Events / Ben Caudell / 28 April 2010 /

Revelling in his new found form, Tomas Berdych is a man on a mission, but Stanislas Wawrinka is also playing some of his best tennis and Ben Caudell anticipates a close match in Rome today.

Tomas Berdych (CZE) v Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) -

Tomas Berdych and Stanislas Wawrinka have been two of the most in-form players this year and this is an evenly matched game on paper.

The pair have met seven times in their playing careers and Berdych, who has a 4-2 head-to-head series lead over the Swiss No.2, is a man on a mission. His aim, to break into the top 10 in the world rankings and a chance to reach the end of year World Tour Finals, looks more and more likely. He needs to mature as a player both physically and mentally at the rate he has done so far this season.

Berdych's new found confidence has seen him reach the quarter-finals of Indian Wells and the final of Miami, both Master Series events. He has recently defeated three top 10 players, Roger Federer, Robin Soderling and Fernando Verdasco and is currently 8-2 in all matches.

At the Monte Carlo Masters event two weeks ago, Berdych looked at ease on the red dirt as he briskly dispatched of Richard Gasquet and Feliciano Lopez in straight sets before failing to capitalise on a one set lead against Fernando Verdasco. Unfortunately for Berdych, a twisted ankle early in he second set hampered his movement and Verdasco went on to win the next two sets.

Wawrinka, who is also playing some of the best tennis of his career will provide a stern test for the Czech. He is currently 8-2 on the red stuff and has a tournament win to his name, the Casablanca Open in which he won by defeating Victor Hanescu in the final.

Against Jurgen Melzer in the previous round, Wawrinka won an incredible 86% of first serves powering his way through to a 6-1 6-2 win over the Austrian. His record at the Rome Masters is extremely good, he managed to reach the last 16 in 2009 before losing to Juan Martin Del Potro and in 2008 he had a good run before losing in the final to Novak Djokovic in three sets.

As much as I would like to see Berdych win this match, the value bet is definitely with Wawrinka. I can see this match going to threes sets with a toss of a coin to see who wins the third. The safe bet would be to back over's on total games and for the match to go to three sets.

Selection:
Back Stanislas Wawrinka @ [2.08] to win match
Back over 25.5 Games @ [3.0]
Back Three Sets @ [1.9]

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