This is a quick catch up post on the tennis predictions I have been making. Yesterdays tennis was both sweet and sour for me in terms of predictions. My choice for the Rotterdam ATP 500 winner fell just short. Stan Wawrinka fought a 3 setter against Gael Monfils in the final and after losing the first set, the Swiss destroyed the Frenchmen in the second 6-1 only to then lose in the third set by two breaks of serve. The swiss blew hot and cold throughout.
In the third set, Wawrinka had half a chance to catch Monfils on a downer after bludgeoning him in the second. He failed to capitalise on his momentum and that allowed Monfils to claw his way back into the match and regain his composure. Monfils is a brilliant defender of the ball and last night he asked too many questions of Wawrinka who misfired on a lot of his shots from the back-court in the first and third sets producing too many unforced errors possibly through impatience due to Monfils defensive qualities. Still I only had 1% stake on him winning the tournament. I more than made up for that by riding his momentum to the final - for example I had him down at a 2% stake to beat Nishikori in the Semi's at 2.65 which he delivered on.
Bangkok Challenger Final 2019
Yesterday I was also in attendance (Rama Gardens hotel) at the first of two Bangkok Challenger events for the final game where world Number 121st Laaksonen was taking on former world number 29 Dudi Sela. We showed up 30 minutes late and by that time my pick Laaksonen was already 5-1 up in the first set!
The Challenger tournament was happening a fair bit out of the city centre and I took a wrong turn on the way their on my bike (thanks to my brothers exceptionally poor navigation skills!) and by the time I got there I was disorientated having navigated my bike through endless traffic queues and cars on the freeway. It took me a further 20 minutes to chill out and get into the tennis, leaving only another 30 minutes worth of play to enjoy!
I had Laaksonen down to win simply due to Sela's lack of tournament play - he had six months out from July last year due to injury. That was all too clear in the final where Laaksonen absolutely pummelled him winning 6-2, 6-3. Laaksonen has a huge serve and forehand that Sela struggled to get anywhere near for the majority of the match. So much so that when he went a break down in both sets, you knew each set was a foregone conclusion. That was my first ever tennis betting prediction I had made where I was live in attendance at the actual game. Laaksonen was 2.00 to win so it felt good watching my prediction come true, especially backing Laaksonen due to Sela's lack of match fitness, it was pretty much how the match played itself out!
Tomorrow's Picks for Delray Beach ATP:
Istomin vs Lopez
Backing: Istomin Outright 1.66 (1%)
Kyrgios vs Millman
Backing: Kyrgios Straight 2.75 (2%)
Evans vs Tiafoe
Backing: Evans Outright 2.65 (1%)
Schnur vs Mannarino
Backing: Schnur Outright 3 2 (1%)
Opelka vs Sandgren
Backing: Opelka Outright 2.1 (1%)
Tomic vs Seppi
Backing: Tomic B. Outright 2.5 (2%)
Smyczek vs Lorenzi
Backing: Smyczek T. Outright 1.7 (1%)
Ramanathan R. / Smyczek T. vs Arevalo M. / Cerretani J.
Backing: Ramanathan R. / Smyczek T. Outright 2.75 (1%)
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