Australian Open Betting / Ben Caudell / 25 January 2009 /

An in-form Ben Caudell talks us through the best bets out there on day eight of the Australian Open, including why it won't be "simple" for Monfils against Simon but why the ATP Tour's showman should nevertheless progress.

Yesterday's bets provided us with another fruitful day with four-out-of- four victorious tips.
Andy Roddick, as predicted, convincingly beat Tommy Robredo in straight sets, increasing his head-to-head to 10-0 over the Spaniard. He managed to hit 13 aces, also winning 84% of all first service points.

Baghdatis also put in a spirited performance against Novak Djokovic, eventually succumbing to the Serbian in four sets. This meant laying Djokovic 3-0 and backing over 38.5 games came up trumps for us. Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick now meet each other in a quarter final showdown - expect this match to have few breaks of serve and to be won in either four or five sets.

Today's selections

Andy Murray v Fernando Verdasco:

Both players are in exceptional form and both are yet to drop a set. Fernando Verdasco has dropped only twelve games out of the possible fifty four, annihilating Radek Stepanek, Arnaud Clement and wildcard Adrian Mannarino. Andy Murray is still to be tested and his easy wins over Andrei Pavel, Marcel Granollers-Pujol and Jurgen Melzer will give him the confidence to beat the left hander for the sixth time, their current head-to-head is 5-1 in favour of Murray.

Selection: Back Fernando Verdasco +6.5 Games @ [2.1]

Gael Monfils v Gilles Simon:

The French pair have surprisingly never played against one another in a competitive match. Not only will they be fighting for a place in the next round and a potential matchup with Rafael Nadal, they will also be competing for the accolade as French number one. I have loved watching Gael Monfils this year; he has been consistently the most exciting player and is by far the biggest showman on tour. Expect a tight match with long rallies, close fought games, and service games being broken.

Selection: Back Gael Monfils to win match @ [2.1]

Good Luck

Ben Caudell

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