Tennis
2010-01-20 - Andy Murray vs Marc Gicquel
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Tennis: Australia, Australian Open Men 2010
Wednesday, 20th January 2010 - Start 00:00 GMT
Preview
Andy Murray breezed through the opening the round here in Melbourne, all for the loss of just 4 games, but there were still areas of his game that needed improvement. Kevin Anderson was outclassed in all departments, as I feared he would be, and did not really pose a challenge to the British Number 1.
For Murray to have any chance of winning this tournament, his first serve 35% is going to need vast improvement. To allow the top players to have that many looks at a second serve will only lead to an easy defeat. However, as another indication that Anderson was not on the same level as Murray, the big serving South African only managed 1 break of serve all match.
The real positive signs coming from the Scot is his aggression on points now- far too often we have seen Murray playing passive tennis but he is now beginning to really crank up the forehand while his backhand has always been his strength.
Marc Gicquel has carved out a solid career in tennis after being a late bloomer, especially in relation to others in this sport. He has a 3-2 record this season in preparation for this tournament but did have to play his 1st round match yesterday, meaning Murray had a day of rest and the Frenchman did not.
Even though his match was postponed 1 day, Gicquel did win through in straight sets against Simon Bolelli. The first 2 sets were close and had to be decided on tie breaks before Gicquel managed to come through in the 3rd 6-3.
A high first serve percentage is always required against Andy Murray, who is considered one of the best returners in the game today. Gicquel was only serving 54% first serves in his last match and will need to improve that by 10% if he is going to keep Murray away from the breaks of serve.
The Frenchman is a solid player and look for his consistency to wear down his opponents. He will try and keep his unforced error count down and will attack the Murray second serve, especially if he sees as many as Kevin Anderson did in round 1.
Head to Head
The 2 players met for the only time in their careers last season in Rotterdam. The match was at 1 set all with Murray leading 3-0 in the final set before Gicquel retired with an injury.
The match took place on an Indoor hard court.
Prediction
Andy Murray will go through in this match and he is fortunate that he will have an evening start. It is always important in these early stages of a Grand Slam tournament that you do not get too bogged down in long matches and I can see Murray coming through fairly comfortably in the end.
Marc Gicquel provides a tough work out for his opponents but really does lack in the overall tools to beat the players ranked in the top 20 in the World so to play a top 10 player is always going to be a real tough test. He will play Murray close for at least the first half of the match.
I think Murray will eventually come through 7-5, 6-3, 6-2
The Pick :
Andy Murray 7-5, 6-3, 6-2
BEST BETTING TIP :
Andy Murray WIN
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Andy Murray -8.5 games @ 1.8
