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These two opponents came back from the Asian tour in different moods. The French lost only one set in four matches, and the Czech got only two 3-2 wins. That's why the French are so favored today, because the Czech aren't a weak team, it's just that the Asian teams are obviously a bad matchup for them. The Czech have all the best players, Stokr played great against Korea, and arranged with the KEPCO to play the next season in Korea. There's Konecny, who's been getting every possible trophy in the last years with the Tours. Two great opposites and it's a shame both can't play at the same time. Tours' new discovery at the reception, Adam Bartos, and the experienced Baranek (Galatasaray). The middle blocks are playing the French A Ligua, and are a really good team. They've got minor holes at the setter and libero positions, but that should be reflected later on through the match. Of course, France are a strong team, among the top 5 in Europe, but the Czech will be really motivated. The European volleyball should suit them better, so the French won't have it easy. These odds are the same as the ones that the Czech will win a set, which I wanted to take at first, but with this sum of total points, I've got a chance to get an over in three sets if one set gets a bit long. I hope we won't have to count points, and the Czech will win a set early on in the match. Details

The Italians lost the first match 1-3, had everything under control after a set and a half, then managed to lose everything in the final parts of the sets. That's why the odds on their win are so nice today. Berutto used players like Antonov, Sabbi, Birarelli and Zaytsev after the third set yesterday, and I expect most of them in the starting lineup today, and can't imagine the Italians losing two times in a row at home. Serbia aren't their best right now. Ivović didn't play yesterday, and probably won't today. Petrić isn't in his best form, so the brothers Kovačević carry the most burden at the reception. Atanasijević didn't play Brazil because of his knee issues, and you could feel he wasn't in his best form in the first match against Italy. This Serbia don't deserve our trust right now. I expect their max at the European Championship, and this World League is a good chance for Grbić and his team to practice playing together and find a good lineup. The Italians should win this this time because they can't afford another mistake against Serbia. Details

The Dutch won the first game in Madrid 3-0, and we all expected more from the Spaniards. Because of this win, the Dutch are now the favorites and we have good odds on the bet that Spain will win a set. Spain is very unpredictable with Herman as the setter. Barcala is also playing well on the correction, and all we need is better performance by the receivers. The Dutch are not a superpower and they are overrated in volleyball. Only Dick Kooy is a good player, the others can be compared to the players in Spain. Van Dijk has been inconsistent and you never know what to expect from him. They lost to Estonia in the preparation stage. In the World League they defeated Portugal 3-2 and 3-1, and Portugal is on the same level as Spain. I don't believe that Netherlands will win 3-0 again. After all, they need 2 sets to qualify for the European Championship so Spain has more possibilities in the irrelevant third set, if not before. Details

We saw Slovenia's weak game in Maribor, but they still won 3-0. The Portuguese are on a good game rhythm, but they play averagely without a lot of room for improvement. Slovenia had a lot of problems in organizing their offense, because Vincic wasn't very good so Urnaut and Cebulj didn't really get to play a lot. A do understand it, they didn't play a lot of preparation games, and now they have an important 3-0 win and a week of quality training behind them, so I expect them to play better. Portugal doesn't have anything to surprise Slovenia with, if they stick to their game. The only bad side of this bet is the fact that Slovenia needs two sets to qualify for the European Championship. But their selector says that all they are thinking about is the win, because they don't play a lot of official games and they will play this with maximum effort until the very end. I, of course, trust him and I'm betting on their win with the odds over 2.00. Details

Wawrinka played a good match against Lajovic, who allowed him to control the game. Wawrinka had some ups and downs as he basically gave away some games when in a 5-1 lead in second and forth set. Johnson keeps on playing well. His performances started in Madrid where he lost to Nadal. Fognini beat him in Rome, while he beat good clay court player Garcia-Lopez here and then went past Stakhovsky. The American has a powerful serve, good forehand and game on the ent which is what I expect of Lajovic (aggressive tennis). I expect Johnson to be good in his service games which means this handicap is too big again. Johnson is not bad in defending either - Wawrinka will not be able to win points easily because Johnson can fire back a lot of shots. He will force Wawrinka into extra shots that might end in a miss sometimes. The match is to be played at Court 1 which doesn't have a lot of room behind baseline and Wawrinka likes to wait for the serve well behind the baseline against good servers. This can be covered through one break per set and it's possible that 4 sets will be played. In any way, +7.5 should be enough for this tip to be successful. Details

With all due respect to Wawrinka, but this handicap is too big. After his win over Nadal in Rome, he didn't do anything special, he lost a set against Rosolo and then a match against Delbonis in Geneve. He defeated Ilhan by 10 games here, but Ilhan lacks a weapon for such matches. Lajovic is playing his best tennis of the season. In Nice he defeated unpleasant Sock and clay specialist Carren Busta, both of whom showed in the first round of Roland Garros that they are good players. Lajovic later lost to Isner, and we all know that different tennis is played here, only one point can decide the winner of the set. He easily passed through the first round here and he can play more relaxed. He is convincing on his serve, and Wawrinka will probably once again have a phase in which his balls are too long by three meters. This bet can pass even with one break per set, but I'm convinced that Lajovic will show and do more and make the match interesting. Wawrinka has shown too many bad things this season for us to miss the opportunity for this prediction. Details

It's interesting how betting houses appreciate Estonia. In the preparation period they beat the Netherlands twice, but the Dutch experimented a lot at the time. Then they beat Switzerland, and we all know they're terrible. Estonia's first players are receiver Juhkami and opposite Venno who had a good season in Innsbruck. Then they have receiver Pupart (Sete) and blocker Kreek (Paris). Estonia are an average team and can't be on odds for -2.5 in the last phase of the European Championship Qualifications. Sweden are not a volleyball force, but they're making progress each year. Lushtak is a good setter who has Nilsson, MVP of the Champions League from 2013 with Novosibirsk, as an opposite. This year he played with Kuzbass and we're talking about a player for whom people say can take a set to Estonia. Sweden lost twice in preparations to Belarus with 2-3, and I would put Belarus in the same rank as Estonia. Details

Federer had lots of problems on his way to the final. It's obvious that clay doesn't suit him. Gimeno and Schwartzman were really close so I think the experienced Cuevas might be, too. He's a fighter, a player who'll give his best till the last point, and that's why I think he can match Federer. His serve is also better than Gimeno and Schwartzman's, and he'll quickly get the initiative in the points. We all know how good Cuevas is on the clay and I'm sure that the pressure of the final won't be a problem for him, because he's experienced enough. He played excellently against Dimitrov yesterday, and that's how he'll be today, he'll try to win, so you have to take this handicap. Details

After the CEV cup finals Trentino's shape dropped a bit. In the quarter-finals they didn't play anything special so they had big problems against the bad Molfetta where they won by a hair's thread of 3-2. Perugia lost the first quarter-finals match at home against Verona who are very uncomfortable and tough team. Then they won twice with 3-1 and earned to enter the semi-finals where they can be relaxed. Atanasijevic is a very good opposite, and now Fromm and De Cecco got better too. The betting houses are favorizing Trentino too much and thus we have a low margin on the total number of points because I expect at least four sets. Details

Modena aren't playing as well as they did in the first part. Ravenna took the set from them twice in the quarterfinal. They lack freshness, and even though they're not playing with Macerata, this'll be a really interesting semifinal. Latina are in a great form. They timed their form well for this playoff, and eliminated the title defenders, Macerata. They won away twice with the 3-1 score, and lost 2-3 at home. They're good in all the positions, and Starović's been the best scorer this entire season. If Urnaut or Skrimov have a bad day on reception, there's the experienced Rauwerdink on the bench. Latina are an uncomfortable team, and the bookmakers favor Modena too much here. I expect an intense match, the low margin is due to the low odds on Modena, and if Latina take a set, this will hardly remain under this margin. Details

Although the results from other meetings show us that this is an unpredictable and quite equal league, the difference here is still big. The match is on later because of the CEV cup finals which Trentino had on Saturday in Moscow. Although they won in Moscow they didn't get to take the trophy because they lost the golden set. They're playing great this year, and in the first match Dinamo were incredible; that's why they came to Moscow with a backlog. Next to the CEV Cup finals this season they also lost the home cup against Modena. Still, looking at the entire season they can be pleased because they raised their game level a lot. And now starts the important part, the league playoffs. They confirmed the great season with the first place after the regular part and thus evaded Modena and Macerata all up to the finals, and in the semi-finals the opponents (Verona/Perugia) are more than good, while Molfetta don't have a chance to surprise them. Kaziyski and Lanza have an excellent season on reception and they are the main players of this team. Zygadlo quickly returned after last year's injury and he's again at his best. There are a lot of substitute players for the position of the opposite where Nemec plays with a lot of oscillations. That's why they brought the great opposite Djuric. It won't take long for him to fit in., he already played for Trentino in their golden age. If you ask me, they're the favorites for winning the title.
Molfetta made great results with reaching the playoffs, and they can relax. Although they beat Macerato and Trentino at home, out of their hall they rarely won and scored points. Torres, as the corrector, plays with a lot of oscillations, setter Hierrezuelo is nothing special, and the receivers have the most problems. Noda is an A2 players, while Sket is having a surprisingly good season. Everyone knows that the opposite is the main player and he has very bad percentages on the reception.
If Trentino forgot their defeat in the CEV Cup and if the trip to Moscow didn't wear them out too much, they will win this without much trouble. The season starts now, so there's no justification for fatigue. Points handicap of -15.5 seems too high, so I'll take Trentino at 3-0 because of their excellent shape, and Molfetta didn't have a match in 10 days. Currently they're one step above Molfetta and I think they will show that today. Details

An experienced final of the Slovenian league. ACH easily got there, and they're still the main candidate for the title. Calcit had a lot of luck in the semifinal against Salonit, where they won 3-2 twice. The important receiver Štern got injured in the last match, and the receiver Kotnik won't play today because he's still feeling pain. The receiver Štembergar's form is falling apart, so they have big problems with this position. ACH prepared for this final in peace, and the foreigner Roberts might be back in the lineup. They have lots of good players on the bench, so they don't have problems with the lineup. Even though they had lots of intense matches this season, I think ACH will easily win this final game, in my opinion. If the receiver Štern comes back and if ACH underestimate Calcit in Kamnik, Calcit could surprise anyone, but not this time in Ljubljana. Details