Sporting Selections July 04

Archived results for July 2004

Date & Time
of entry

Saulnier to bt Youzhny

Nice price this when we consider the good form the Frenchman has shown in the last few weeks. Youzhny is very unpredictable. His victory v Nalbandian last night looks good but how rusty was the Argentine?

Kuerten to bt Henman

Some history here and although the matches have not always been close, the prices usually are! Kuerten served well v Ginepri in round one and showed no ill effects from an injury riddled year. He can run the Brit close today

Mirnyi to bt Srichaphan

Mirnyi has not played much recently. A combination of getting married and no great love of clay has meant that it has been awhile since the imposing Belarussian has been a betting proposition. He is a big price today when you consider that Srichaphan likes time to play his shots and will not get it today. A nice head to head ratio for Mirnyi add to our confidence

We believe that Beck has the weapons to handle Ljubicic on this hardcourt. The fine win earlier this year in Milan (a very fast indoor surface) gives us extra confidence.Ljubicic's price is so short due to his fine performance in Indianapolis v Roddick. We must remember that he really should have lost in 2 sets to Grosjean in the previous round

Srichaphan to bt Kiefer

Plenty of money for Kiefer this morning but for us Srichaphan is by far the better hardcourt player. They both play the American circuit well: Kiefer has been in very solid form recently, but as was the case in Long Island last year we take the Thai to win

Karlovic to bt Kiefer

Kiefer is in very good form in America this year but on a hard court Karlovic can serve anyone off court. He has a victory over the German in 2003 to his name on a similar surface. This price is a little high.

Montanes to bt Ventura

We think the books have the wrong favourite here. Ventura has one great (freak) tournament in Casablanca to his name whereas Montanes has some solid (at times) top level form to his name. Granted he is not in great form, we still feel this is a nice price

Verkerk to bt Gonzalez

Verkerk played his best match of the week v Massu and is very much a confidence player. Buoyed by a fanatical home crowd we take him to make it a Chilean double against the equally hard hiting Gonzalez

The Frenchman has some very solid form on hardcourts over the last few years and although we appreciate the talents of Haas (last night v Agassi another example) this price is a little high. Fish would certainly be no bigger than 6/4 if he had made the semi final.

Ferreira to bt Srichaphan

We will stick with a bet we also took several weeks ago. In Nottingham the South African should really have taken Srichaphan. He led 6-4 1-0 40-0 and failed to break the Thai. He is defending champion in Los Angeles and hopefully be giving this 100%

Saulnier to bt Spadea

The American has been in fine form now for 18 months but with a couple of niggling injury doubts and a punishing schedule recently we think he might need a first round loss!! Saulnier has been very competitive on the grass these last few weeks and does have a solid hardcourt game. This should be close

Stepanek to bt Schuettler

Plenty of history between the pair and it was the Czech who certainly held the aces last year (winning all three meetings). Schuettler won earlier this year but on current form on this surface, this price is too large.

US Olympic trials - Womens 400m H

A month ago Johnson set the second fatest time in the world this year, a rapidly improving athlete - she could easily upset the favourite Glover

Fisichela points finish

Despite needing a new engine and ultimately having to start from last place Fisichella can still be competitive this weekend. Both Saubers have shown good pace at Silverstone and with the advantage of 2 stop strategies as the norm and a great wet racing record,he can reward us at a big price

Barrichello to win with/without Schumacher

If ever there is a place where Barrichello can claim to be the best driver in the world then it is probably here. His record is better than Michael's and with his confidence up from last weekend we see the Brazillian being very prominent. Safety first with the w/o Schumacher bet and a little on the ultimate prize.

If Renault were determined to have pole in France last Sunday then BAR would dearly love to follow suit and put Button in the hotseat for this weekend. Whilst we dont believe he can win the race, we believe fastest in qualifying is possible and definitely on the agenda

Martin to bt Volandri

Difficult to see why the prices are not closer here. Two solid 2nd division players with no great weapons. Volandri lucky to survive round one v Canas might not be so lucky today

Greece have certainly been the surprise team of the tournament but having despatched the top teams whilst being underdogs this price is simply too big. We know the atmosphere will be different but they did beat Portugal in the first match of the tournament.

Coulthard to be in points

After a frustrating first third to the season, the McLaren came to life, for them, in North America. Buoyed with 2 points finishes in succession, the new "evolutionary MP4-19B" and a great track record, we think the Scot can make it three in a row in the points

Montoya podium finish

Williams know how to drive Magny Cours and with Montoya having to shoulder most of the expectancy with (Ralf) Schumacher injured, we see him rising to the challenge. This price is way too generous.