Events / Sean Calvert / 14 March 2010 /

Sean Calvert talks us through the best bets on offer for Sunday at Indian Wells which include siding with Andreas Seppi on the handicap against Andy Murray and a shock first-round exit for Robin Soderling.

It was quite a Saturday night in Indian Wells, as we saw a shock defeat for Marin Cilic and possibly the worst pair of shorts ever sported at a Tour event, worn of course by the fashion nightmare that is Rafa Nadal.

As far as our bets were concerned, we ended up dead level and today's highlight for British fans will be Andy Murray v Andreas Seppi in their second round clash.

This pair have met three times before, with Murray leading 2-1, but Seppi's win came way back in 2006 on the grass of Nottingham and can be discounted.

The other two meetings both took place last year, so clearly have more relevance and the Scot won both in straight sets without too much fuss.

Seppi has a pretty solid all-round game with few weaknesses but no real weapons either so expect some lengthy rallies with Murray generally coming out on top thanks to that extra touch of class.

Seppi's a pretty honest type of pro who will give his all until the end, unlike many I could mention, so it might pay to take a chance on the Italian hanging on like he did on hard courts against Murray in Rotterdam when the Scot won 7-6, 7-5.

That being the case, the best value bet in this match could be the [2.0] on Seppi with a start of + 5.5 games as Murray is unbackable outright at around [1.08].

Elsewhere, Ivo Karlovic looks vulnerable at [1.73] against Nicolas Almagro.

The giant Croatian has a wretched record at Indian Wells, having never bettered the last 32 and he has never beaten a player ranked inside the top 70 in the world at the event.
The pair have played once with Almagro coming out on top way back in 2005 and on his Australian Open form, where he should have made the quarter finals, the Murcia resident has every chance to topple Karlovic again at a handy price of [2.36].

A total games bet of over 24.5 is also worth a wager, as these two play more than their fair share of breakers and this one could well be a long three-setter.
Finally, the best outsider of the day simply has to be Evgeny Korolev to take out Robin Soderling at around [3.9].

The world number 57 has a 2-0 head-to-head advantage over the Swede and like today, both of those wins came when Soderling was playing his first match of the event.

Also, Soderling, whose best results by far come indoors, lost in the first round of all three Masters Series events held in America last year (Indian Wells, Miami and Cincinnati).
Take a chance on Korolev to do the business again at a big price or lay Soderling 2-0 in the set betting at [1.75].

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