic: I am going to take Marin Cilic to win this match as the underdog after an impressive Second Round win over Marcos Baghdatis yesterday.

He will need to look after his serve a little better than he did yesterday, but he should be in a good place mentally having a 6-1 head to head record against Janko Tipsarevic.

Tipsarevic is having another solid season to back up his 2011 successes and he is in a position to challenge for a place at the End of Year Championships.

The match could be decided on which of these two players can get on the front-foot the quickest, but the psychological edge has to be with Cilic and I think he has been in good enough form to take the win, but possibly in three tough sets.


Tomas Berdych - 2.5 games v Richard Gasquet: One of the biggest disappointments of the last couple of months has to be Tomas Berdych, a player that should have been a real threat at Wimbledon and the London Olympics, but was beaten in the First Round of both of those tournaments.

That would have hurt the big man considering he is a former Finalist at Wimbledon and it was a truly terrible couple of tournaments for him. Berdych snapped a three match losing streak with a win in the Second Round against Julien Benneteau and he may be in line for a big week considering the lack of other top talent left in the draw.

He faces Richard Gasquet who continues to be consistently inconsistent, but who has generally come up short against the top tier of Men's tennis. That has been highlighted by the fact that he has reached the Semi Final or better in just one tournament over the last twelve months, yet has reached at least the Quarter Final in 7 tournaments.

Berdych has won 3 of the last 4 matches against Gasquet and he was serving very well in his win yesterday to suggest he will be too strong again. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the sets is decided in a tie-break, but I would expect Berdych to come through in two sets.


Milos Raonic v Andy Murray: I am going to have an interest in the big-serving Canadian to delight his home fans with an upset over the Gold Medal winner from the London Olympics.

Andy Murray has played a lot of tennis recently, and even required some help from the trainer yesterday, and there has to be a feeling that all the tennis and mental effort required to reach a Wimbledon Final and win the Gold Medal has to take its toll on him eventually.

Murray may already be looking ahead beyond the next two Masters Events at the US Open, while a player like Milos Raonic can make it very easy for someone to be beaten.

Raonic would have half a chance against a fully-fit and focused Murray simply because of the monster of a serve he has, one that helped him to a straight sets win over the British Number 1 at Barcelona earlier this year- that on a clay court no less.

I seriously believe the Canadian could have his biggest breakthrough on the Main Tour this week and that can begin with an upset win in this one.


MY PICKS: Marin Cilic @ 2.10 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Tomas Berdych - 2.5 games @ 1.83 Ladbrokes (2 Units)
Milos Raonic @ 2.60 Boyle Sports (2 Units)

Weekly Update: 3-5, - 4.64 Units (14 Units Staked)