Australian Open Betting / Ben Caudell / 22 January 2009 /

Ben Caudell talks us through the reasoning behind his three selections for Friday's matches including a win for the experienced spaniard Tommy Robredo.

Today sees the start of the third round men and women singles matches. So far the tournament hasn't produced any major upsets for any of the men's top 10 seeds bar David Nalbandian, who lost to Yen-Sun Lu in the second round. The women's tournament on the other hand has started to kick into life with number nine seed Agnieska Radwanska being surprisingly knocked out by Kateryna Bondarenko. Yesterday also saw number six seed and second favourite with the bookies Venus Williams being eliminated by Spanish clay courter Carla Suarez Navarro!!!

So will today bring any more upsets in the women's tournament? And will we get any big named players in the mens going home before the start of the second week?

Tommy Robredo v Yen-Hsun Lu:

Lu has had a great tournament so far having already sent home Thomaz Bellucci and David Nalbandian; he now meets the tenacious Spaniard who is yet to face a break point the entire tournament. Tommy has a 1-0 head to head record which will give him a slight advantage going into this match. He will also be looking to break back into the top 20 of the world rankings and a win here will surely do that.

Selection: Back Tommy Robredo @ [1.4] to win match

Marin Cilic v David Ferrer:

These two have surprisingly never played one another. David Ferrer has been showing some decent form in his last two matches and Marin Cilic is starting to perform to his true potential. The stats are in favour of the Croatian; he possesses the better serve and will no doubt have more opportunities to break the Ferrer serve.

Selection: Back Marin Cilic @ [1.7] to win match

Marcos Baghdatis v Mardy Fish:

Both players have an affinity for the Australian Open having reached the latter rounds on previous occasions. We are starting to see the fighting qualities, the sparkle in the eye, and the hunger in the Cypriot that was shown when he reached the final two years ago. Against Robin Soderling in the previous round, Marcos looked down and out, however with the rowdy crowd on his side, he made quite a spectacular comeback. This will surely give him the confidence to progress into the fourth round against the big serving Mardy Fish.

Selection: Back Marcos Baghdatis @ [1.7] to win match

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