Posts Tagged novak djokovic
Djokovic the destroyer
Posted by Peter Webb in Tennis on May 17th, 2011
What an interesting summer we could be in for on the Tennis front.
It’s a quite remarkable start to the season for Djokovic. I wrote a detailed magazine article where I had tipped him up as the next #1, but didn’t expect that to be happening near the end of May. His run is taking on truly historic proportions.
Here is a top ten for Djokovic: -
http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/19913/top-10-of-djokovics-record-run
I don’t usually trade or watch much sport on a Sunday but couldn’t resist tuning in to watch the final in Rome of Nadal vs Djokovic. It was just too tantalising to miss. I was also looking for clues ahead of the French Open. Nadal looked a bit stunned as Djokovic delivered answers to all questions. It was an impressive performance after a tiring semi final.
Tennis season warms up
Posted by Peter Webb in Tennis on April 4th, 2011
With Novak Djokovic’s win against Nadal at Miami yesterday, things are warming up nicely on the Tennis front. Next month the French Open will provide more clues, but it looks like this season we could have some great contests ahead of us.
Miami was a repeat of Indian wells and it provide some excellent trading opportunties. Neither event is highest profile on the tour, but it provided many clues for the summer season. It is clear that Novak is right on top of his game at the moment and in my opinion he still has yet to peak. For a more detailed explantion see the next magazine article I am writing for Gambling magazine. Meanwhile other players are clearly nowhere near their top, but that’s not completely unexpected if they are aiming for good go at a grand slam. Djokovic is the stand out performer this year though.
Looking at the early Wimbledon markets it doesn’t seem that much is being priced in at the moment. Worth another look.
Extra rest will help Djokovic
Andy Murray booked his place in a second successive Australian Open final following his four set victory over David Ferrer.
While Murray has looked solid throughout the tournament, the outstanding Novak Djokovic stands in the way of the Scot’s Grand Slam dream having beaten Roger Federer in the other semi-final. The Serbian is chasing his second Aussie Open title and has had an extra days rest before Sunday’s showdown.
The head-to-head record stands at 4-3 in Djokovic’s favour, although Murray has won the last three matches. Interestingly, the pair have never played a five set match against one another. Further encouragement for Murray is that the past two victories have come in ATP finals, in Miami and Cincinnati – both on the hard court.
Murray has been fantastic at mixing up pace and spin on his way to the final and that is his best chance of success. In contrast, Djokovic will rely on his immense power that will test the Murray’s defensive prowess to the limit.
It’s sure to be an epic finale and as Murray pointed out after his semi, both players are in pretty good shape. With little to separate them, the 2.08 available for over 41.5 games looks tempting.
Outright, it’s hard to go against the world number three. Beating Federer 3-0 will have given Djokovic all the belief he needs and will likely start the stronger of the pair given his extra recuperation time. Back Djokovic at 1.74 now as I suspect he might win the first set and shorten slightly.
ATP World Tour Finals – player by player
The World’s eight best male tennis stars get trade blows in the climax to the tennis season, the ATP World Tour Final, which gets underway at the O2 Arena in London on Sunday. Obviously Bet Angel’s Tennis Trader tool will help when it comes to trading the matches but a few observations on the key players may also help if trading their outright odds…
Rafa Nadal (world ranking 1) – Regularly crocked, it’s no surprise that Rafa tends to end the season poorly as his dodgy knees tire. He is number one for a reason though, but it should be pointed out that most of his ranking points were won at the Grand Slams in the longer format tournaments. Hasn’t played for a month so perhaps be prepared to initially lay in his early matches.
Roger Federer (2) – In solid form, he won at Basel earlier this month. We know you can never underestimate Fed who is favourite for the title, but given his group draw, his odds for the title may drift early on. Alongside him in Group B Andy Murray has an excellent 8/13 record over the Swiss star, while Robin Soderling is capable of beating anyone in his current form.
Novak Djokovic (3) – Winner at the equivalent event in 2008, in contrast to Nadal, Djokovic often puts in his stronger performances at the tail-end of the ATP calendar.
Robin Soderling (4) – The form player. Winner last weekend at the Paris Masters, he can be backed for the tournament at 10/1. He’s odds against in his opener against Murray, but bear in mind that the Swede has just usurped the Scot as the World’s fourth-ranked player.
Andy Murray (5) – Possibly still nursing a slight wrist injury, so might assume his shot making and first-serve percentages to fall as his round-robin matches progress.
Don’t ignore the remaining players Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer and Andy Roddick though. The quality of the contestants means that the gap between the favourites and the outsiders is probably closer than the odds suggest. Last year, one of the event’s weaker players Nikolay Davydenko beat Juan-Martin Del Potro in the final – both are absent this year.
