French Open Betting / Ben Caudell / 06 June 2009 / Leave a comment

Ben Caudell has had a superb French Open and in his penultimate tipping column of the tournament, he tells us why it should pay to have Dinara Safina on your side.

After a dazzling array of tennis in the men's semi-finals yesterday, can the Women's final this afternoon be anywhere near as entertaining?

Both men's semi-final matches went the distance, providing us with some of the best tennis I have witnessed all week. Robin Soderling was in scintillating form once again as his dream of capturing his first ever Grand Slam is still very much alive.

The Swede dramatically fought back from a 1-4 deficit in the deciding set to beat No.12 seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4 in three hours and 28 minutes. Soderling will face Roger Federer in Sunday's final after the Swiss master came back from 2-1 down in sets to defeat 20-year old Juan Martin Del Potro 3-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Today's Selections:

Dinara Safina (RUS) v Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) - Safina will be looking to follow in the footsteps of her older brother Marat Safin, having matched him by rising to the top of the world rankings; and she's determined to emulate him as a Grand Slam champion too. Blocking her chances will be a player she has known since their junior days - Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Dinara Safina leads their head-to-head series 7-4, with the latest win coming in the final at the Rome Premier event a month ago 6-4 6-2. A week earlier it was Kuznetsova who had the upper hand as she was the victorious one during the final of the Stuttgart Premier where she won 6-4 6-3. They are currently 4-4 on clay.

This match has all the makings of a classic final. Safina has spent slightly less time on court and has barely been tested in her pursuit of her first Grand Slam title. She has dropped only one set so far at this year's French Open - in her Quarter final match against Victoria Azarenka.

The tenacious Kuznetsova on the other hand has gone to three sets in her last three matches and has therefore expended more energy than her fellow compatriot on the Rolland Garros clay. I believe that this final will be a match that will be decided on strength of character and nerves.

At last year's event Safina was outplayed on key points and let her nerves get to her in the final against Ana Ivanovic. Kuznetsova, don't forget, has already won a Grand Slam event before (2004 US Open) and Safina has lost two Grand Slam finals within the last 12 months.

Selection: Back Dinara Safina @ [1.46] o win match
Back Safina -3.5 Games @ [1.97]