French Open Betting / Editor / 28 May 2008 /

John Talbot looks for some potential upsets over the next couple of days which could include early exits by James Blake, Tomas Berdych and yes you've guessed it...Andy Murray.

Andy Murray isn't known for his appreciation of delays and rain-interrupted matches and after struggling through a five-set first rounder against world number 390, Jonathan Eysseric, a last 64 clash with the unpredictable Jose Acasuso wouldn't figure highly on the Scot's wishlist.

The Argentine has been in poor form of late, but cruised through his opener in straight sets and the slower courts could play into his hands against a potentially frustrated Murray.

If Acasuso plays near his best, which is never guaranteed of course, he will give the Scot a hard time on this surface and is worth a punt at around 2.25. It would take a brave individual to place too much faith in either of these two players, but I certainly wouldn't wish to be on Murray at [1.78].

If long-priced outsiders are your thing, the best underdog of the day would have to be Michael Llodra to take out Tomas Berdych at around the [5.1] mark.

Llodra has a decent record at the French Open, which is more than can be said for some of his more illustrious countrymen, such as Richard Gasquet for example, and he should have reached the quarter finals in 2004, when he lost to Tim Henman 9-7 in the fifth and more importantly, he has had a fine year all told.

The Parisian has two titles to his name already - in Adelaide and Rotterdam - and he seems to be one of those that play better in the big matches; plus he will have the not inconsiderable advantage of the partisan home support.

Berdych on the other hand can crumble at the slightest inconvenience and is not one you would wish for alongside you in the trenches. He also has an average record on clay this year of won three, lost three and overall this year Llodra has the better record of 15-10 to Berdych's 14-10.
The head to head favours Berdych, but don't read too much into that, as their last meeting (at Wimbledon in 2007) was won in four by the Czech, however three of the sets were breakers and I expect another close encounter today.

Berdych was beaten in straight sets in the first round here last year by Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and although he started well this time by dispatching Robert Smeets for the loss of just one game, he has a tendency to throw the towel in when he is unable to bully his opponents.
Therefore, a small investment on Llodra at a big price could be profitable wager, or a lay of Berdych at the insultingly low mark of [1.23] with a view to trade could be the way forward.

James Blake is always a sketchy investment as favourite on any surface, but more so on the red dirt and a price of [1.5] for his to beat the talented Latvian, Ernests Gulbis, is surely lay material.

The New Yorker has been beaten by Denis Gremelmayr and Marcel Granollers already this year on the clay and he has only progressed to the third round at Roland Garros once in his career, having lost to Ivo Karlovic in the opener in 2007.
Blake is another who won't relish the conditions and Gulbis has enough in his locker to have a good chance of causing an upset at around [3.0].

Wayne Odesnik took out Guillermo Canas in the first round in three breakers, but that surely is not enough to justify a price of [1.65] against the ever-resilient Hyung-Taik Lee.

The American did well in Houston on the clay, reaching the semis there, but he's done nothing since to suggest that he should be favourite to take out Lee, who although more of a hard courter, certainly has ability on clay, having reached the last 32 on two occasions, losing only to the likes of Nalbandian and Ferrer and the Korean is a good bet at [2.5].

Similarly, the layers may have got it wrong between Eduardo Schwank and Marcel Granollers.
Both of these players have been performing exceptionally well on the challenger circuit of late, but Granollers victory on the main tour in Houston is the better form of the two and suggests he has a bit more about him at this level than the Argentine.

It's a trappy match, but Granollers is certainly the value at [2.3].

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