Events / Ben Caudell / 14 November 2010 /

After two dramatic semi-finals, home favourite Gael Monfils takes on Robin Soderling in Sunday afternoon's final. Who is Ben Caudell backing?

Gael Monfils (FRA) v Robin Soderling (SWE)

Gael Monfils fended off five match points to record the best win of his career (7-6, 6-7, 7-6) against Roger Federer to secure a place in the Paris Finals for the second consecutive year. We could have seen an all French final had it not been for Robin Soderling also saving match points to record a win against Michael Llodra 6-7, 7-5, 7-6.

So will today's final between Monfils and Soderling generate anywhere near as much excitement as the semi-final matches produced? Or will this match be over at the flick of a switch?

Everything points to another close fought battle that is likely to go to three sets with at least one tie-break, even though their only two previous matches were won by Soderling in straight sets. The Swede comes into today's final as the favourite as he defeated Gael Monfils 6-3 6-2 in the quarter-finals at the Valencia Open only last week. He Swede has been fantastic all tournament with wins over Gilles Simon, Stanislas Wawrinka, Andy Roddick and Michael Llodra. However, I just can't look past a Monfils win here with such tasty odds you'll be a fool not back him at [2.30] to win.

The 24 year-old Parisian Monfils has the support of the most raucous fans in the world and a great record on indoor hard-courts (9-1); in France (10-0) he has a recent tournament win at the Montpellier Open and reached the final here last year losing to Novak Djokovic in three sets.

Although Soderling is mentally very strong and on his given day can defeat the likes of Nadal and Federer, I believe that the Swede is better suited to the slower court surfaces because of his huge take-back on ground strokes. He has relied heavily on his serve this week but Monfils will also be tough to break. The Frenchman, however, has the advantage of striking the ball better from the back of the court as well as timing the ball more proficiently on his groundstrokes.

Monfils' plan of action should be to keep the ball as low as possible; Soderling is less effective when the ball bounces low, which is why he has had less success on grass. Soderling's losses to similar baseliners on this surface such as David Ferrer, Florian Mayer, and Andrey Golubev can only provide Monfils with that extra bit of confidence.

You just don't win a three set tie-break match against the best player in the world, defeat the likes of Andy Murray and Fernando Verdasco in three sets once again and then go out in the Final in front of your home crowd. Monfils will want this more than ever and should be backed at any price over [2.20].

Recommended bets:
Back Gael Monfils @ [2.30] to win match
Back over 23.5 games @ [1.9]
Back Monfils 2-1 @ [4.9]

'.$sign_up['title'].'

'; } } ?>

:

:

:

?

: