Davis Cup Betting / Sean Calvert / 03 December 2009 /

Fresh from tiping up last weeks' finalist Juan Martin Del Potro, Sean Calvert turns his attentions to another event he has a good record in, the Davis Cup. Spain host the Czech Republic on home soil in the final and this will be no easy tie for Rafael Nadal and his mates.

The ATP World Tour Finals was a very enjoyable end to the season, as Juan Martin Del Potro stormed to the final and earned us a tidy little Christmas bonus into the bargain.

My outright tip was available to lay at [1.76] from his original mark of around [16.0], having traded higher than [30.0] after losing to Andy Murray in the first round-robin match.

The Argentine also beat Roger Federer as predicted, so all-in-all the O2 was a welcome end of year boost to the funds.

We have just one more tennis betting opportunity left in 2009 and it's the Davis Cup Final between Spain and the Czech Republic which takes centre stage this weekend.

Reigning champions Spain are hosting the match at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona and they are looking to become the first nation to defend the Cup since Sweden in 1998.

The Davis Cup has been another very profitable event for us, as I've managed to correctly predict the last six matches correctly, but this one could be trickier than the odds suggest.

The hosts are unbeaten in their last 19 home ties on clay, so odds of around [1.17] are to be expected for them to chalk up win number 20.

Spain do look strong, with Rafa Nadal, Fernando Verdasco, David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez as their squad, but at this stage of the year tired bodies and minds will play a part in deciding the destiny of the trophy.

The Czech team, as ever, is comprised of Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek, with Lukas Dlouhy and Jan Hajek filling the final places and Dlouhy could play a vital role in Barcelona.

The doubles specialist has claimed two Grand Slam titles in 2009, one of which was on the clay of Roland Garros. However, even without Dlouhy's presence the Czech's are unbeaten in doubles in Davis Cup this year.

Given the visitors' likely strength in the doubles, a 3-0 Spain win at around [3.5] looks clear lay material and indeed close scrutiny of the Spain squad reveals a number of reasons to take on that [1.17] from the off.

The cornerstone of the hosts' success is of course Nadal and while a return to clay will clearly boost his form, it's hard to ignore his woeful displays of the last few months.

Nadal has lost his last four matches in a row and should have been defeated in two of the three before that and all in all he looks a pale shadow of his former self at the moment.

His serve is powder-puff and was averaging about 105mph in London, which isn't going to get you very far in Challengers, never mind the upper echelons of the game whilst his physique has dipped massively after this year's injury problems.

Basically, Nadal is vulnerable and may be worth a lay at around [1.15] against Berdych, who has beaten Nadal three times in the past.

Radek Stepanek is in great form at the moment and has described this match as: "the most special moment in my career,". He could be a player worth siding with in his singles matches.

For Spain Feliciano Lopez will almost certainly only be used for the doubles - particularly taking into account his last singles effort, which was a straight sets loss on clay to world number 120, Harel Levy. Enough said really.

David Ferrer at least managed to defeat the mighty Levy in that semi final clash with Israel, but his form since has been poor, with losses to the likes of Mikhail Youzhny and Lopez himself.

On the whole, Spain will need to produce more than we've seen from them so far in this season's Davis Cup and I reckon this won't be as easy for them as it first appears on paper.

This Czech team are up for this and if you fancy an outside bet this weekend, you could do worse than have a small wager on them to win the Davis Cup outright.

Recommendations:

Back Stepanek to beat Verdasco at around [2.62]
Lay Spain to win 3-0 at around [3.5]

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