ATP Tennis Tour

Wimbledon Quarter Final Tennis Betting

Murray-mania will start up all over again on Wednesday, as Britain’s great tennis hope Andy Murray takes on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Wimbledon Quarter Finals. This is World Number four taking on World Number Ten and Murray will start as strong favourite in the tennis betting. A place in the semi final would match last year’s run at the All England Club for Murray, who has gone one round better at Wimbledon every year since he started playing there. He has played Frenchman Tsonga once every year since 2007, but never on grass. Murray holds a 2-1 lead in the head to head record with Tsonga, with the most recent match at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Canada last year, being won by the Scot in two sets. All matches between the two players have only been on hard court. Murray believes that his experience in the latter stages of the major tournaments makes him more confident, as it gets easier each time. Murray will need to get his serving back on track after dropping a level a bit on his fourth round victory over Sam Querrey. Victory for Murray over Tsonga will send him into a semi final match against the winner of Robin Soderling (6th) and Rafael Nadal (2nd). After enduring something of a difficult and trying season, Murray should have the edge on the grass over Tsonga, who often is found wanting against the world’s top four seeds.

Quarter Final Match Odds
Andy Murray – 3/10 at SportingBet
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – 10/3 at Bet365

Grand Slam
Andy Murray is 5/1 at Boylesports to win Wimbledon

Andy Murray Wimbledon Stage of Elimination
Semi Finals – 6/4 at Bet365
Quarter Finals – 3/1 at SkyBet
Runner Up – 7/2 at William Hill
Winner – 5/1 at SkyBet

Andy Murray Grass Court Match Record: Won 35, Lost 10
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Grass Court Match Record: Won 7, Lost 4

Andy Murray vs Sam Querrey

Fourth seed Andy Murray has made it through to the second week at Wimbledon, and he will pick up his push for his first ever Grand Slam title with a fourth round match against Sam Querrey (18th seed) on Monday. After having a troubled season, Murray looks to have saved his best for Wimbledon this year, as he has progressed through the tournament without too much trouble. Murray will need all his prowess as one of the best returnees of serve in the game, as Querrey is famous for his big heavy hitting serve. Murray will go into the match as favourite, simply because he has beaten American Querrey three times in a row, all without dropping a set. Murray may find the big American a bit harder to handle than he has done before, because Querrey has picked up three titles this year and has shown marked improvement since the last time they met. Standing at over six and a half foot tall, Querrey uses his height advantage well in his big serving weapon. Murray is looking to at least emulate his semi final appearance last season at Wimbledon, but joining that elusive club of Grand Slam champions is still his biggest ambition. Murray, if he wins, will move on to play the winner of Julien Benneteau (32nd seed) or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (10th seed).

Roger Federer (1st Seed) goes up against sixteenth seed Austrian Jurgen Melzer in the fourth round, as he looks to add a seventh Wimbledon title to his impressive collection. Federer knows Melzer well but has never faced him a pro level. Federer is still the man to beat, and after having a relatively slow start to at the tournament, he is in the fourth round and will be the main threat. He found himself two sets down in his opening match this year, but being the Champion that he is, he has only dropped one set since them. He is not having things quite all his own way, as those three dropped sets represent the most he has ever dropped on his way to the fourth round. Federer is worth backing strongly, as even if he is not on top of his game, he is still better than most opponents. It would be a major shock for him to fall to someone as low as 16th in the seeding.

Third seed Novak Djokovic is a consistent player and if he wins he will make his fifth consecutive quarter final round appearance at a Grand Slam. The Serbian takes on Wimbledon 2002 winner Leyton Hewitt from Australia, who is ranked down at 19th seed. It should be an interesting one, and is probably top billing of the fourth round matches. Hewitt beat Federer in the final at Halle a couple of weeks ago, so he can’t be in too bad a shape. But that victory suggests that it was just a one off, as Hewitt has a pretty poor record against players in the top three. Djokovic is one those danger men in the tournament who make for a great outside bet behind Federer and Nadal. American Andy Roddick, who has been enjoying a fantastic season, although he hasn’t played much lately after an incredibly busy start to the season, goes into his fourth round match against Yen-Hsun Lu as firm favourite. Roddick has an impressive match record on grass, going 73-16 in his career. The Wimbledon title has evaded Roddick’s grasp three times, as he has been a losing finalist three times at the All England Club. He should have no problem moving forward to the quarter finals.

Wimbledon second seed Rafael Nadal will be expected to move on effortlessly, although there are concerns over his knee after he struggled through his third round match. He was seen afterwards in training without any apparent discomfort so there should not be any problems for him. His opponent, France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu has suffered nine losses in his nine matches against Nadal in the ATP. There are signs that Nadal, who completely dominated everything on the clay part of the season is struggling a bit through. Twice has had been taken to five sets, both in the second and third rounds, and that is the kind of thing that can put extra stresses on him, and if he is carrying a knee problem, then in the long run, tiredness could be his downfall. The second round 5-set victory was the first time he has ever been taken to five sets on grass. If he is fit then he is Federer’s main challenger for the title. Any underlying injury to Nadal, could mean good things for Andy Murray as they are on collision court for the semi finals.

Wimbledon Fourth Round Match Odds
Roger Federer (1/10 at Boylesports) v Jurgen Mezler (8/1 at Bet365)
Jo Wilfired Tsonga (3/10 at Boylesports) v Julien Benneteau (3/1 at Bwin)
Tomas Berdych (1/7 at SportingBet) v Daneil Brands (11/2 at Bet365)
Novak Djokovic (5/6 at BlueSquare) v Lleyton Hewitt (43/40 at SportingBet)
Andy Roddick (1/14 at Paddy Power) v Yen-Hsun (11/1 at Bet365)
Robin Soderling (2/15 at Boylesports) v David Ferrer (6/1 at Bet365)
Rafael Nadal (1/7 at Boylesports) v Paul Henri Mathieu (7/1 at Stan James)
Andy Murray (2/9 at SportingBet) v Sam Querrey (4/1 at Bet365)

Wimbledon ATP Outright
Roger Federer – 7/4 at Boylesports
Rafael Nadal – 4/1 at BetFred
Robin Soderling – 6/1 at SkyBet
Andy Murray – 6/1 at SportingBet
Andy Roddick – 9/1 at Boylesports
Novak Djokovic – 28/1 at Totesport

Andy Murray gets his Wimbledon 2010 tennis campaign under way tomorrow, with a first round fixture against Jan Hajek who is ranked number 90 in the world. Murray has been named fourth seed for the Grand Slam, and he will be looking to at least replicate last year’s performance when he reached the semi finals. With concerns over his season going so badly downhill after a poor run of form since reached the Australian Open final, Murray is looking to rediscover his best form in an effort to secure the first Grand Slam title of his career. He will be back in the tennis betting, simply because he has not produced the form expected of him over the past couple of months, and there will be doubts over his temperament. There is extra pressure on Murray at Wimbledon, but with the British crowds behind him, perhaps it could be the thing that sparks that extra bit of desire and effort from him. Too often he has appeared to be battling himself as much as his opponent, and he needs to get back to his aggressive frame of mind in which he ruthlessly punished opponents. Murray is regarded as the master of returning serves, and will be looking for a swift, solid win in the opening round. In other British Wimbledon news, Elena Baltacha, Melanie South and Laura Robson all went out at the first hurdle. Sixteen year old Robson was on centre court against fourth seed Jelena Jankovic and showed why she is touted as such a hot prospect for the future.

Andy Murray to win: 1/40 at Boylesports
Jan Hajek to win: 16/1 at Totesport

Andy Murray is 9/1 at SportingBet to win Wimbledon

Britain’s Andy Murray  (3/1 at ExtraBet) looks to inject some new pace into his so far disappointing season, as he gets back on to the familiar grass surface. The AEGON Championships start the grass section of the ATP season, with a very strong field turning out at Queen’s for the pre-Wimbledon tournament. The pinnacle of grass court tennis and the third Grand Slam of the season, gets under way later in the month at Wimbledon, and very often, the tournament at Queens can be used as a form guide for how players may perform at the Grand Slam. Naturally, all of the British media hype will be surrounding Andy Murray, as the pressure builds upon him to land his first ever Grand Slam title. After reaching the Australian Open final, where he lost to Roger Federer, Murray has been struggling against himself for form, and the clay portion of the season has not helped him, as his record on the red stuff is not great. But now the lush grass will be under his feet, as he looks to dominate on home turf this year. Before the heavy business of Wimbledon, the AEGON Championships at Queens will provide some equally tough tasks, as Murray finds himself in a tough route to the final.

Murray is the defending champion at Queens, so there is incentive, if ever he needed any, to get back to the top of his game. There is no Roger Federer for this one, so Rafael Nadal (9/4 at ExtraBet), who is dominating the season at the moment being the king of clay, goes as number one seed for Queens, with Murray in at three. Murray has been practicing for about a week on grass ahead of the tournament, so should go into it pretty sharp, whereas Nadal who just won the French Open on the weekend, has to make an immediate adjustment from clay to grass. These little things could be all important in your ATP Tennis betting strategy for the week. But the Queens tournament has been dominated by two names in recent times, those of Andy Roddick (9/4 at ExtraBet) and Leyton Hewitt, having won eight of the last ten Queens tournaments between them. That makes Roddick a great bet, and he should be pretty fresh after sitting out a lot of the clay court section of the season. Roddick has won at Queens four times already, his last success coming in 2007, and overall in the tournament he has an impressive 29-4 match record. Some players just really like playing at certain tournaments, and Roddick here should not be ignored in the tennis betting. Of all the players at Queens this year, he has the most impressive record there by a country mile.

Nadal will command the majority of the betting as tournament favourite though. He made a clean sweep of all the Masters 1000 on clay this season, as well as putting the cherry on the cake by winning the French Open. He lifted the title at Queens in 2008, before Murray came on strong last year to win it. Nadal has a 9-2 match record at Queens, compared to a 9-3 from Murray. Second seed Novak Djokovic (9/2 at ExtraBet), who looked as if he was set for a good run at the French Open before a disappointing loss in the Quarter Finals against World 27 Jurgen Melzer, will be a strong challenger. Djokovic competes for only the third time at Queens, where he holds a 5-2 match record, with his best finish being losing finalist to Nadal in 2008. Those are the main challengers for the first grass court title of the ATP season, but one dangerous floater could be Croatia’s Marin Cilic (10/1 at ExtraBet). Cilic has not quite lived up to expectation this season, but does have two titles to his name and a 29-9 overall match record. Fell to finalist Robin Soderling at the French Open, but now that everything switches over to grass, he could be a stronger force in the build up to Wimbledon.

Looking at the draw for the AEGON Championships at Queens, Murray has his work cut out. He could meet Marin Cilic in the Quarter Finals of the draw, and then Rafael Nadal would likely be his opponent in the semi finals of the competition. Coming from the other half of the draw, the expected finalist then would be second seed Novak Djokovic. While it is not the easiest task to defend his title, this is exactly the sort of tough mental challenge that Murray needs ahead of Wimbledon. He need to be pitting himself against the very best, and a confidence boosting win over any of them will put him in good stead. This is an important tournament in terms of the grass season, and why it attracts so many of the top players. Five of the World’s top ten go at Queens this week, and while the domineering Nadal is favourite in tennis betting, perhaps the time for Murray to come good, is now. Has he been saving himself to win his first Grand Slam at Wimbledon?

As a new week dawns on the ATP French Open Tennis at Roland Garros, it is time to have a betting round up to see where things lie. The big news as far as Britain’s big hope, Andy Murray is concerned, is that his distance back in the betting at the start of the tournament, was fully justified as he crashed out to Tomas Berdych in the last sixteen. Murray was simply outplayed, and that came as some surprise, as he looked to be slowly gathering some momentum and a return to form. He looked far from his best in previous rounds, but on clay, where he has not got a great record, he looked to be gaining in confidence. His departure means that he is two Grand Slams down for the season, as he goes looking for his first career Grand Slam title. Murray, seeded fourth for the Roland Garros tournament, is the highest seeded casualty so far. Here, we take a look at the betting options for the tournament and the highest remaining seeds.

Rafael Nadal (2nd seed)
Still favourite to win it, and looking untroubled. Somehow he even looks as if he is getting better and better on clay, where he is already the king. Nadal has lost just one match at Roland Garros in his career, and that was last year’s loss to Robin Soderling. His straight set victory over Brazilian Tomaz Bellucci not only put him into the Quarter Finals of this year’s ATP French Open, but also gave him his 200th career match victory on clay. He meets 19th seed Nicolas Almagro in the Quarter finals, against who, Nadal has a 6-0 match record. To put it into context, here are some clay court stats to back up Nadal’s case for being outright favourite. He is 15 for 15 on clay this season. Out of 212 clay matches in his career, he has lost just 16, picking up a phenomenal 28 titles. He has won 31 matches and lost 4 in total this season. Something of a banker, but your choice will probably be split between him and the Fed-Express.

Roger Federer (1st seed)
The defending champion goes against Robin Soderling in a repeat of last year’s final. History favours the Swiss star heavily, as he holds a perfect 12-0 match record against the Swede. There has been some hype about Soderling going into the tournament, as he looked to be in fine shape to make a challenge, even though he is back in the odds. If Federer reaches the semi finals, then he will remain at the top of the ATP world rankings, and that means he will break Pete Sampras’s record of continuous weeks spent as world number one, which is 286. Nadal is stronger on clay than Federer, and everything is pointing to a Federer v Nadal final. Federer has not dropped a set yet on his way to the last sixteen, but should face a sterner challenge in Soderling. Soderling has potential but clearly doesn’t like playing Federer, and a win for the Swede would be something of a shock.

Novak Djokovic (3rd seed)
If he wouldn’t be running into Rafael Nadal at the semi final stage, then Djokovic would have been a great bet for the outright winner. Still is in many respects, but clearly behind Federer and Nadal in the betting. Where Federer has proved to be human this season, Nadal is going from strength to strength, and that will put Djokovic on the back burner in the outright ATP French Open betting. If you do like a strong runner though, and he is ranked third in the world let’s not forget, then he could be a sharp bet, especially taken on each way. The Serbian has a 21-7 match record this season, including one title. Not surprising that he is in the quarter finals, can he go the extra step though? Should reach the semi’s as he is playing 22nd seed Jurgen Melzer.

Quarter Final Match Odds
Roger Federer to win: 1/4 at Coral
Robin Soderling to win: 7/2 at Bet365

Tomas Berdych to win: 8/15 at Extrabet
Mikhail Youzhny to win: 35/19 at Bwin

Novak Djokovic to win: 2/7 at Boylesports
Jurgen Melzer to win: 3/1 at SkyBet

Nicolas Almagro to win: 10/1 at Stan James
Rafael Nadal to win: 1/20 at Boylesports

ATP French Open Outright Winner at Bet365
Rafael Nadal: 4/11
Roger Federer: 3/1
Novak Djokovic: 14/1
Robin Soderling: 18/1
Tomas Berdych: 25/1
Biclas Almagro: 40/1
Michail Youzhny: 66/1
Jurgen Melzer: 150/1

French Open Tennis Betting Preivew: Andy Murray seems to be getting over his recent slump in form, as he has made it to the last sixteen of the French Open at Roland Garros. After being two sets down in his first round match against Richard Gasquet, Murray has since stepped up a gear. He now faces Tomas Berdych in a battle for a quarter finals place. Murray has not exactly been well known for his clay court prowess, but all of a sudden he seems to be growing into the role. Murray reached the quarter finals of the French Open last year, but will naturally be looking to push much further as he looks for his first Grand Slam title. Should it come on clay, it would be a big surprise to everyone except Murray himself, who says he’s always enjoyed playing on the surface. His form on clay has been quite poor this season, and maybe that has eased some pressure off his back, as being in more of an underdog role.

While his professional track record won’t back that up, Murray has been slowly getting more comfortable on the clay, so it could all be about timing and get used to the tricky surface. Murray has encountered Berdych twice before in his career, and they have both won a match each. They last met in 2006, and Murray certainly has come a long way since there. Murray is regarded as one of the best returners of serve in the game, and he will need to be on top of that part of his game, as he deal with the big serves, and big risk shots of Berdych. Berdych is a player who likes to go for the big finishes instead of playing percentages, so Murray could simply stick around and grind him down from the baseline. Murray’s fitness has come into question, as he has had some long matches, and rescheduling due to the rain that has hit Paris. But one thing getting back out on the court sooner could mean for Murray, is the chance to build momentum. On paper you would back Murray to win, and the online bookmakers back that up.

If Murray beats Berdych, then he will play the winner of Mikhail Youzhny (11) and Jo-Wifried Tsonga (8) in the Quarter Finals. Roger Federer would then likely be waiting in the semi’s.

ATP French Open Fourth Round Match Odds:
Andy Murray to win: 8/13 at Boylesports
Tomas Berdych to win: 6/4 at Paddy Power

Andy Murray is 25/1 at Totesport to win the French Open Grand Slam

ATP French Open Betting: After his five set epic victory over the dangerous Richard Gasquet in the first round of the French Open at Roland Garros, Britain’s Number One Andy Murray gets back into action on Wednesday. His second round opponent is Juan Ignacio Chela from Argentina, and player Murray has beaten in his last five encounters. Murray, who has not been in the best of form on clay, had to fight his way back from two sets down, unable to cope with Gasquet’s backhand, in order to progress to the second round. What should give Murray some confidence, is that he grew in strength over the course of the match, but Gasquet, who won the Nice Open, visibly tired in the third, and that was when Murray was able to pounce.

But the battle weary Murray is showing signs of wear and tear. He is clearly nursing a sore knee, something which he knows that is irreparable and something he has to deal with through his career. The clay surface, in which strength of control in sliding is need to get around the court, can put extra pressure on the knees, something which no doubt makes things worse for Murray. The five set match against Gasquet was probably the last thing Murray needed as he goes in search of his first Grand Slam title, but hopefully he can recover in time to continue his push deeper into the tournament. There is no easy path to the final for Murray, because if he gets far enough, he will run into Roger Federer in his half of the draw, and then, in all likelihood, clay court master Rafael Nadal will be waiting in the final.

Chela is ranked 58th in the World, and Murray may again have a long session in front of him, if his first round endeavours take their toll. Murray should stand in good stead though, having beaten Chela in the warm up tournament on clay in the Madrid Open recently. The experienced 30 year old Chela has picked up a title on the tour this year though, winning in Houston, and that means Murray should be on guard for the match. The clay court is a great leveller of tennis players, and it does take exceptional talent to not only adapt to, but make the most of the surface. Andy Murray has the potential, but has he been tired after the long first round match? He did look strong in the closing stages, but it was against a tiring player. Still, the Briton will start the match as firm favourite.

Andy Murray to win: 1/8 at Stan James
Juan Ignacio Chela to win: 13/2 at Bet365

Online Bookmaker Totesport are offering an interesting cash back promotion for the ATP French Open at Roland Garros which is under way. Britain’s great Grand Slam hope Andy Murray, starts his campaign in a tough way, taking on Richard Gasquet in the first round. Murray has not been on his best form ahead of the second Grand Slam of the season, but produced his best in the Australian Open at the start of the year. Murray is involved in the highlight of the first round matches, as Gasquet recently won the Nice Open, ensuring that Murray will not have an easy ride. Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who is king of the clay surface is outright favourite at 2/5 having only lost one match on clay at Roland Garros. Totesport are offering a cash back promotion based on the progress of Andy Murray.

If your outright bet selection to win the men’s tournament at Roland Garros gets eliminated in a round before Andy Murray gets eliminated (if he does!), then Totesport will refund any bets on the market. So if you back Roger Federer and he goes out in a round prior to Andy Murray, then you get your stake back. The tennis action from Paris can be followed through live in-play betting at Totesport, where you can find plenty of options to enhance your betting. Roger Federer is the defending champion, while Nadal is clear favourite after winning his last three clay tournaments in his build up for the Grand Slam. Andy Murray has the potential, but can he overturn his recent form on clay to win his first Grand Slam?

Roland Garros French Open Tennis Betting Preview: The second Grand Slam of the Tennis calendar will be serving up a feast of tennis over the next couple of weeks. The tournament starts on Sunday, with nearly all the World stars attending on the ATP. The tournament, held at Roland Garros, is played on court, and when you look at tennis betting taking place on the red surface, then there is naturally only man you tend to lean towards. That is Spain’s Rafael Nadal, who, after an injury plagued season last year, finally seems to be finding his feet again. The Spaniard can climb up to Number One in the world if he wins the French Open for the fifth time in his career, as long as main rival Roger Federer falls before the semi final stage. That will give Nadal enough points to reclaim the spot at the top of the ATP World Rankings. Looking at his recent form, it is hard to bet against Nadal going all the way again in Paris. But of course, with most of the World’s top ten in action, and in a season where there has been quite a few surprises, there are other names in the running behind Nadal. Here we take a look at the tennis betting prospects of the top seeds:

Rafael Nadal 2/5 at Paddy Power
Nadal’s only blip on his calendar so far this year, was his quarter final exit against Andy Murray in the Australian Open Grand Slam, where he had to retire hurt when behind to the British Number One. After he returned to action from that, Nadal has won the last three tournaments he has entered since, including his most recent triumph in Madrid, where he beat Roger Federer in the final 6-4, 7-5. To further back up his claims as going into the tournament as outright favourite in the betting, Rafael Nadal has an incredible 31-1 match record at Roland Garros, compared to Roger Federer’s 39-10. Nadal’s only failure at the French Open was in last year’s tournament where he was defeated by Sweden’s Robin Soderling. But it is one year later and Nadal is on a mission to not only claim his fifth French Open, but after winning all three ATP 1000 World Tour Masters which are held on clay (those three tournament victories mentioned above) he can complete an historic “Clay Slam” if he nails victory at Roland Garros too. Every chance of doing so, and will draw a lot of expectant betting. Want further proof of his clay dominance? Nadal has a phenomenal 49-1 match record in best-of-five-set clay matches.
Rafael Nadal plays Gianni Mina in the first round.
Nadal goes in Section four, with the next highest seed before semi’s Fernando Verdasco (7th)

Roger Federer 4/1 at Bet365
Of course, the World Number One Swiss Superstar will be in the mix, at least he should be. He is the defending champion of the French Open. Federer has something valuable to protect at the tournament, his number one status. He is just three weeks away from breaking a record of longevity for the length of time being spent as world number one. Pete Sampras holds the record of being number one for 286 weeks, and Federer needs to cling on for another three weeks to beat that. The only way he will survive this, is by reaching the semi final of Roland Garros, which, in all fairness is certainly not out of the question. It is arguable that he is not as good as Nadal on the clay surface, but then who is? He is certainly the closest challenger though to Nadal, and that is one thing that is clear. Still, he is not the World Number One for no reason, and other than winning the Australian Open against Andy Murray, he only reached his second final of the season in Madrid recently, where he lost in the final to Rafael Nadal.
Roger Federer plays Australia’s Peter Luczak in the first round.
Federer goes in section one, with the next highest seed before semi’s being Robin Soderling (5th)

Novak Djokovic 20/1 at Victor Chandler
The young Serbian has picked up one title on tour this year, and is generally there or there abouts in the latter stages of the tournaments he entered. To be honest it would have been expected that he would have had a little more success that he has managed to secure in this big season for him, but still he is the World Number three and should be a threat in the draw. In fact, Djokovic could be the World Number one at the end of Roland Garros if he wins it, and Nadal and Federer fall a long way short of the final, which probably is not going happen. A little hard to judge where he is, as he really has not come up against much top ten opposition this season. His last tournament was in his home nation, where he retired hurt in the Quarter Finals at the beginning of May. An outside bet, but could run into clay court specialist Juan Carlos Ferrero before the quarter finals, which may throw his progress in doubt. Otherwise, it will be another disappointment on the calendar year doesn’t reach the quarters for such a highly ranked star.

Andy Murray 50/1 at SportingBet
Showed some marked improvement in Madrid on clay, and hopes that he was breaking out of his funk. However, he met good clay court  David Ferrer in the quarter finals for the second tournament running, and was brushed rather easily aside in straight sets. It is fair to say that Britain’s number one is not on top of his game, and the clay surface is clearly not his preferred court either. The potential and talent is not in question over Murray, but he is lacking some of the conviction in hitting the ball, to which he has done in the past. Has he the ability to win Roland Garros? Yes? Will he? Unlikely this year to be honest. Still, he is worth an outside shot, and has a fairly nice draw by the looks of it. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga looks to really be the only threat in his section of the draw, and hopefully that is something which will work in his favour as he heads towards the quarter finals. Beyond that, anything can happen. But, if you are considering an outside bet on Mr Murray, then the draw is all important to bear in mind. The path to the final of a tennis Grand Slam is rarely an easy one all the way through, and to win it, he would likely have to beat Roger Federer in the semi finals as they would be on course for that, and the meet Rafael Nadal from the other half of the draw in the final. That is just summing up what lies ahead for Murray, who should, again, like the most of the top ten players, at least reach the quarter final stage of the Open. He goes against Richard Gasquet in the first round, in probably the highlight of the first round matches. The World 68 could pose a big threat to Murray if the Brit is not really on his game. Murray’s best performances came in the only other Grand Slam of the season so far, the Australian Open, where he got the better of Nadal, but could not best Federer in the final on the hard court. The Murray from Australia, seems to be a vastly different one to the one which has been showing up lately. However, the big stage could help him find his passion and instinct again. His best finish at the tournament, was last year in reaching the Quarter Finals.
Andy Murray plays France’s Richard Gasquet in the first round.
Murray goes in section one, with the next highest seed before semi’s being Jo Wilfried Tsonga (8th)

Outside of the top four prime betting candidates, there is a fairly evenly matched chasing pack. Topping it though, is probably Andy Roddick, who has been enjoying a fantastic season, and has been on sabbatical since the end of February. His last appearance was winning the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Miami, where he beat Rafael Nadal along the way. The A-Rod has a 26-4 match record this season, picking up two titles along the way, in an incredibly hectic start to his season. Scrappy and tenacious, in Novak Djokovic’s section of the draw (and that mean’s the same half as Nadal) so worth an outside punt for at least the quarter finals. Only drawback on him, is his lack of preparation on clay compared to others. Marin Cilic is not appearing because of injury, but other names such as Robin Soderling, Fernando Verdasco and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will make up the chasing pack, although, on the big stage, where the best of the best usually shine through, it is hard to look beyond Federer or Nadal as an outright winner. But remember, that the tennis betting is not limited to just the outright market. Following tennis matches, and the hopefully prolonged adventures of Andy Murray in Roland Garros, is great to do with live in-play betting at your bookmaker.

Roland Garros Outright Bet Prices
Rafael Nadal: 2/5 at BetFred
Roger Federer: 4/1 at Bet365
Novak Djokovic: 20/1 at Totesport
Andrew Murray: 50/1 at Sporting Bet
David Ferrer: 50/1 at Sporting Bet
Fernando Verdasco: 50/1 at Sporting Bet
Robin Soderling: 50/1 at Bet365
Jo Wilfried Tsonga: 125/1 at Boylesports

Madrid Open Tennis Betting Preview: Will Andy Murray pick up his first title of 2010? The Scot is not in the best of form by any stretch of the imagination, and is struggling to find his feed on the clay as well. But the Madrid Open, which is another Masters 1000 event, could represent his best chance of claiming his first accolades of the year, as he goes into the tournament as the top seed in his quarter of the draw. Andy Murray landed the Madrid Open in 2008, but his path to the final this time around will be fraught with danger again, likely starting in the quarter finals, where Marin Cilic or David Ferrer will probably be awaiting him. Ferrer beat Murray with ease in Rome recently. Progress past that will lead Murray into a semi final clash against Roger Federer, Murray’s conqueror in the final of the Australian Open.

Murray has landed just one match victory on clay this season, so there will be an uphill battle ahead for him, against himself and opponents. Every tournament though is a chance to regain some form, and that is what Murray will be aiming at. Despite being third seed for the tournament, the tennis odds on him winning outright are going to be long, as he is struggling with his game while others are going about their business. Tournament favourites will be Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, who is the master of the clay. Nadal has won the Madrid Open before, and if he claims yet another title, he will hold the record for the most ATP Tour Masters 1000 titles (currently held by Andre Agassi).

If it’s not Federer, the current Madrid title holder, who Murray faces, should he reach the semi finals, then it will probably be the tireless workhorse of the ATP, Andy Roddick. Roddick went out hard early in the season, dominating stats with his impressive match records. While he remains a strong bet, this is his first appearance on clay, and that should put a little caution on backing him too heavily. That and the fact that he is in the same quarter as Roger Federer. Nadal is probably the strongest of all the bets too take, and being in the other half of the draw, is a likely finalist. Weighing up the draw, he has been gifted with the easiest draw of all the top seeds. There really is not much in his way to stop him reaching the final, and probably if he meets Fernando Verdasco in the semi’s it will be his toughest charge. One of the best outsiders to take a look at is David Ferrer, as he really steps things up on the clay, and has proven how dangerous he can be this season already.

ATP Madrid Open Outright Odds
Rafael Nadal: 2/5 at Totesport
Roger Federer: 6/1 at Victor Chandler
David Ferrer: 14/1at Blue Square
Andy Murray: 33/1 at Totesport
Marin Cilic: 33/1 at Totesport