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A lot can be said about Lorenzi, but the Italian got to Top 100 on account of tournaments like this. He may not have the most attractive style, he may not be the most interesting player to watch but Paolo wins when he is supposed to and that's what counts. He is a certain specialist when it comes to beating players ranked below him and he's achieved everything in his career on account of that. He got two easy wins here in Chitre and he is the favorite to reach the finals here, in my opinion. Ghm had a ridiculous opponent in the first round while the second round brought some problems. He had three tie-breaks against Buchanan . Apart from fatigue from three and a half hours of playing, the Italian should be able to handle Ghem anyway. Lorenzi may not have the quality to play a more aggressive game at the ATP level but he has a strange mix of good defensive and aggression when it is necessary here at the challenger level. Ghem is not the typical South American player who likes to keep the ball in the game until dawn. He likes to end the point with his stroke but he is also somewhat impatient and nervous. When he's playing against a player like Lorenzi, he often loses his head and starts rushing. The Italian has enough experience to know when to play defensively and when to attack the opponent. Lorenzi is going into Top 100 again this season and he has been beating players like Ghem on a regular basis in the past 2 seasons. Details

Falla might not seem very convincing in his wins in Bucamaranga. However, it was expected that the Colombian will get better as the tournament moves forward. It's not surprising that he showed his best tennis against the strongest opponent in the quarter-finals - Pere Riba. Schwartzman played nine sets in three matches, and I wouldn't describe his game being bad because of a lack of matches or because of the beginning of the season, it's a fact that the Argentinian is simply not playing well. If he lost one out of the three matches he won here, you couldn't say he didn't deserve it. There's something else, beside the impression both of them made. Schwartzman is a good challenger player, there's no doubt about it. However, he's missing physical aspects, especially his height and strength of the hit, to do something more. Let's put it this way - the Argentinian will hardly play the tournaments consistently, like Falla did, and be successful in them. It might be harsh to say that the Colombian is above the Argentinian because it's not really true, but Falla is a better player all in all. He has a lot more solutions in his game and more dangerous hits to play with. Besides, the experience and the home court are on his side - it's something that can decide the result in Colombia. Details

These two players left entirely different impressions in Melbourne, and that's something I just can't get over. Cibulkova lost a total of only nine games in the three matches, she destroyed the opponents, and she's clearly bursting with confidence. Everyone is complaining about the head, but not her, which says enough about her game and focus. Two previous opponents won only 2 games combined. Sharapova, on the other hand, played three bleak matches. She was the first one to admit that things weren't going that great. Her previous opponents, Knapp and Cornet, are not at Cibulkova's level. What matters here is the fact Cibulkova believes she will win, which has happened before. Sharapova's game seems bland and far from her best performances. Cibukova could take advantage of that, if not to win, but at least to play a tied match. Details

The tennis that Pennetta has been showing Melbourne is great. She admitted after the game against Barthel that her wrist is fine and that it's not a problem. Apart from good, intelligent, and meaningful tennis that she has shown, she has been successful against Kerber. However, both have two wins but she suffered both defeats against the German in three sets. The Italian obviously knows how to handle Kerber and when coupled with the excellent rhythm at the Australian Open, an over for games seems like a good bet. Everything suggests this will be a much narrower game than the odds show. Penneta is not without a chance today, especially if Kerber keeps serving like she has been doing throughout the tournament. This is definitely the biggest challenge for the German so far and I think we could easily see a three-set match, even though this bet could go through in two sets. Details

These two players have left different impressions here in Melbourn. Penneta got two convincing wins and showed that the problems with her wrist are a thing of the past. Cadantu took only two games and the routine win against Puig in the 2nd round has filled me with confidence for this pick. The Italian didn't allow her opponent to get a single break opportunity. Barthel struggled a lot and her start of the season wasn't brilliant to begin with. The German is pretty unreliable and depends on too many factors that influence her performance. She probably doesn't even know how she won against Kumkhum and it wouldn't be too much to say that the Thai player deserved to win. Mona is a pretty one-dimensional player prone to lapses, loss of motivation and Penneta will know how to use that to her gain. The Italian is much more complete as a player and is in good rhythm. Details

I'm under the impression that Voegele will have her say in this match. First of all, both of their previous matches were very close ones although the Slovak came out a winner in both. Apart from that, the Swiss player has proven that she is a tough nut to crack here in Brisbane. She has both steady results and gameplay, and Azarenka is the best proof of that, as she dragged their match out to the third set. Cibulkova beat Schiavone in the first round, but although the result may seem decisive the Italian did have her chances. Voegele on the other side seems to have had a tougher job judging from the result, but she had two 7-5 sets due to bad break ball conversion, while she lost her own serve on only one occasion. I think the Swiss has a pretty solid shot at winning here, but I'll be taking the safer option. Details

Muguruza has played great tennis here in Hobbart. The Spaniard has improved her performance after each match and it's enough to say that she has only lost 18 games in 7 matches here. It is obvious that her form has been on the up since the start of the season and that she has only continued where she left off last season when the injury prevented her to get into Top 30. Even though Zakopalova has been very convincing here in Hobart and also hasn't lost a set and got to the finals after Sam Stosur in the semis, the young Spaniard has left a better impression in my opinion. Coupled with the fact that Zakopalova bearly beat Muguruza two years ago when the Spaniard was not on the same level as today, I believe that Gabrine should do well in Hobart today. Details

The Spaniard is one of the most talented younger players, and she's obviously going up and forward fast. Her matches in Indian Wells, Miami and Hertogenbosch last season prove it. A good rhythm was abruptly stopped in June when Muguruza got injured, and the injury required a surgery. It's clear that she would have been ranked even better if not for those circumstances. In the Auckland quarterfinals, she showed she continued right where she left off, but Venus Williams stopped her there. Hobart's qualifiers also showed her readiness. I point out those qualifiers because Hobart is famous for the strong wind. The players need some time to adjust to those conditions, and whoever has three matches there, definitely has the advantage. Add to that that the Spaniard crushed her opponents leaving them with only seven games in the three matches, it's clear Muguruza has a very good pace. Besides, her opponent Pennetta seems to be having right hand problems again, a wrist she had a surgery on, and that made her miss the beginning last year. When Bouchard was leading 4-0 in the Hopman Cup, the Italian decided to forfeit. Also, the Spaniard defeated Pennetta in one match they played against each other, and those were moments when she wasn't as ready as she is today. Details

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This is a match between a player who showed what was probably his best tennis in Sao Paolo, and a player who showed he was the worst, beside Andrej Martin. The Russian crushed Ungur in the first round, and then Nedovyesov after a slow start of the match. He justified the slow start with the worry because he twisted his ankle in the first round. The tennis he showed was aggressive, surprisingly intelligent, firm, good, and dominant, and Gabashvili even turned to the first favorite of the tournament in the first two rounds. You could say he justified his role of the first seed and the best ranked player among these eight. Clezar lost to both players that Nabashvili defeated, and you can see he's not on the same level as the guys that deserved to enter this tournament with their results. The boy's got a heart, but he simply doesn't belong here neither with the quality, nor the experience. It's true that Gabashvili already secured going through to the semifinals. But, any win in the group brings both points and the money, but also keeping the positive momentum. The Russian pointed out he wanted to win this tournament and come close to the ranking of his career to round off the year. The quality is on his side without a doubt. He's a better player than Clezar, he showed a better game in Sao Paolo, and if he shows the same game from the first two rounds, he should cover this margin. If it wasn't played in Brasil, and if he didn't secure his pass through, I don't believe the odds would be bigger than 1,25-1,30. But, like I already said, it's not like Gabashvili isn't motivated today. Details

Generally speaking, Bellucci has been having a terrible season. His ranking plummeted but he started doing better in the last 10 days. Seven wins in a row, only a single lost set, a tile in Montevideo after which he admitted his confidence is back and he again believes in himself. When he is so confident, he is a Top 50 player at any moment In addition, the Bogota conditions are good for his aggressive game style. He gets lots of free points with his tricky left-handed serve or he gets the advantage immediately. He's shown that with 2 convincing wins against Odesnik and Gonzalez. However, I think him regaining his confidence is much more important. Lorenzi, on the other hand, has had many difficulties in the first 2 rounds and it is clear that the Bogota conditions do go hand in hand with his style as it is not based on strong rallies but lots of running. The air is less dense and the players get tired more easily and he cannot use the ball speed as some other players can. In addition, when Bellucci is playing his tennis, he is a better player than Lorenzi even though the rankings do not suggest that. One thing's for certain - it's all up to Bellucci. Details

When we look at the season Estrella's been having, one can see that he's played his best tennis in Colombia. He passed the qualifications of Bogota and got his only ATP win against Velotti. Then there was the semi-finals of the Medellin challenger and the title in Quito later on. Last season, he played the semi-finals in this very place and was beaten by Pella who went on to win the tournament. He's been doing well this season, and after he beat Sousa he showed that it was no coincidence when he beat Zeballos. The Argentinian might be down in the dumps, but a convincing win without losing a serve is a strong indicator. Zeballos in the dumps is still stronger than lots of players here. Pella showed that he can used everything that comes with high altitude but as soon as his first serve efficiency drops he is in trouble. His game's been fluctuating and now he's playing against a very constant player who's playing great tennis here in Colombia. Suffice to say that Victor still hasn't lost his serve and he seems slightly underrated here. Perhaps not in terms of renown or ranking as Pella is better-sounding name, but judging by what's been shown here Burgos should be valued more. This will be a much closer match than the odds would suggest. Details

The finals have always been something special. Especially when two players meet whose rivalry will be remembered for many reasons. But I can't fight the impression both of them left at this tournament. Beside Djokovic felling very good in Beijing, since he won the tournament all three times he played here, doesn't have a loss, and his last two wins confirmed my opinion about him. Focused, with a face that conveys maximum contentration and attention. When he's like that, Djokovic is at his most dangerous. Querrey won five points in returns, Gasquet played some unusually great tennis, but it just wasn't enough. On the other hand, Nadal showed some weaknesses and it's more than obvious it's not the same Nadal from New York. When he plays his best tennis, Djokovic's limit is over Nadal's, and although the Serb doesn't have good memories from their last three matches, I can't escape the impression both players left. Novak looks good, fresh, with full batteries, motivated, willing, hungry, something I haven't noticed with Nadal Details

If we assume Novak Djokovic beats Milos Raonic, then this duel will decide who goes on to the Davis Cup final. Should that really happen, I think Tipsarevic is much closer to winning, for several reasons. Firstly, he has far more experience in playing matches like these, which will most certainly carry some weight. It is true that Janko is having a very bad season in general, but New York showed him rising in form and gaining confidence. A defeat by Raonic should not be seen as a tragedy. As Tipsarevic said himself, he was in no way worse on the court, and he might have won the match. Pospisil is similar to Raonic as a player, but on a lower level. It was obvious he tended to panic when forced to play longer exchanges or go for an extra move. Tipsarevic is the kind of player that can do that, especially on clay. I must admit I put my faith in Janko in this duel, where he will have lots of help from the crowd as well. True, the audience can't pull of a break, but it will surely put wind in his sails and provide him with shots of confidence and adrenalin. Tipsarevic is a better, more rounded player and, best of all, knows precisely what to do in the court. He has a "back up plan", which cannot be said for Pospisil. He will step out into the court, play his "boom-boom" game, and pray to the gods of tennis that it goes through. Details

With all credit to young Borna, this is a level of tennis he hasn't experienced yet in his career. Regardless of Murray's aversion to clay, the Briton has arrived to Umag already on Sunday to prepare for this tie. This means we have a motivated world number 3 against a 16-year-old boy. Coric has undoubtedly a nice career ahead of him, but the difference between juniors' and men's tennis is enormous, even more so when we have a player of Murray's quality. In my opinion, winning two games per set would be a success for the Croatian player. Simply put, I don't think he's ready for this level yet, and Murray will win as convincingly as possible. Noone is keen on staying on the court longer than necessary. Intensity, stroke power, physique - these are at much higher level in men, especially with a player like Murray, so taking the under here seems a good bet. Details