BNP Paribas Open Thursday Night Tips: Young Niki to slay Terrible Ivan

General / Ben Caudell / 12 March 2009 / Leave a Comment

Fresh from an 100% record with yesterday's tips, Ben Caudell talks us through day two's selections including a win for young gun Nishikori over an ageing Ivan Ljubicic.

What a great start to proceedings with both of our opening days' tips triumphing.

Bulgarian youngster Tsvetana Pironkova won her first round match in straight sets against Marina Erakovic 6-4 6-1. As Predicted Erakovic struggled with her serve winning only 37% of her second serves and not surprisingly also hitting six double faults. Pironkova will now face number one seed Dinara Safina in the second round. It's certainly a tough proposition but a potential upset could be on the cards!!

The other winning bet of the day came from the revived Nicole Vaidisova, backed @ [2.6] at the start of the match. This was always going to be a tough match for the 20 year old Czech, with many assuming she would suffer another loss and continue her endless journey into the soul-destroying depths of the ITF circuit.

Not so, Nicole has gone back to her old coach Alex Kodat who has put her through a strict, intensive, training regime in the lead up to Indian Wells. She will now face Alona Bondarenko, another player short of confidence at the moment, in the second round.

Today's Selections:

Marc Gicquel (FRA) v Simone Bolelli (ITA) - This is an interesting matchup between two closely ranked players with similar baseline games. Bolelli has a 1-0 head-to-head over Gicquel and a better percentage of wins from his last ten matches. The slower court speed at this year's Indian Wells will favour Bolelli and with slight doubts over the Frenchman's fitness, it looks likely that the Italian will have a little too much for Gicquel and will be facing the second-favourite Roger Federer in the second round.

Selection: Back Simone Bolelli @ [1.6] to win match
(Guide time - 19:15 GMT)

Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) v Kei Nishikori (JPN) - For a long time now Ljubicic has been on a downward spiral, barely finding enough oomph to grind out wins in what should be straightforward matches, losing his pace not only on serve, but also in his physical shape, appearing slower and slower on court as his career goes careering out of the top 100.

Nishikori on the other hand is a sprightly young (although prone to injury) feller with the world at his feet. A good returner of the ball and with some decent wins on the hard court against such talented players as Tomas Berdych and James Blake. If fully fit, this should be a straightforward win for the Japanese wonder kid.

Selection: Back Kei Nishikori @ [1.9] to win match

(Guide time - 03:15 GMT)