US Open Betting / Ben Caudell / 02 September 2009 /

After her amazing comeback, Ben Caudell can't praise the woman with the coolest name in tennis highly enough. So he'll do the next best thing and back her to overcome Marion Bartolli at Flushing Meadow today. Meanwhile, who will prevail in the all French battle of the mens' tournament?

Marion Bartoli (FRA) v Kim Clijsters (BEL)

Kim Clijsters return to the women's tour has been nothing less than remarkable. The Belgium wild card announced her retirement with immediate effect on 6 May 2007, but almost two years later she declared her intention to return to the WTA for several hard-court tournaments in the United States and Canada, including the US Open.

Since her return Clijsters has reached the quarter-finals of Cincinnati defeating Marion Bartoli, Patty Schnyder, and Svetlana Kuznetsova before losing to Dinara Safina, following on from this she reached the last 16 in Toronto defeating Victoria Azarenka in the second before losing to Jelena Jankovic in three sets.

I find it astounding how any player can come back from two years out of the game and then breeze past two top-10 ranked players and one just outside the top-10 as though she had never left the tour.

The quality in Clijsters hard-court game is evident by her past success at the US Open. Before her retirement Clijsters reached the final in 2003, losing to Justine Henin and was crowned champion in 2005 defeating Mary Pierce in the final 6-3 6-1. She has become a serious contender for this year's title, few players will enjoy playing her and with a win over Marion Bartoli earlier this month, I expect the Italian to become Clijsters first big scalp of the tournament, setting her up for a potential showdown with Venus Williams in the fourth round.

Selection: Back Kim Clijsters @ [1.33] to win match
Back Clijsters 2-0 @ [1.9]

Gael Monfils (FRA) v Jeremy Chardy (FRA)

This French battle will be one of the better matches to look out today. Chardy, the younger player of the two, is one of the top rising players on the tour. He has a big serve and shows a lot of aggression from the back of the court that will match Monfils all round game. Although, more known for his clay court exploits, Chardy has shown some decent form on the American hard-courts defeating the likes of Tommy Robredo, John Isner, and Yen-Hsun Lu. We are well aware of Monfils capabilities and on his day the enigmatic Frenchman can dispose of any top 10 player, with the possible exceptions of Roger Federer and Andy Murray.

The value is definitely with Chardy. I am not convinced Monfils has recovered fully from his wrist injury that subsequently withdrew him from both Queens and Wimbledon this year and with losses against Juan Carlos Ferrero and Ivo Karlovic on the hard-courts earlier this month I believe this could provide Jeremy Chardy with the confidence to take his first win against his fellow countryman.

Selection: Back Jeremy Chardy @ 3.0 to win match

Best Bet - Back Clijsters 2-0 against Marion Bartoli (US Open ladies 2nd Rd)

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