French Open Daily Tips: Value lies with Fognini on day two

French Open Betting / Ben Caudell / 25 May 2009 / Leave a Comment

Ben Caudell got off to a winning start yesterday thanks to a certain Aussie. Can he keep it up today?

Former Wimbledon champion and French Open quarter-finalist Lleyton Hewitt fought back to down big serving Ivo Karlovic in a nail biting five set thriller yesterday. Hewitt had to overcome a two set deficit for the fifth time in his career with an eventual 6-7, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over the Croatian who managed an Open era record of 55 aces.

Karlovic famously defeated Hewitt in the first round of Wimbledon in 2003 when the Australian was the defending champion and had since defeated the Aussie twice more - once on grass and once on hard. Having lost three first round defeats on the Roland Garros clay in previous years, this match was always going to be a big ask for the only player to play ten or more five set matches without recording a victory. Hewitt's win opened up a good start for my daily tips section; we managed to back the Adelaide native @ [1.6] to win the match.

Two time quarter-finalist David Ferrer joined Hewitt in the second round with a convincing display against Portugal's Frederico Gill 6-2 6-4 6-4 in two hours and seven minutes. The Spanish No.14 seed hit 29 winners and kept his error count down to 33 in the pair's first meeting. There were also wins for Fernando Verdasco and Marin Cilic who both breezed past their opponents in straights sets.

Today's Selections:

Fabio Fognini (ITA) v Igor Andreev (RUS)
Fabio Fognini has been showing some decent clay court form of late and will be a tough proposition for the Russian to beat. Coming into the match with a 7-3 match record on the red stuff with his three defeats against Gilles Simon, the Italian will already have settled in at Roland Garros having also made his way through qualifying without dropping a single set. ]

In contrast, Igor Andreev has a 4-6 recent record on the clay with losses to Juan Martin Del Potro, Mardy Fish, Tommy Robredo, and a withdrawal against Lukasz Kubot due to a problem with his ribs. He has since withdrawn from Madrid with a left abdominal strain. This will therefore play on the mind of the Russian who doesn't appear to be fully fit. Expect a close fought match with the possibility of five sets being played. The value is definitely in backing Fabio Fognini.

Selection: Back Fabio Fognini @ [2.58] to win match
Lay Igor Andreev @ [2.72] 3-0

Lucie Safarova (CZE) v Sabine Lisicki (GER)
This match is a tough one to call. Both players have had some decent results on the clay, with the highlight being Sabine Lisicki's unexpected win in Charleston back in April this year. At the tournament Sabine defeated three top 15 world ranked players - Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki and Marion Bartoli - in straight sets. My only concern with the young German starlet is the fact that she retired after losing the first set against Anna Lena Groenefeld at the beginning of May. However, if fully fit Sabine could be won to watch out for at this year's French Open.

Selection: Back Sabine Lisicki @ [1.64] to win match