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Youzhny will soon be out of Top 100, and he'll probably end his career. I've been predicting that since the season started. Not because he's in crisis, but because he can't end it. He had 18 tournaments where he didn't connect wins last year, too. He connected wins only once this season. It was in Zagreb when Kavčič had 4-2 in the third set, and lost four games in a row before going to surgery. The numbers are clear. Youzhny didn't win a set in the last ten defeats. He beat Struff who's also in a crisis, Copil who's incosistent, and Idimbarek. That's all. Marchenko took his serve four in two sets. He served 10 break-balls. Even though I rarely write handicaps on Muller, I won't miss this because a handicap this low is offered only because of the name. I'm convinced Youzhny won't get a break. Muller lost his serve only twice in four matches last week, and the grass was slower than this one. Even if Muller doesn't play return that well, I'm convinced that Youzhny will give him a chance. That's how he's been playing this entire season. He forfeited in Paris, even though he played the doubles easily the day after. He's not communicating to the media as he used to, his coach is giving all kinds of statements, and Youzhny is completely lost. In short, this should be a success. Muller will rush through his serve games, and Youzhny will complicate like he's been doing this entire season. He looked bad on the grass even last year. He offered 10 break-balls to a player who's having a hard time with return anyway, and played a thriller with a doubles player before that. Muller will cover this, and Youzhny is definitely a target worth taking this season. Details

Ward said he's in pain and that affects his results but the last few challengers aren't really a measure of his game now. This might as well be his favorite tournament. He reached semifinals here and often played his best game. He has a nicely balanced game for grass surface and that shows here due to ball bouncing low. Raonic hasn't played since Madrid. He had a foot surgery and postponed his comeback for this week. Even though he reached Wimbledon semifinals last season, the ball bounces like on hard court there and a lot of players said that. Queens is a totally different story. He struggled in Halle to get knocked out in the first round the last few years. His problem is footwork and the ball really bounces low here. Of course, Raonic can win his serves easily even on a bad day but I don't expect him to do well on return. Grass in Queen is tough the first few days and that will be a big challenge for him. First set handicap on the Brit is an option as well but that will be available in live betting. Details

The draw was in Troicki's favor in the first two rounds, young players who are still learning to play on grass, but that gave him momentum. He ousted Groth, a player who was on a 7-match winning run on grass, and then he defeated Cilic yesterday. The Croat had 4-2 in the third set, but Troicki made a comeback. We all know how good Marin is at return, but he used only one of nine break points in that match. That was good for the confidence of the Serbian player. Troicki's serve has been working great the whole week. He lost his serve only twice in four matches. He hit 19 aces yesterday, and won 80% of first serve points. He was even better against Groth, which shouldn't be ignored because the Australian plays aggressively and makes a lot of risks, and he was on a winning streak. Nadal covered this only against Monfils and only because the French played around a bit. He played marathon matches against Tomic and Baghdatis, he demonstrated some insecurities. We can expect Troicki to serve first here (Nadal usually chooses return), which only helps the bet. As far as their head-to-head record goes, it is heavily on Nadal's side. He convincingly won the first three matches, all of which were on hardcourt, but Troicki even had a match point in the last one. Even if he hadn't, this isn't the same Nadal. He is still in a crisis, it can be seen in his game and if Troicki doesn't give anthing away, like Monfils did, they will cover this handicap just like Tomic and Baghdatis who have done it even without playing the best they can. Details

Pospisil announced that in the match against Muller, the serve will dominate, and that was the case. We saw two breaks in three sets. Muller said the same about the match against Copil. He knows the Romanian's serve well, and is aware that he'll have a big challenge on the return. Copil himself said a few times that he feels more comfortable at the ATP level than the challengers, because he feels less pressure, and his hand is more relaxed. Garcia-Lopez didn't manage to make a break, and I doubt Muller will be great at the return today. Both matches they played went over this margin, and I expect about 30 aces today, and a match that one or two points will decide. I also recommend over on games in the first set. Details

Both players know what awaits them. Pospisil said it himself, Muller is one of the best servers on the tour, and he's especially dangerous on grass. The Luxembourg player rushed through the first set against Ilhan, but I think the second set is more realistic which was dealt in the 12th game. Muller is not really known for an efficient return. Pospisil is no bombardier, but he can serve. He knows how to make use of such conditions. In the first round he beat Matosevic without a lost serve. True, the Australian is going thought a crisis, but he knows how to play on grass. He saved five break-points in that match. Muller didn't even offer a chance for that. Hertogenbosch is slower grass so the odds for the unit are smaller, but it's still a very good bet. I recommend more than 10 games in the first set. Details

Lopez convincingly won in Houston against Groth, but he himself said it was not realistic. The Australian donated a break quite early with double errors, and if Lopez had later entered the hit, he still pointed out Groth has the strongest serve on the tour. That you really feel it. Now we have grass instead of clay and Groth six wins in a row in two weeks. Enough to raise his confidence today. It's very hard to play against Lopez on grass, especially on the return. Since this is the Spaniard's first match, and Groth doesn't dictate the rhythm, I expect a few chances. Especially in the beginning. Besides, Lopez's grass record last year was 12-2, and seven times he went into the tie-break of the first set. This bet is also on Unibet, but it's definitely a recommendation to use the live bet which will be widely available for this match. Details

Last year, De Schepper played eight matches on grass and each of them was unpredictable. 12 of 20 sets went into the tiebreaker. Even those numbers aren't realistic because he demolished weaker players. With equal or stronger players he played tight matches. He played seven sets in tiebreak against Nishikori, Johnson and Lopez. Bemelmans is not that highly ranked. He is barely in the Top 100, but he is a specialist for these conditions. Both of them are left-handed and they both know how to keep the ball low, save their serve. The Belgian is technically better, but he will hardly get a chance on the return today. Bemelmans won 93% of points on his first serve yesterday with 12 aces. De Schepper had an easier task because Jarry came directly from clay. The Chilean played quarter-final of the clay challenger in Italy the day before. In short, my margin would be two games higher. Details

It's unbelievable that Sock still has to waste his time trying to convince everyone he like clay court and that it brings out the best in his game. Alongside good serve, forehand is his greatest weapon and he's not crazy when he believes his forehand can stand up to Nadal's. I don't know how he will react physically as the match advances, maybe even mentally, but according to everything we saw, he can attack Nadal as some other hard-hitters have here. Also, Sock's return is top level which is why he won Grand Slam doubles titles. He can cause a lot of damage against Nadal's second serve. There are a lot of options here but I'm going with the first set games handicap. As a rule, Nadal chooses return if he wins the flipping of the coin. Sock will most definitely choose serve, which helps this tip greatly. Nadal won almost 70 matches at Roland Garros, meaning he's as comfortable at Philippe-Chatreier as if was his living room. But these two are to meet at kids' room - the Suzenne-Lenglen court. That is also good for us because there's less room outside the lines and it's not as easy to play three meters behind the baseline, which Nadal likes to do. Sock had a very good preparation for this because he beat two players who are very good from the baseline. Of course, Busta and Coric are not Nadal but both said after losing that they couldn't control Sock's forehand, Coric especially. Good news is, Sock is on a very good record against lefies at this level (9-2) just like at challenger level. That's important because his forehand can get his through but his backhand is not horrible either, which some of his opponents tried to prove and failed. Powerful serve, aggressive forehand and return at which Sock takes a lot of riisk. The match is not taking place at center court and the temperature will not be as high again. That's also important because Nadal's top spin won't have as much significance. The American will compensate for it through raw force and there is also that cockiness he has plenty of. I would also recommend Sock winning a set, as well as games over in the match. Details

The last year's duel between Gasquet and Berlocq here is important here. It was the second round, and the French had problems with his back, and Berlocq was in a great form. He won the ATP title in Portugal, played Nice quarterfinal, and had a good rhythm in general. It was expected that he might surprise us. He didn't even take a set, even though Gasquet was obviously limited. He explained that defeat by having respect, and Gasquet lost the next round convincingly. I draw that parallel because the French celebrated in three sets, and now things are much, much better for him. He won the ATP title in Portugal now, matched the top players which is important for him because he was out of tennis for weeks because of his back. He's okay now and says he knows exactly what to do against Berlocq. On the other hand, the Argentinian is now out of Top 100, and struggles against players he'd easily beaten before. There was an injury. He got beat by Mannarino last week, and Mannarino is his worst on clay. Now Marchenko had 2-0 in sets, and break-balls in the third. Considering all that, I expect Gasquet to win convincingly in three sets. Berlocq is a clay player, but he only had one break-ball and five games won on this year's Australian Open. Details

Cilic did badly last week. He was a bit unmotivated which is not surprsng since these kind of tournaments are the most important ones for him. Haase didn't do badly in the first round match at all but still didn't stand a chance. He had only one break-point while the Croat converted two in two sets. He was focused and aggressive. Arnabold seemed happy with achievement as soon as he reached main draw. And why wouldn't he when three of his matches finished in three sets and one match was played over the course of two days. He won a 52-game set back then to make history and then managed to make a comeback against Duckworth in the main draw. He spent 4 hours on the court in that match as well, saved a match point and later broke down the Australian, who later admitted to that being the worst defeat for him ever. Cilic is a Top 10 player who can, if nothing else, get his form at top level in the right moment. He served brilliantly and return it precisely the greatest problem with the Italian. He will probably not be a threat for Cilic's service games and there is also the huge overall difference in quality. Marin is Top 10 and the Italian a challenger-level player. On top of everything, fatigue will play an important role here. Arnaboldi played 186 games in matches here. He said himself that he is exhausted, which might not have been that obvious at some minor tournament but here it will be. Marin just played what was probably his best match this season. This can go even with one break each set but it should be much more convincing than that. Fatigue will help it, especially the mental kind. Best of all, I would bet on this even if I was expecting Cilic' mediocre performance. But he is clearly very good and would not be surprised even if the Italian finished with 5-6 games. Details

This season Anderson didn't do too well on clay, but everything remained on his side Smyczek has only one ATP clay win (1.25 odds in Houston against challenger player Ouanna). Although he's a Top 80, he decided to stay in America because he concluded that he has nothing to look for among tougher clay competition (his own words). He played home challengers where the lack of quality on this surface was obvious. He beat his fellow national team layers, and convincingly lost to others. Gaba left him at six games, Arguello on six, and McGee on three. All on American clay. Last week he came to Europe and in Nice took three games from Pouile. Considering the French had a 5-1 in the first set and the serve. In the second he didn't take a single game. The American has nothing to do on clay. Anderson is not convincing, but he's constantly playing, and in tough competition. He has a convincing 4-0 against Smyczek on hardcourt. Last year the American took a set in Delray, and was then left at four games in the next two sets. Next to that, Anderson has two fourth rounds in Paris in the last two years. Only Ferrer beat him up, and he won, without a lot set, against Raonic, Robert, Michon and Marchenko. Anderson has a good tradition in Paris in the last few years, he has the rhythm and a convincing head-to-head. Smyczek was beaten by challenger players in the last couple of weeks and he collected games. He admitted himself that he's more focused on hardcourt, that he avoided the European tour on purpose. Winning in three sets shouldn't be a problem, and my choice is less games. Details

The last time Lacko won on clay court was in 2011. It was a challenger, but that season he ended three out of four clay court tournaments in the first round. That means he has 10 clay defeats in a row, and this season he didn't even play on clay. He isn't interested in it because he's aware of his limits. He chose hardcourt challengers, and thanks to the draw he secured the important points to stay in the Top 100. He left Asia earlier than planned because he wanted to see his son being born. He was never good in Paris. Only once in his career did he win a Roland Garros match. Five years ago against Yanni in the fifth set. Even in the qualifications his record is 0-3. He's probably the opponent everyone here wants, and now he was also unlucky with the draw. Ferrer is probably the worst options for anyone who is impatient, who doesn't have the strength to keep up the rhythm and concentration. The Spaniard is a worker who doesn't give out points, especially not on tournaments as important as this one. His head-to-head record against the Slovak is 3-0 without a lost set. Three years ago Lacko took eight games in three sets from Ferrer. This time he should do even worse. Besides, in the seven head-to-head sets, only once he took more than three games. Details

Many are surprised by how good Murray is doing on clay but we can't say his titles from Madrid and Munich are so shocking. He was simply never too interested in clay but that changed. That is why Munich was his first Series 250 tournaments on clay court. He recently said he's getting back to the game he was best with, which means more aggression in his case. We've seen that against Nadal and Nishikori. He doesn't have to worry about Rome since he didn't even want to go there but pulling out would clearly draw some consequences. He beat Chardy without trying much and then pulled out due to fatigue. Arguello is young, only 22 but you can already see his limits. He's 1-12 on ATP level. He had only one match on Grand Slam and not a single one at Series 1000 tournaments. He played a Top 10 player once (Nadal) this season to win only 4 games. It seems Murray will win this easily. He's in form and bursting with confidence. He also reached SFs here twice before. Arguello never made it past qualifying rounds. He was given a new chance as the lucky loser. Murray should kill at least two sets. The opponent has nothing to stop him with and being consistent is not something that helps against Murray. Arguello had 2-0 in sets against Stepanek here last season but still didn't get even close to winning. He should finish with only a few games today. Details

Isner did very well in Monte Carlo and Madrid, but we can't say there have been some revolutionary changes to his game. The conditions helped him a lot last week, especially the high-bouncing balls. He's the player who always need a few matches to start going. The conditions are different in Rome and he never had success here, having won only 2 out of 7 matches in which the defeated players covered this handicap. Sousa is far from his best form but his last week has been encouraging. He beat Janowicz, forced Wawinka into two tie-breaks. He's the kind of a player who can always get better and doesn't have to do anything special here to win. The odds at Isner are too low due to his recent wins but he's far from being one of those players recording routine wins. Also, he struggled with some back problems last week, pulled out of the doubles tournaments and asked for medical assistance a few times, which can only help us here. Details

Isner played 12 matches in Madrid and this bet passed nine times. Of course, the conditions suit him, but at the same time he's having problems at the return. We saw that against Mannarin. The French doesn't even put his full strength into the backend, and he still only once lost the sere with a lot of luck on the American's side. Belluci likes higher altitudes. He's been practicing in Sao Paolo in similar conditions, and this year he has Quito semi-finals which is played "among the clouds". He beat Chardy in the first round without a lost serve, and he has good experiences with Isner. True, this bet passed only once in their three head-to-heads, but Davis Cup is often an exception. In the other two head-to-heads four out of five sets went into overtime. Details

Isner fired 13 aces, won 79% of first serve points, and didn't allow a single break point yesterday. Karlovic's match today is taking place at the very same court and even though he's on a three-match losing run here and even though he didn't play in Madrid the last two years, I simply cannot ignnor the fact altitude of 600m suits the good servers. The Croatian might need more matches but he's used to that kind of a rhythm. Besides, he's known for not allowing opponents to find rhythm. Gasquet, on the other hand, has had too many matches. He won Estoril last week after a break of almost a month and a half. It won't be easy making the transition here, but his confidence will at least not be a problem. Gasquet had, however, never been successful in Madrid. He reached the third round only once and has two first round knock-outs since the tournament is being played on clay. The conditions in Madrid call for an adjustment so most players come earlier. Gasquet couldn't since he played in slow Estoril on Sunday. As for head-to-head matches, Gasquet is 3-1 with Karlovic retiring once. It was close last season. I expect this to be close as well but I've opted for the handicap since I wouldn't be surprised if Karlovic wins. That is why the smaller stake is for his win. Details

Radwanska won only one out of the last four matches and that's why we have such a good handicap. She lost to Giorgi indoors, and we all know how dangerous the Italian is in such conditions. Although she stayed only at two games in a Fed Cup match against Bacsinszky, the defeat wasn't schocking since the Swiss is great this season. It's enough to say that she has 25 wins and only four defeats. In the end the Pole lost a thriller against Errani, and being defeated by the Italian on clay is no disgrace. So, it all accumulated in a short period of time, and now she also broke off her work with Navratilova, but all that doesn't change the fact that Arruaberrena is a good draw. The Spaniard is barely a Top 100. Last week she tied two wins together, but then Mladenovic left her at five games. Kerber recently beat her with only three lost games. Radwanska is no great hitter to force things because it's not her style. She knows how to balance it all out and after a few tough opponents she's up against one she doesn't need to be frightened by. If she wants to silence the media, if she wants to avoid new question about her crisis, she can do this today with a convincing win. She surely has motive, and she's two steps above her game-wise. The Pole has two semi-finals here in the last three years and today she will take advantage of the draw, and I will take the advantage of the handicap which was done based on Radwanska's latest results, and not the realistic difference between these two players. Details

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Coric had a hard match yesterday. It is not easy to be the complete favourite at only 18 years of age in a match for an ATP quarter-finale against a home player. The complications are his fault, but the hat's off to him once again. He lost the second set, the umpire was unfair to him, and Machado was playing above his abilities at that moment. With all that, the atmosphere resembled that of the Davis Cup. If he had dropped mentally, I couldn't say a word, and he won the first five games of the third set. True, Machado dropped a little, but there were some close games. To sum it up, Coric passed another test. Now he will be in a role more suited for him. He is playing for a semi-final spot against a favourite who is on a seven-game winning run. Borna always plays better when he's a complete underdog. Garcia-Lopez lost a set against Anderson yesterday. That's a surprise because these conditions don't really suit the Southafrican, especially since he hasn't played a match since Houston. Garcia-Lopez is stil on a roll, but I saw a vulnerability yesterday. Even without that, Coric is a player who can defeat Lopez. The Spaniard is a complete player, but without a special weapon. He doesn't have that something for which I could say that Coric has to play better than ever. We have seen so many times before that he can draw the worst out of his opponents. The only reason I'm not playing on the Croat's win here is the fact that he could be tired after yesterday's match. However, the fatigue is a factor with the Spaniard as well, because he won Bucharest last week. Honestly, I still can't believe the odds we have on Borna's set. The market clearly still doesn't believe him, but he is dangerous now. He solved the coach problem, won two consecutive matches, and he is playing better than last week, and also, Garcia-Lopez is not as dangerous for him as some strong servers and those hitting low balls on his forehand might be. He can achieve a lot here, and I'll be happy if he just wins a set, even though I believe he will win today. Details

Too great a respect is being shown for Machado. He did beat Souza, but the two of them are compatriots, and good friends who often practice together. Sousa talked about wanting to win the title and that only resulted in unnecessary pressure. He seemed lost on the court and Machado punished him for it. The press wanted to make it a sensational news but Machado stopped them saying he only took advantage of the opportunity that presented itself. He is 31 and has never reached ATP QFs and never made it past Grand Slam second round. He has spent almost his entire carrier playing futures matches. He was on a 19-match winning run, but in Sri Lanca. The odds were at 1.2 or lower in 17 out of those 19 matches. He managed to make a comeback in Barcelona against Marti last week and then won only five games against Ward. There's really no point drawing any comparisons between him and Coric. The Portuguese played played futures matches in Sri Lanca, the Croat played major tournaments against the top players. I am surprised the handicap at Coric isn't two games higher here. Machado doesn't have what it takes to harm Coric. Not everything is ideal for the Croat either since he played 4 matches with players outside of Top 150 this season and covered this handicap only twice. But, the matches did take place on hard court and there were qualifying matches. That is not motivational enough for someone who is already aiming for No.1. This, however, is a match for ATP QFs and Borna will do his best. If so, he's too good for Machado, who will go back to futures level after this. Coric will, on the other hand, go on with ATP tournaments to keep on causing trouble and beating the top players. Details