Madrid Masters Monday Tips: Fish to hunt Isner down

Events / Ben Caudell / 02 May 2011 /

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There are plenty of reasons to be backing Mardy Fish against John Isner today

"The stats are definitely in favour of the 2006 ATP Comeback Player of the Year to dispatch of his rival: the 29 year-old has won four of his last five matches at Master Series level, seven in a row when his opponent is a fellow countrymen and he has won 74% of his last 50 matches overall."

Two big-serving Americans go head-to-head this afternoon on the red dirt of Madrid and we should see the more experienced of the two prevail, says Ben Caudell.

John Isner (USA) v Mardy Fish (USA)

We kick-start our Madrid Masters campaign on Monday with an all-American affair between two players not accustomed to playing on the slower European clay courts.

Mardy Fish, seeded 11, represents my value bet of the day and can be backed at a decent [1.70] in the match odds. The Miami Masters semi-finalist has a a distinct advantage coming into today's contest, having already defeated his American rival John Isner in their two previous meetings. Both matches took place within the last couple of years on hard court surfaces that are arguably more advantageous to the big serving Isner (Atlanta July 2010 4-6 6-4 7-6) and (San Jose, Feb 2009 6-2 6-7 7-5) in the first place. With this match-up taking place on clay, the advantage most certainly lies with Mardy.

Having reached an all-time high of 10 in the ATP Tour World Rankings earlier in the month thanks to a successful American hard-court campaign that saw the Florida resident reach three semi-finals (Memphis, Delray Beach, and Miami), Fish will be looking to sustain his run of good form going into the European clay court swing. Isner is definitely there for the taking as a player who struggles with the slower pace and movement on the red stuff.

The stats are definitely in favour of the 2006 ATP Comeback Player of the Year to dispatch of his rival: the 29 year-old has won four of his last five matches at Master Series level, seven in a row when his opponent is a fellow countrymen and he has won 74% of his last 50 matches overall. Fish also has a higher ranking, match and surface rating and is yet to lose to this opponent as we've seen already.

Isner has lost four of his last five matches in Europe and five of his last six when priced as an underdog, giving me even more reason to side with the top ranked American.

Recommended Bet:

Back Mardy Fish @ 1.70 to win match

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