AEGON Championships Betting / Sean Calvert / 07 June 2011 /

Playing grass court tennis is an art in itself that requires specialised skills and left-handed Frenchman Michael Llodra has plenty of them. Him and another swashbuckling Frenchman look good bets to progress today, says Sean Calvert.

Tuesday at Queen's Club in the Aegon Championships sees some fascinating match-ups as some of the big names begin their 2011 grass-court campaigns.

Among the stars on show today are Juan Martin Del Potro and Andy Roddick and there's bound to be a few eyebrow-raising results on what are probably the best grass-courts in the world.

The main match I'm concentrating on today involves two Frenchmen who know each other's games well in Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau.

Llodra began his Aegon Championships in fine style with a straight sets win yesterday over Jaroslav Pospisil in a match in which both the serve and the return of the French left hander were working exceptionally well.

Llodra served at 71% of first serves in and even more impressively, he won 76% of his opponent's second serve points, which could be key today against Benneteau, who isn't the biggest of servers.

As for the latter, he had to come from a set down to defeat Daniel Brands, who carved out eight break point chances, but didn't take enough of them to force the win - going down 6-4 in the decider.

The pair have never played on grass, but Llodra is much more comfortable on the surface and holds a 2-1 head-to-head advantage over his rival, the latest of these meetings being in Marseille indoors this year, which Llodra won.

Llodra also has the better grass-court pedigree, with two titles on the green stuff to his name, including Eastbourne last year and his serve/volley game is perfectly suited to the conditions.

The duo have won doubles titles together so they know each other's games inside out, but if Llodra serves somewhere near his best he shouldn't have too many problems today at around [1.5].

The banker bet of the day involves another Frenchman, who should reward odds-on backers at around [1.21] and that's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

He plays Michael Berrer today, who has a poor record on grass of never having won more than two matches in the main draw of any tournament on the surface.

Tsonga's good grass game and winning record against lefties should see him ease through his opening match.

Recommended bets:

Back Llodra at [1.5] to beat Benneteau
Back Llodra and Tsonga in a multiple.@ [1.7]

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