Events / Ben Caudell / 26 March 2009 /

Ben Caudell likes the like of an outsider as he picks his bets for day two of the Sony Ericsson Open.

Unlike two weeks ago at the BNP Paribas Open where there were few first round shock defeats, the first day at the Sony Ericsson Open sprung plenty of first round surprises.

Top of that list was Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova overcoming all the odds to defeat Aravane Rezai with more than £92,000 traded at [1.01] with the French girl leading by a set and 4-0. Rezai recovered from a mini revival to hold match points at 5-4 (40-0), however to everyone's amazement the young Russian fought tirelessly and after 2hrs of play eventually won 4-6 7-5 6-3!

In the men's event, qualifier Mikhail Kukushkin, from Kazakhstan and ranked 142 in the world, upset Tommy Haas from Germany 6-4 6-4, rewarding backers at a tasty starting price of [5.5]. There happened to be a bit of gossip pre-match that Kukushkin would win this match, and he didn't disappoint, he now faces Dmitry Tursunov, and he'll fancy his chances of registering another win.

Philipp Kohlschreiber finds himself on the plane home after an early exit to a player ranked outside the top 100. He worryingly lost to qualifier Frank Dancevic 6-4 7-6, although this may come as no surprise, seeing as Kohlschreiber had never won a match on four previous occasions in Miami.

Away from the upsets, Marcos Baghdatis, as predicted in yesterday's tips, annihilated Latvian prodigy Ernests Gulbis in timely fashion, 6-2 6-2. The Cypriot looks in great condition after a rigorous training regime pre-tournament and looks set on rediscovering the form he had when reaching the Australian Open final in 2007.


Today's Selections:

Federico Gil (POR) v Mischa Zverev (GER)
All the stats favour the qualifier Federico Gill in his match-up against left-hander Mischa Zverev. Gill is a typical clay courter, a player who rarely ventures to the net, will stay all day at the back, grinding away at his opponent trying to force the unforced error. There is not a big shot in his armoury, but is adaptable and will pose a threat to any player who shows signs of impatience. He has beaten Zverev on two previous occasions; both matches were on Gill's favoured surface, clay. However, the Portuguese has played some good tennis on the hard courts recently, reaching the semi-finals of Johannesburg and in qualification for this year's Miami Masters, on his way defeating a similar player to Zverev, Michael Berrer. Mischa has a poor record at Master Series events - won two, lost 11 - with the two victories coming in qualifying. He will be seeking his first win at this level and with recent illness problems at the back of his mind I doubt he will be able to handle the dogged, strong running Portuguese.
Selection: Back Federico Gill @ [2.2] to win.


Marina Erakovic (NZL) v Carolina Sprem (CRO)
Erakovic, who was born in Croatia but moved to New Zealand when she was young, has only two wins to her name over top 100 players since the start of the year. She is struggling to find any kind of form on the slower surfaces after producing some fantastic results last year on the grass. Sprem, on the other hand, is on a good run of form having recently won an ITF tournament in Germany and by qualifying for this years Sony Ericsson Open she will well adapted to the Miami playing conditions.
Selection: Back Sprem @ [1.5] to win match.

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