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Whichever way this tournament ends, Zemlja will be remembered here, at least until someone breaks his records. In the first round he hit 33 aces against Jung which is a tournament record, and proof that the Slovenian feels good here, especially at his serve. He confirmed that in the next match against unpleasant Smith in which he lost his serve only once in three sets. Zemlja's quality is undisputed, and if he stays healthy, I am sure he will be in the Top 100 again this year, and Edmund is really close to that. The Brit already won 10 matches this season and I respect his results, but it's not all that great. He came here after a slip up in Maui finale, and in the two matches played so far he didn't play his best tennis. Bangoura almost covered this margin against him, and he lost his serve twice against McGee yesterday. All in all, I believe that he has his most difficult task ahead of him today, definitely the toughest opponent and I expect Zemlja to provide good resistance. This margin should, by al odds, pass with at least one tiebreak which was the case in their only head-to-head match so far. Details

Monfils started with the great performance at the beginning of the tournament, and he got my attention in the two matches he played. Even though there were some doubts before the beginning, he is healthy, and even more important, fully focused. I have to admit his offensive game surprised me, it's working great now, as is his serve. He only allowed one break chance in two matches, and won 83% and 89% first serve points. He took advantage of the favorable draw, and nothing changed in this third round. Robert should be congratulated for what he did here, he was my gold mine in a way, but I don't think he'll do well today. He is 36 years old, and is playing his sixth match here, after a four-hour long drama that spent his energy. All of that works for Monfils who's been great so far, and the only realistic scenario I can see for today is that he'll win. I expect him to get a double break in at least one set, and that makes this margin a sure thing. I also recommend a correct score of 3-0, and under of games in the match. Details

The math is clear. I don't expect anyone to win 3-0, but in that case, the margin between these two players should go over for at least 3-4 games. Raonic is the favorite, of course, and I really appreciate the way he started the season, but I also appreciate his opponent. Troicki struggled a lot against Munoz at the beginning here, and the Auckland title almost cost him dearly, but he got out of the tough situation, which definitely boosted his confidence. It was important to then beat Smyczek without spending a lot of energy, and he did. He looked better, but I expect him to get even better now. He's got nothing to lose here, really, and I'm convinced he wants to show a lot. He did well against great servers so far, and we should definitely mention his score against Isner, 4-2, Querrey 2-2, Anderson 1-1, and Raonic 1-1, but he's beaten Raonic on the open hardcourt by the end of the last season. As for the Canadian, I'm pleasantly surprised with his game in the second round, even though Robredo played well. He only took the Spaniard's serve once, at the very end of the match. Troicki is definitely ahead of him in that segment, and he's also feeling much more confident than Robredo did. All in all, I think this will be a war of serves, with two tie-breaks at least, and Troicki winning at least one set. Details

Chardy and Kuznetsov left a completely different impression in the first round. The French barely 'survived' against equally unpredictable Gulbis, and the win is pretty much the only positive thing that happened to him. After almost five hours of playing, he admitted after the match that he is not feeling well and the question how much will he be able to recover for this match is rightfully asked. But I will not rely on that, but on their performances. Chardy made almost incredible 21 double faults, and he used only 7/28 break points. That was well below a Top 30 player level, while Kuznetsov continued great performances this season with a win over Harrison. We remind you that he played in the Doha quarter-final in which he had Nadal 'in his hands'. He wasn't ready for such win, but he gained some experience and I expect him to make a step forward. I am convinced he can win this even if Chardy is at 100% (which is unlikely), and I will also take the added handicap as a security. Details

The longer I thought about this match, the more it made me think Robert is the favorite here for a good reason. His ranking doesn't suggest that but that is no longer important to this 35-year-old Frenchman. His motivation is not the same everywhere and he clearly has too many ups and down, but he never lacks motivation at tournaments like this one. He reached Round of 16 two years ago and many still remember his win over Berdych at RG. That's all in the past but his performances in qualifiers here show he's at a good level again. Wins over Bolt, Sijlsling and Khachanov are much more valuable than those over Dancevic and Batallo, which Fratangelo recorded. He went on to lose to Evans but then got lucky. He lost to Whittington at a challenger before that as well, which means he just didn't do well. Experience will play an important part here as well since this is his 13th GS match, while it's only second one for the American. I don't see a way for Fratangelo to get more than a set here and I expect Robert to cover this handicap. Details

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David Ferrer is undoubtedly the biggest disappointment of the first ATP tournaments this year. He was defending the title in Doha, and got surprised by Marchenko in the first round, which is the main reason he's even here. He asked for the invite to get "friendly" with his new racquet, which obviously didn't suit him best so far. He usually feels great here, and gets results, but there are other circumstances and I don't trust him yet. Even though it sounds a bit weird, I do trust Barton who's playing his first ATP tournament ever. He showed his form in the qualifiers when he left a player like Kudla with only one game, then he surprised Johnson. He beat him with his own weapon - serve, winning 84% first serve, and hitting 14 aces. No doubt he's on the go and he's playing the best tennis of his career, but if he continues like this, I'm convinced he'll make more waves. I expect him to be brave and direct against Ferrer, to show his quality in a match where he's got nothing to lose. His good serve guarantees that he can definitely cover the margin against Ferrer as he is. I'd recommend a handicap on him, too. Details

The difference in ranking is quite big between these two players but I'm sure it won't be that obvious here. Pavic is much better than his ranking suggests and will make it into Top 200 soon if he stays healthy. He's a great server who dropped his serve twice in two qualifying matches and recorded 81 and 90% of first serve points. he covered this margin both times (6 times in the last 7 matches). I have no doubt he will be very focused on serve at first. His lacks of quality will be made up in better adaptation. Almagro didn't have a good comeback year and he's far from where he used to be. He is far from being the kind of a player he sued to be. I think this should be a tough match with very little chance on return. Overs are a good option. The total margin changed by a game, which is why I'll go with the first set, as it still has good odds. Details

Even yesterday when both of these players had what looked like easy tasks, they had to fight hard to win. Vannis finished at exactly 22 games against Crepaldi (just like against Hernych earlier) while Ram's match against Soneg had almost as many games as possible (36). The American struggled on return that was never his strongsuit but he did great on service on the other hand (71% of first serve, 84% of second). I don't expect any lower number today even though Vanni will be on the other side. We already said many times that extremely fast conditions rule the matches here. Details

These two played four matches, and only one of those didn't end with the deciding set. Even then, in Wroclaw this year, it was tight (7-5 7-5). In their last duel (Recanati final), the third set tie-break decided the outcome. There's obviously rivalry between these two, and Bašić seems to have the game to stand up to Berankis who's more famous. This will be a new indoors duel, at a tournament with very fast conditions. Even though some favorites stood out yesterday, there were still a lot of the tie-breaks (four), and when two players of equal quality stand up to each other, this pick is a real option. I think this margin is missed by the bookmakers, and I'll go at it with a bigger stake today. Details

As we've already mentioned in some previous predictions, Ortisei is one of the fastest tournaments. The difference in quality is very visible there, even the slightest one, especially if the players have a good serve. Neuchrist has so far shown that it is his biggest weapon. In two rounds of qualifications he didn't lose it once, and in total he scored 26 aces. After that, in the first round, he scored 18 against Dimitrov in what was probably the biggest win of his career. He did his job here and now he can calmly enter the match against Donskoy who is the favorite here. But, the Russian showed certain weaknesses in the first round and one Giao took the set on the return and won ten more points than he did. All in all, such margins in Ortisei are not realistic because this can pass with one one of Neuchrist's firmer sets. Details

Bratislava challenger is known as one of the faster tournaments in and these bets are something we should generally strive to. Especially when we have two distinguished players in these conditions with a very good serve. It is the strongest weapon for both Struff and Copil and we had a chance to see that in the first round here. In it, Struff defeated Sijsling without giving him a break chance, but he earned only one. Copil faced a different kind of an opponent and he was the absolute favorite in his match so he was a bit more relaxed, but we should point out that he hit 70% of first serve, and won 91% of points after it, and hit 14 aces. All in all, they were both good in the first round serving-wise, and since they will be playing at a slightly faster court today, this bet is pretty much imposing itself. Another bonus to it are their indoor performances this season, so we should mention that Copil went over this margin in eight out of ten matches, while Struff was over in 13 of 20 matches. Recommendation here is to wait for the live and go for the break in the first set. Details

We have witnessed in other first round matches that the conditions in Ortisei are very fast this year as well. All players are focused on serving and tiebreaks were quite often in the matches played so far. We should mention that a lot of favorites have struggled against realistically weaker players, and I wouldn't give an advantage to anyone in this match. This is a clash between two players with similar abilities when it comes to these condition, I would say they are very good in them. They both play good indoor tennis, and serve is their strong weapon. So this margin in Ortisei's fast conditions is not right and over on games pretty much imposes itself. I expect the bet to pass already in two sets, but the most realistic scenario here, in my opinion, are three sets. My recommendation is also to wait for the live and bet on over 10.5 in the first set, in which anything over 2.4 has value. Details

Tursunov was given a wildcard for what will be his only second tournament of this season. A major leg injury set him back massive so he's currently not even ranked. This talented yet unpredictable Russian said he wants to make a comeback but a lot of hard work lies ahead. Let's go back to Moscow where he recently left an interesting impression. He first barely beat Medvedev in a qualifying round and then relatively easily lost to Lajovic. The Serbian revealed all of his current problems, namely the lack of rhythm. The only thing Dimitri did at the right level was serving. That segment definitely helped him in winning the doubles tournament with Rublev. The serve will be a good weapon here as Ortisei is known as one of the fastest tournaments. A small arena combined with fast surface and higher altitude makes for of of the tournaments with fastest conditions. Neuchrist didn't allow a single break in qualifying matches as he fired 25 aces and won over 85 percent of first serve points. He is a successful futures player (44 wins this season) who knows what to expect today, which is why I think he will be fully focused. Tursunov is still a great name and the pressure is definitely on his side of the court today. I think the Austrian will put up a good fight, which will result in at least one longer set. That will be enough for this margin that is completely off. Details

Even though Brown is a better player, with a more successful career, he always struggled against Desin. In seven duels against him, five were played indoors. It's interesting that the Belgian won three times, here, too, last year in the second round. That match was intense, even though it was only one of the two that didn't go to the third set (five of their duels did). It all shows that Desein can match Brown, and add to that that he does great here, it's very likely that this match will be very evened out. The Belgian passed the qualifiers without losing a set, and then he had 17 aces and 84% first serve success against Žemlja yesterday. Brown beat the qualifier Hanfmann with 14 aces and 26/27 first serve points won. There were a few weaker numbers, too - 10 double mistakes, 46% first serve success, that suggest his form is still not ideal. That's why I'm so sure this will be an evened out match, and they should cover this margin easily in two sets. Details

Another unrealistic margin. Eckental is a fast indoors tournament where the balls bounce in a specific way, and these two are players who've got what it takes for it. Marterer is a young German making progress, and he did best so far at the indoors tournaments. He got two fast indoors futures titles at the beginning of the year, and Bemelmans beat him in the third tie-break of the third set. That means he gave a hard time to the last year's winner of the tournament, who doesn't do well indoors so far, which only makes me believe in this bet more. I think Marterer will be a big challenge here, and Bemelmans will need his top game to beat the young German. On the other hand, he's very experienced, and I don't think he would lose this easily. All things considered, this will definitely be an intense match where the most likely scenario includes three sets, and this missed margin will be done in two even. Details

The conditions are specific in Eckenta - low roof, fast court, perfect for indoors specialists. Jan Mertl is definitely one, and he's also very experienced. He's a great server and plays aggressively, so he's great for bets like these. He recently won a futures where he played five tie-breaks in five rounds, and he played two tie-breaks against Sijsling in Brest recently. Vanni then beat Sijsling in three sets, and Vanni is no typical Italian. He prefers indoors conditions and it seems he's found a better rhythm in them after a weaker start. He got to the semifinal in Brest, and I expect him to play just as well here. His serve is a big weapon for him, so I think this margin is missed, and makes a great bet. Details

Eckental is known as one of the fastest indoors tournaments. Fast courts and low roof make the ball bounce in the way that suits great servers and aggressive players, exactly like the two facing each other here. They're worth a lot more than their current ranking, and they're trying to fix that in these conditions. Sijsling is doing a better job so far, he played a challenger final and quarterfinal recently, and there's almost no match where he didn't go over this margin. He played three sets in five of the last six matches, and I'm convinced this margin is missed in Copil's case, too, he'll easily do it in two. This is a match where the chances will be few, and the serve will have the key role. Details

Ivo is doing great in Basel as these fast conditions clearly suit with him. Following a great comeback against Wawrinka, he was faced with the tricky Lajovic, the kind of opponent who is most dangerous for Ivo after a great win. But, Karlovic didn't lose focus this team and beat Lajovic easily with a fantastic serve (65% of first serve, 93% efficiency, 25 aces). When on a roll like now, Karlovic is a tough task for anyone. Gasquet must know how tough it would be today. He is doing better than in Stockholm here, still hoping to make it to London. His match with Vesely was a big fight and Thiem was tough as well. He dropped a total of one service game in those matches (against his Austrian opponent yesterday). Gasquet will have to be very focused when serving today but he said he'll be ready for it. That is why I think this will be a tough match in which I expect both opening sets to end with a tiebreak. Even if they don't, set 3 is still the most realistic option and then this margin won't be questionable. Details

Gasquet said he is completely worn out after the convincing defeat to Bautista in Tokyo, which is why my opinion about him has changed a bit. He did beat two great servers in Tokyo after that but he failed against Tomic, whom he always dealt easily with so far. Gasquet went to Stockholm right after the Asian tour to reach semifinals after a very favorable draw and a bad performance by Chardy, who was basically the only proper opponent for Gasquet (first round bye, Darcis retired from the second round match). Gasquet them met Sock in semifinals to confirm everything I suspected. He got outplayed completely, the fatigue was very present after only one proper match he had. He is now to face new challenges indoors after a two-day break. I don't think Gasquet is at the right level for them. He does stand some chance of reaching London but that's minimal. Vesely, on the other hand, has had his most successful season even. He can finish in the top 32 to get seeded in Australia. He's had quite a few ups and downs but the indoor conditions suit him. He beat Melzer in Vienna last week and then gave Anderson a hard time. He might not be as aggressive as Sock but I expect Vesely to cause Gasquet quite a lot of damage through a trick left-handed serve. I would not be surprised if he fought for the win here. This handicap in the fast conditions indoors makes me extra confident. Details